pregnant heifer?

[Anonymous]

We are new to owning cows, and we have one 2yr old heifer and one 1yr old bull. We would like to know how do we tell when the heifer becomes pregnant. We would like her to be pregnant before we send the bull off to slaughter.



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[Anonymous]

First, have you observed your bull servicing the heifer? One year old seems a touch young for him...probably better at 14-16 months old?? Assuming she has in fact been bred, in 2-4 weeks you could take her to the Vet for an ultrasound evaluation and/or later for a palpation. I'll let some of the other posters give you info on heat cycles, and all that.

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[Anonymous]

Well..Bill is right..12 months is a tad young, but it depends on the particular bull & the breed also. The bull should show "interest" in the cow every 21(+/-) days..if 21 days go by after he does & he ignores her..then she is most likely pregnant. I raise Longhorns & they are famous for their fertility, the youngest I had a bull breed a heifer (oops!) was 11 months..I believe Jerseys have a similar reputation. Brahmans in general mature much later sexually. I would think just about all breeds would be fertile by 14-16 months. Ultrasound is an early option, but fairly expensive. Palpation (manual examination by vet) is much cheaper, but the cow should probably be bred about 45 days to be sure of a correct reading!
> We are new to owning cows, and we
> have one 2yr old heifer and one
> 1yr old bull. We would like to
> know how do we tell when the
> heifer becomes pregnant. We would
> like her to be pregnant before we
> send the bull off to slaughter.



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