SEXING A CALF

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i have a 4 day old calf, and the cow hasnt let us get close enough yet to determine the sex. would the testicles on a 4 day old bull be obviously noticible? it has what looks like the sheave where the penis should be, but when we lifted the tail, there werent any testicles. we didnt want to disturb to much, as the cow was getting annoyed already. any other suggestions on how we can tell. amd when should we have it banded if it is a bull. this is a angus if it makes any difference. please help a rookie out!
 
They should be obvious, but sometimes difficult as in your case with an all black animal. Don't let the sheath fool you. If you can lift the tail, you should be able to tell if it is a heifer or not. There will either be the obvious, or nothing under the tail.
 
Watch it when it urinates. If the cow keeps licking it's belly around where the penis would come out or the unbilival cord goes in, it's a retty good bet that it's a bull. Obviously if the urine comes out under the tail it's a heifer. The little tiny scrotum sometimes is fairly easy to see, but not alwasy.

dun


Anonymous":20sh64q6 said:
i have a 4 day old calf, and the cow hasnt let us get close enough yet to determine the sex. would the testicles on a 4 day old bull be obviously noticible? it has what looks like the sheave where the penis should be, but when we lifted the tail, there werent any testicles. we didnt want to disturb to much, as the cow was getting annoyed already. any other suggestions on how we can tell. amd when should we have it banded if it is a bull. this is a angus if it makes any difference. please help a rookie out!
 
Anytime between now and 3 months is the best for ease on the calf and yourself. I castrate mine at 3 months. I used to wait longer trying to gain an advantage with natural hormones, but so much easier to handle the animal when they are smaller, and the reduced stress on the animal gained the weight back anyway. A lot of people cut or band within a week of birth. So never too soon.
 
oh o k. my neighbor was telling us that we needed to band it within a week or couple of weeks.so by 1 month or so, the "nads" should be very noticible, right?
 
and 1 more question? how long should we wait until we breed her back? she is 6 yrs old. she just had her 4th calf, i think, but the first one for us. she was bred when we bought her last month.
 
Depends on when you want her to calf. We calf in late feb and march and breed from late may through june

dun

Anonymous":mqa3obh7 said:
and 1 more question? how long should we wait until we breed her back? she is 6 yrs old. she just had her 4th calf, i think, but the first one for us. she was bred when we bought her last month.
 
If she is the only one you have, and you don't care when you calve, breed back in 6 weeks to 3 months after delivery. Some good mommas breed back even quicker, but not usually.
 
actually, we have 2 other cows, which we were planning on breeding with a friends bull. he was going to let me use his bull after he was finished breeding his cows, which was going to be in the next 2 weeks or so. then I bought this bred cow from a neighbor who was moving, so now i am not sure what to do about the bull. should i bring the bull over anyway and let him run with my other 2 cows and this newmama cow? or should i wait until this new calf is 6 weeks old and then get the bull? what happens if the bull runs with a newly given birth cow?
 
If you breed the other cows now they will calve around January then this cow will calve a month or two later.
Your call on if you want calves that spread apart and want to feed the bull that long. The bull will sniff around this cow, but it's no big deal. 99.99999% of the time the calf will steer clear enough once the cow comes into heat to not get hurt and normally the bull will leave little calves alone, normally being the operative word.

dun

Anonymous":2vmcwb63 said:
actually, we have 2 other cows, which we were planning on breeding with a friends bull. he was going to let me use his bull after he was finished breeding his cows, which was going to be in the next 2 weeks or so. then I bought this bred cow from a neighbor who was moving, so now i am not sure what to do about the bull. should i bring the bull over anyway and let him run with my other 2 cows and this newmama cow? or should i wait until this new calf is 6 weeks old and then get the bull? what happens if the bull runs with a newly given birth cow?
 
Comming back to the cow being protective of the calf. Be careful. One of my cows is normaly calm, but gets that way when she calves. When she doesn't let me get close enough I'll put out some feed in the pen and try to put a gate between her and the calf, do a quick check and let them back together before she gets too stressed. If this isn't practical with your set up, you and a buddie could drive out in the pasture when the calf is laying away from the cow, put the truck between them, hop out and do a quick check while your buddie keeps an eye on the closing cow. The truck will give you a place to get away from the cow if need be. This only works if the new born calf hasn't built up enough strenth to run away from you.
 
I don't know what part of the country your from. But we're in PA. With our small herd we always wait to breed so our calving season starts in April. A lot easier to tend to without the snow hounding us and the muddy mess. Of course that depends if you can get the bull any ole time. This is what works for us, being we both work outside the home. As far as sexing you could always get some feed to console the momma while yah take a quick lift of the little ones leg!!!!
 
If you are not experienced and if the cow is real protective there is just no need to risk the cow's wrath at this time. You have plenty of time to either band or cut if it is in fact a little bull --- it is definitely not critical that you do it this week or next week. Good luck, Arnold Ziffle
 

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