What do you think ?

[Joy in Texas]

Oh man,say it isn't so ! This heifer is one I bought at the sale barn 8-6-07. She was a good looking little heifer. I figured she was 5-6 months old. A couple of weekends,when checking them out at the pasture. I thought gee she was getting a grass belly on her. Well,now I'm not sure. If ,I didn't know better. I would swear she is pregnant.In this picture does she look like she is developing a bag?

Is this more than a grass belly ?

 

[grannysoo]

Looks mighty suspicious! Mighty long nips for a heifer.

 

[shorty]

It's hard to say, if you need to get a vet for something else I'd have him check her while he's there . At this piont I don't think I'd have him make a special trip.

 

[bigbull338]

she sure looks bred to me.but im going by the looks of her belly.an i dont see her making the 6 month bagg yet.think id have her palpated an see if she is bred.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

she looks out of proprtion to me belly and udder. im bett'in its grass belly id worm her and keep a check . a heifer will look like she's baggin up one day and down the next several times before calving.. IF .. she's is pregnant .

 

[mnmtranching]

Hmmm, I'm going to say, :?: 4 months bred. Let us know.

 

[Joy in Texas]

she looks out of proprtion to me belly and udder. im bett'in its grass belly id worm her and keep a check . a heifer will look like she's baggin up one day and down the next several times before calving.. IF .. she's is pregnant .

I don't think it's worms. She was at the vet Sept.15,07. She got her brucellosis vacc. black leg and she was dewormed there. Would it be to soon to deworm her again ?
Gee ,MNMTRanching,if she's looks to be 4 months bred. That means she got pregnant 4-5 months old. She was not around any bulls since I bought her. Well,macoroni I guess this why she was at the sale barn.
Yes indeed ,I will let you know what happens .

 

[msscamp]

I think she's pregnant.

 

[IluvABbeef]

I think she's pregnant.

Yup. :nod:

 

[novatech]

I see a trailer backing up to the chute and a trip to the sale barn.

 

[flaboy]

First, I would say she was more than 5-6 months when you bought her but pictures can be deceiving. I also say she is bred.

 

[Gate Opener]

Joy, what do you plan on doing with her? Are you going to see if she can have it or sale barn or butcher? Just curious, I don't know for sure what I would do.

 

[Brandonm2]

First, I would say she was more than 5-6 months when you bought her but pictures can be deceiving. I also say she is bred.

Agreed on both counts.

I would send her to the sale barn....after the vet confirms your suspicions.

 

[jvicars]

why send her to the sale barn if she is preg? seems to me like that is a free extra. granted she is young to calf but why sell her before she calves? thanks.

 

[Brandonm2]

why send her to the sale barn if she is preg? seems to me like that is a free extra. granted she is young to calf but why sell her before she calves? thanks.

There is a markedly increased risk of her dying having the calf at less than 18 months old. There is an even better chance of losing the calf. ALSO heifers who calf waaaay too early like that tend to get stunted for life. I am really risk averse. I would sell it and let somebody else deal with it.

 

[Rustler9]

She does look pregnant, but she might do just fine. A few years ago one of mine got bred at 11 months old but it was totally by mistake and I didn't know it until she started bagging up. We had about a dozen heifers in a lot feeding them in the fall, one morning when I went to feed them one of the bulls was in there with them. Obviously, he had jumped over the fence to get in there. He had never gotten out before and has not since then. He wasn't paying any of the heifers any attention, I just opened the gate and ran him out. As I said earlier, I didn't notice any thing and didn't think any more about it until one of the heifers started bagging up later. Then I remembered that particular incident. The heifer calved at 20 months old and hasn't missed a beat since. She bred back about three months after calving and has done the same thing every year since. She didn't get stunted and her calf turned out to be a really nice heifer which we still have in the herd.

 

[jvicars]

i understand ideally at heifer is bred at 14 months and calfs around 2 ish. if a heifer is bred early and calfs what is the downside to slow growth if calfing is not problematic? If the heifer ends up being smaller but calfs well seems like the process is working. what am i missing? thanks.

 

[Beefy]

i wouldnt freak out too much Joy. i have heifers with little "bags" like that all the time that arent pregnant. in fact my bottlecalf TaterSalad has a little "bag" like that and she always has. if your heifer is pregnant she is not very, and certainly you wouldnt be able to tell by looking at her belly. in fact most heifers i know dont even look very pregnant when they calve, besides the udder and vulva of course. if she IS pregnant, for pete's sake dont sell her! everybody would be a lot better off if everyone would just take care of their own problems instead of passing them on.

i bet she'll make a real nice heifer when the rest of her catches up with her depth. shes just being awkward, give her some time.

 

[Joy in Texas]

i wouldnt freak out too much Joy. i have heifers with little "bags" like that all the time that arent pregnant. in fact my bottlecalf TaterSalad has a little "bag" like that and she always has. if your heifer is pregnant she is not very, and certainly you wouldnt be able to tell by looking at her belly. in fact most heifers i know dont even look very pregnant when they calve, besides the udder and vulva of course. if she IS pregnant, for pete's sake dont sell her! everybody would be a lot better off if everyone would just take care of their own problems instead of passing them on.

i bet she'll make a real nice heifer when the rest of her catches up with her depth. shes just being awkward, give her some time.

LOL Beefy ,I just love the names you pick out,TaterSalad Thats cute ! Well,if was just the bag,I wouldn't worry. It's her gut also.
I'm not going to sell her. I believe she's my problem and I'll figure it out. I do know she was not bred here at my place. So,it either happened where ever she came from,or the sale barn where I bought her.
Thanks for the help guys..... We will see what happens.

 

[msscamp]

i understand ideally at heifer is bred at 14 months and calfs around 2 ish. if a heifer is bred early and calfs what is the downside to slow growth if calfing is not problematic? If the heifer ends up being smaller but calfs well seems like the process is working. what am i missing? thanks.

If a heifer that is bred too early is not handled properly - that is fed properly, so she is able to continue developing, as well as allow her calf to develop - she usually ends up stunted, and her subsequent calves will not do as well as they would have if the heifer had not been bred prematurely. Conversely, if one overfeeds high protein feed - grain, alfalfa - to this bred heifer in the last trimester, a lot of that feed will go the calf, and cause a higher birthweight - thus complicating the situation. It is a bit tricky to feed an animal in this situation correctly, allow her to develop, yet not complicate the issue of her delivery of the calf.