Palpated salebarn cows?

[jasonleonard]

Just wanted to know how close the salebarn vets are on their palpation guesses.
Cows I have bought at auction last couple years don't seem to ever calve close
to the dates given by barn vets. These vets have to work so fast on sale day...
Maybe they get a little bit sloppy?? How close do you guys seem to hit with your
palpated cows?

 

[Anonymous]

If they say 6 months bred, I've had them drop a calf 2 weeks later and 3 months later. 120-150 days is hard to palp and accurately give a time.

 

[Kscattle]

A guy here in town bought a cow a few years ago in the 3rd stage, kept her a year and no calf. Sold her after that and she sold again in the 3rd stage! I've sold some I knew we're bred, just too late for me, and they sold as open cows. When I questioned him he got real defensive and I never sold there again.

 

[bigbull338]

vets who work at sale barns miss alot of preg cows.the cow could be springing an they call her 3 months.honestly i dont trust barn vets to palp cows.but thats just me.

 

[circlew]

My uncle bought one that was marked two months. Thru a calf the next day.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I have never bought a cow at a sale that was not right on with what the vet had her at. But i have had cows that didn't calve, had my vet preg them and my vet is known for being one of the best cattle vets in this part of the country and has never missed preged anything for me, he said they were open i took her to the sale the next day and the salebarn vet said bred in the first.

 

[salebarn junkie]

Ive never had much of a problem with that iam sure mistakes are made. Usded to a barn around here that always aged its cows to young great place to sell, if i bought there i just assumed the cow was alot older and bid accordingly

 

[Grandpa]

If they say 6 months bred, I've had them drop a calf 2 weeks later and 3 months later. 120-150 days is hard to palp and accurately give a time.

This has been my experience, too.

 

[bandit80]

Inconsistent at best. About the only thing one can be certain is if they say 1st stage, it is hard to scre that one up. 45-135 days bred is the easiest to determine length of gestation, after that it gets much harder.

 

[Anonymous]

Inconsistent at best. About the only thing one can be certain is if they say 1st stage, it is hard to scre that one up. 45-135 days bred is the easiest to determine length of gestation, after that it gets much harder.

I don't know. Even my dumb ass can pick out a last trimester bred. That 2nd trimester is the tough one unless you have abnormally long arms

 

[Dave]

I have bought 6 month breds that didn't calf for 6 months and I have bought 6 month breds that calved in less than a week. One of the things I check out is which vet is there that day. There are one or two who if they are working, I won't buy cows they preg or at least I discount them considerably. The thing that gets me is when I question them about it I basically get laughed at. I try to tell tham that uniform groups of calves sell better but I might as well be talking to a fence post.

 

[cow pollinater]

I've had them WAY off before and some of the vets that I see at the sales yard are the same vets that I see at a few dairies but at the dairies they're pretty accurate. It's just so much easier to be right when you can call a cow a recheck and see her again in two weeks or even come back to that cow after she takes a crap.
It is exceptionally hard to feel much of anything in some cows anyway but when you add in that all of the animals are stressed, there is no added information to give them like "sixty days with the bull" and they only get one chance before she gets let out of the chute regardless of how aired up she is(which makes it feel like the inside of a wine barrel), I'm amazed at how often they hit it on the head.

 

[bandit80]

Inconsistent at best. About the only thing one can be certain is if they say 1st stage, it is hard to scre that one up. 45-135 days bred is the easiest to determine length of gestation, after that it gets much harder.

I don't know. Even my dumb ass can pick out a last trimester bred. That 2nd trimester is the tough one unless you have abnormally long arms

6'8" wingspan. :nod: