This is a new one for me (question)

[milkmaid]

I took my heifer herd into the vet clinic today for palpation, worming, and to dehorn a couple. The group is about 600-700lbs, more or less.

All checked out fine except for one heifer. She's about 9-10 months old, my vet said her reproductive tract was all there, BUT, it's about 1/4 the size of her contemporaries. He said she'll probably cycle due to having ovaries, but the chance of her settling is about 1 in 50, in his opinion.

She's not a freemartin, and not a twin with a bull calf, my vet said that occasionally heifers will just be born like this and it's just kind of a fluke thing.

Before I cut my losses and sell her, I just thought I'd bring up the subject with y'all on here and see if anyone has any comments or experience with this. :???:

 

[3MR]

No experience with this but I do have a question.

How can you be sure the heifer want a freemartin and the twin wasnt absorbed by the mother in the early stages.

 

[dun]

We purchased a bred heifer a few years ago that had been palpated bred and never cycled. When she was well past her possible calving date I had the vet check her. She had a CL on one side and the ovary was normal. The otherside ovary was almost non-existant. Later when talking to the breeder he commented that her dam usually twinned but she hadn;t that year. Hmmmmm, sounds like a possible freemartinish problem to me. I've heard of freemartins cycling but never maintaining a pregnancy. The theory was that although the freemartinism didn;t affect her physically it affected her enough to not secrete enough hormones to settle.

dun

 

[randiliana]

We had one once that the AI tech caught. She had cysled, and we were in the process of breeding her. He said her reproductive tract felt underdeveloped and that she probably wouldn't breed. Sure enough she was dry in the fall.

 

[rkm]

When we had the dairy, once in a while we we would have a heifer that the vet said the repro tract was small or under developed. He suggested that we give them more time. I wish I could remember what our success rate was on those heifers.

As to freemartins sometimes a cow concieves with twins but one twin dies and is absorbed. The other twin is born as a single normal calf but is a freemartin. Strange but true.

 

[Farmgirl]

We have a long 2 year old that had her first calf last winter/spring. Almost a year ago now. Vet palpated her in the spring. Said her ovaries were really small. Told him she took on first AI for her first calf. His response was, then "don't worry about small ovaries". He didn't say how much smaller they were than expected. We kept her heifer calf. She is a nice thick calf that cycled first at 7 months of age.

Farmgirl

 

[cowgirl_telly_369]

We have a 3 year old heifer that we've been trying to get pregnant for over a year. The vet didn't find anything wrong with her. We had three attempts to get her pregnant last year, once AI at county fair, then twice with two different bulls. She ended up open all three times. We decided that if she came up open again this year, we'd sell her. We put the bull in with her in July, and took him out last month. Got her preg tested, and she finally came back pregnant.

 

[MikeC]

I thought "Infantile Reproductive Tracts" were fairly common in heifers?

Found this:

The RTS values can be used to predict reproductive performance of yearling heifers, especially for pregnancy rates to synchronized breeding and to pregnancy rates at the end of the breeding season. Heifers with more mature reproductive tracts had higher pregnancy rates and calved earlier. Preliminary data indicate that tract scores can be used to evaluate the status of heifer development and time synchronization programs and the start of the breeding season. Scoring can be done as part of a yearling heifer evaluation and health program in conjunction with collection of yearling weights, condition scores, pelvic measurements, and general processing.

An RTS of 1 is assigned to heifers with infantile reproductive tracts, indicated by small, toneless uterine horns and small ovaries lacking significant structures. Heifers scored as 1 are probably the furthest from cycling at the time of examination. Heifers given an RTS of 2 are thought to be closer to cycling than those scoring 1, due primarily to the presence of small follicles and slightly larger uterine horns and ovaries. Heifers assigned an RTS of 3 are thought to be on the verge of cycling based on slight uterine tone in addition to the presence of follicles. Heifers assigned a score of 4 are presumably cycling, as indicated by good uterine tone, uterine size, and follicular growth. However, heifers with tract scores of 4 lack an easily distinguished corpus luteum due to the stage of the estrous cycle. Heifers with tract scores of 5 are similar to those scoring 4 except for the presence of a palpable corpus luteum.

 

[milkmaid]

As far as my statement that she wasn't a twin -- guess I should have clarified that she wasn't born as one of a set of twins. Who knows what may have happened at 40 days of gestation.

Interesting article, Mike C. My vet mentioned he'd read something like that; and that studies had shown you could even estimate fertility based on how developed the reproductive tract was at this age/size. Which was part of the reason he felt she'd never settle.

Dun- so the 'bred heifer' you purchased turned up open?

My vet said this one has everything she needs; isn't like she's missing an ovary -- only that everything is much, much smaller than it ought to be.

At this point, I think my options are to either sell her after the new year, when prices are hopefully a little better (3-6wt hol steers were at .60-.80/lb this week! :shock, or to put her out with the bred heifers on a different (lower nutrition, less expensive) feed ration and adopt a wait-n-see approach. It'd mean she'd be substantially smaller than the others come summer, but I could have her re-evaluated then.

Opinions, comments...?

 

[dun]

Dun- so the 'bred heifer' you purchased turned up open?

Yup. The breeder took her back and gave her a shot of lute AIed her when she was in heat and she palped bred 2 months later. A year later when she didn;t calve he shipped her. I'm kind fo suspicious of the guy doing his preg checking.

dun

 

[Ryder]

How much will you be out if you hold on to her?
Do you want the gamble?

 

[milkmaid]

Ryder -- well, offhand I figure I have about $600-700 into her right now including her purchase. At 600lbs, I know I'm not going to get that back if I sell her now. :lol: :? But in just guesstimating numbers, I think I'll probably lose about the same amount of money if I sell her now or in the spring.

Sell her now and I don't have to feed her this winter, and it's less work for my folks. Sell her later and I can find out if anything's changed between now and then. But at the same time... keeping her "just out of curiousity" is not a good policy when it comes to finances. lol.

Any thoughts? anyone else out there dealt with heifers like this before?

 

[sidney411]

I bought 2 reg. herf heifers 2 yrs ago. I had them w/ 2 different bulls and took them in to be ultrasounded. 1 had a small, but complete tract, like yours. She cycled, was serviced by the bulls but never maintained a pregnancy. She brought $.80 at the sale barn though. BTW - the guy I bought her from wouldn't take her back either :x I will never do any business with him again.

 

[GMN]

As far as my statement that she wasn't a twin -- guess I should have clarified that she wasn't born as one of a set of twins. Who knows what may have happened at 40 days of gestation.

Interesting article, Mike C. My vet mentioned he'd read something like that; and that studies had shown you could even estimate fertility based on how developed the reproductive tract was at this age/size. Which was part of the reason he felt she'd never settle.

Dun- so the 'bred heifer' you purchased turned up open?

My vet said this one has everything she needs; isn't like she's missing an ovary -- only that everything is much, much smaller than it ought to be.

At this point, I think my options are to either sell her after the new year, when prices are hopefully a little better (3-6wt hol steers were at .60-.80/lb this week! :shock, or to put her out with the bred heifers on a different (lower nutrition, less expensive) feed ration and adopt a wait-n-see approach. It'd mean she'd be substantially smaller than the others come summer, but I could have her re-evaluated then.

Opinions, comments...?

I'd take the wait and see approach, if your Vet could feel an abnormality, surely the Vet who checks at a sale barn will be able to feel it too, and it will effect the price, in a downward number for sure.

GMN

 

[milkmaid]

As far as my statement that she wasn't a twin -- guess I should have clarified that she wasn't born as one of a set of twins. Who knows what may have happened at 40 days of gestation.

Interesting article, Mike C. My vet mentioned he'd read something like that; and that studies had shown you could even estimate fertility based on how developed the reproductive tract was at this age/size. Which was part of the reason he felt she'd never settle.

Dun- so the 'bred heifer' you purchased turned up open?

My vet said this one has everything she needs; isn't like she's missing an ovary -- only that everything is much, much smaller than it ought to be.

At this point, I think my options are to either sell her after the new year, when prices are hopefully a little better (3-6wt hol steers were at .60-.80/lb this week! :shock, or to put her out with the bred heifers on a different (lower nutrition, less expensive) feed ration and adopt a wait-n-see approach. It'd mean she'd be substantially smaller than the others come summer, but I could have her re-evaluated then.

Opinions, comments...?

I'd take the wait and see approach, if your Vet could feel an abnormality, surely the Vet who checks at a sale barn will be able to feel it too, and it will effect the price, in a downward number for sure.

GMN

I wouldn't try to sell her through the dairy sale -- I have higher morals than that. She'd go through the weekly beef sale and sell as a freemartin, and I'm not expecting much. Holstein prices were pathetic in the local auction report last week.

Sidney -- that's good to know. Thanks for sharing. Makes me think I shouldn't expect her to ever settle, and base my decision of when to sell on when the price is best.

I bought this one with a group of others that were all about 2-4 weeks old, way back in March. Too late to talk to the fellow I bought her from now.

 

[Farmgirl]

I bought 2 reg. herf heifers 2 yrs ago. I had them w/ 2 different bulls and took them in to be ultrasounded. 1 had a small, but complete tract, like yours. She cycled, was serviced by the bulls but never maintained a pregnancy.

Sidney,

Is this the one we talked about before?

Farmgirl