Is this jersey cow close to calving?

[NewMoo]

I bought a three year old, open jersey cow at auction in March. She is now bagging up and looks to be springing a little. Our bull was with her in April, and I had projected her calving date to be in January. I am not familiar with Jersey cattle (have more experience with beef cattle) and how they prepare to calve. From the pictures I have posted, does she look like she might have been bred when I bought her? I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[NewMoo]

I bought a three year old, open jersey cow at auction in March. She is now bagging up and looks to be springing a little. Our bull was with her in April, and I had projected her calving date to be in January. I am not familiar with Jersey cattle (have more experience with beef cattle) and how they prepare to calve. From the pictures I have posted, does she look like she might have been bred when I bought her? I appreciate your thoughts!

These photos were taken about 10 days ago.

 

[Dsth]

I would say she will not likely wait until January to calf. do you know any history of when she had her first calf?

 

[farmerjan]

I agree that she probably was short bred when you bought her. All according to what type of preg checking was done, a vet can miss them through palpation when less than 35 days, and sometimes even further... 45 days. If done with ultrasound, a good vet can pick it up at 30 days.... but everyone is fallible on occasion. So, a late January or early Feb breeding could mean a calf in later Oct/Nov.
Jerseys bag up differently... some way ahead and some within a few days. So, as @Dsth mentioned... do you have any idea when she previously calved? You can take the date you bought her, and back up 60 days as anything over 60 days can obviously be felt if palpated for pregnancy....
Unless you have a vet to recheck her, you are going to be guessing. If you breed your own cows AI, then anyone that is skilled in AI can palpate her and tell if she has a calf in her..... I can tell them after about 4 months.... and have picked up some that are shorter.... but after 5 months, the fetus is plenty big enough to feel it.

Check her udder to make sure she is not developing a case of mastitis. Sometimes they will get a flare up if there is alot of fly problems and they can carry it. I have seen virgin heifers come down with mastitis months before calving. I bought one off a dairy at about 7 months bred that had developed mastitis in one quarter as a dry bred heifer... the quarter was no good from the start but she milked out of 3 and the next year only out of 2... but I got a nice heifer out of her that I still have.

 

[NewMoo]

I would say she will not likely wait until January to calf. do you know any history of when she had her first calf?

No, I have no history on her. She was skin and bones when I bought her!

 

[NewMoo]

I agree that she probably was short bred when you bought her. All according to what type of preg checking was done, a vet can miss them through palpation when less than 35 days, and sometimes even further... 45 days. If done with ultrasound, a good vet can pick it up at 30 days.... but everyone is fallible on occasion. So, a late January or early Feb breeding could mean a calf in later Oct/Nov.
Jerseys bag up differently... some way ahead and some within a few days. So, as @Dsth mentioned... do you have any idea when she previously calved? You can take the date you bought her, and back up 60 days as anything over 60 days can obviously be felt if palpated for pregnancy....
Unless you have a vet to recheck her, you are going to be guessing. If you breed your own cows AI, then anyone that is skilled in AI can palpate her and tell if she has a calf in her..... I can tell them after about 4 months.... and have picked up some that are shorter.... but after 5 months, the fetus is plenty big enough to feel it.

Check her udder to make sure she is not developing a case of mastitis. Sometimes they will get a flare up if there is alot of fly problems and they can carry it. I have seen virgin heifers come down with mastitis months before calving. I bought one off a dairy at about 7 months bred that had developed mastitis in one quarter as a dry bred heifer... the quarter was no good from the start but she milked out of 3 and the next year only out of 2... but I got a nice heifer out of her that I still have.

I have no history on her. I want to make sure I understand what you said. Back up 60 days from March 23, when I bought her, and calculate a possible calving date from that? That would put her at late October for calving. I may have my vet check her after all this Ida rain moves out.

I appreciate you sharing your wisdom with me!

 

[MurraysMutts]

In the condition she was in when u got her, I'd say she probly wasnt bred.
But at the same time I've seen worse looking carrying a calf.
So idk.
Have her checked!

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

Hard to say for sure, but she looks to be pretty heavy bred at this time. Not springing so much, much def bagging.

 

[Son of Butch]

I bought a three year old, open jersey cow at auction in March.
From the pictures I have posted, does she look like she might have been bred when I bought her?

No, but if she calves in October, then yes.
Preg check won't change her due date and since you are committed to keeping her, I'd save the expense of a vet call to preg check her and just wait it out.
Jerseys are easy calving and it's not her first calf, so I wouldn't worry too much about her by spending more $

 

[farmerjan]

@Son of Butch has a point.... if you are committed to keeping her then she will calve when she calves...
But if you bought her as open, then she would not have been over 60 days when you bought her unless the person pregnancy checking was very inept.....or like me, not able to pick it up until 4 or more months... but then I don't go around pregnancy checking cows except for a few of our own if we aren't sure and I know it has been several months since the last possible time the bull got in or something.
@MurraysMutts can tell you all about buying a cow that was skin and bones,,,,, and calved much sooner than she was supposed to because everything she had was going into that fetus.... look up his thread of "think she will make milk"....

I would bet she was bred, probably 30 days or so when she was called open... with the thinness, it will hide a pregnancy. I am assuming you bought her to milk in the future???? Or use her as a nurse cow and raise several calves on?
Please keep us in the loop.... I am betting she will calve in late Oct or Nov.....

 

[cattleman19]

If you saw the bull mount her in April, I would go by that date, unless she bags up before.

 

[Ridgetop]

Jerseys are easy calving and it's not her first calf, so I wouldn't worry too much about her by spending more $

On the other hand, since you don't know her history, she may have been bred by a larger different breed bull. I would have your vet preg check her. Then you will have an approximate date in case she needs help calving a large calf. You don't want to take a chance on losing the cow for a few $$..

 

[A.J.]

Regardless of her pregnancy status, it looks like you've done a great job with her. She hardly looks like the same cow.

 

[suzorse]

she looks good ,but do not let her gain anymore weight , as it can cause metabolic problems at calving , like milk fever or ketosis , I have a heifer due November 10th and she developed an udder at 4 months bred , AIed sexed Jersey , if you observed heat behavior in April , I would say she will calve around the time you figure , and with Jerseys if you are checking them daily , the pins go 12 to 24 hrs before calving and is more noticeable than a beef cow
Suzanne

 

[aggietexan]

I bought a three year old, open jersey cow at auction in March. She is now bagging up and looks to be springing a little. Our bull was with her in April, and I had projected her calving date to be in January. I am not familiar with Jersey cattle (have more experience with beef cattle) and how they prepare to calve. From the pictures I have posted, does she look like she might have been bred when I bought her? I appreciate your thoughts!

not yet but close.... Look for the Vaginal area to become more relaxed. May even drip mucous and just like beef cattle she will start standing off by herself if she is with any other cattle. Bag is beginning to fill up. So far looks good.. I have raised cattle for 40 years. I kept up with some calving dates on show heifers since they are usually fat to begin with but on my commercial cattle they were left to fend for themselves (unless small first time cavers). Looking at the condition she was in I doubt very seriously she was bred. Nature shuts down the reproductive cycle until the body condition is good enough to breed. Same in any mammals. So it really depends on when the weight gain brought her back into heat. I would best guess say your bull bred her very soon when you turned him in. But again, I'm not there to see what you see. Just watch for the calving signs and you will be okay.

 

[coachg]

She is close but not real close

 

[NewMoo]

Regardless of her pregnancy status, it looks like you've done a great job with her. She hardly looks like the same cow.

Thank you! One mans trash… and all that. I've turned her into a gentle gal! She's bagged up some. I've attached some photos taken recently. Does she look close to calving to you? Jersey cows aren't in my realm of experience.

 

[NewMoo]

not yet but close.... Look for the Vaginal area to become more relaxed. May even drip mucous and just like beef cattle she will start standing off by herself if she is with any other cattle. Bag is beginning to fill up. So far looks good.. I have raised cattle for 40 years. I kept up with some calving dates on show heifers since they are usually fat to begin with but on my commercial cattle they were left to fend for themselves (unless small first time cavers). Looking at the condition she was in I doubt very seriously she was bred. Nature shuts down the reproductive cycle until the body condition is good enough to breed. Same in any mammals. So it really depends on when the weight gain brought her back into heat. I would best guess say your bull bred her very soon when you turned him in. But again, I'm not there to see what you see. Just watch for the calving signs and you will be okay.

Thank you! I appreciate your information!

 

[NewMoo]

she looks good ,but do not let her gain anymore weight , as it can cause metabolic problems at calving , like milk fever or ketosis , I have a heifer due November 10th and she developed an udder at 4 months bred , AIed sexed Jersey , if you observed heat behavior in April , I would say she will calve around the time you figure , and with Jerseys if you are checking them daily , the pins go 12 to 24 hrs before calving and is more noticeable than a beef cow
Suzanne

Thank you! I'm checking daily. Eager to see what she has. I had her calculated for mid-January. She's going to calve sooner than that, so against all odds of her poor body condition, I believe she was short bred when I bought her.

 

[NewMoo]

Regardless of her pregnancy status, it looks like you've done a great job with her. She hardly looks like the same cow.

Thanks so much!