When do heifers start to "Bag up"?

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redneckcowgirlmn

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Hi,
Y'all remember that freemartin heifer I bugged you about? Well got the bull calf cut on March 24th, and they've been out on pasture since.
They are now 13 months old, give or take a week.
Last week, I noticed this:
Image009-1.jpg

COULD she be bred? (He rode her about every 16 days, before he got castrated, and once after...)
Or is it not likely, I read somewhere heifers can get something called a "Fatty Udder".
Vet's coming next week for some horse stuff, he said he'd palpate her then, but I just thought I'd run it past you guys in the mean time.
Thanks.
 
They can start to develop an udder several months ahead of calving, it will usually just develop to about what you are seeing, and then sit there until a month or so before calving, that depends somewhat on the heifer though. When did you first put these two animals together? Or, it could just be some other hormonal "thing". The best way to know for sure is to have her palpated. In about 10%-12% of heifer/bull twins, the heifer will be fertile I believe.
 
Thanks for the reply, they have been together since we got them a year ago... vet was going to castrate way back when, long story short, bull calf came with pneumonia, wanted to wait 'till he was over it...(which took forever-he was a preemie- got "Quite a Deal" on the pair. Bought them to raise for butchering, which is still going to happen.... not soon enough for me, LOL!)...was told "she's a freemartin, they're all sterile anyways, you don't have to keep them separated", etc. etc.
 
redneckcowgirlmn":kf2esm3c said:
Thanks for the reply, they have been together since we got them a year ago... vet was going to castrate way back when, long story short, bull calf came with pneumonia, wanted to wait 'till he was over it...(which took forever-he was a preemie- got "Quite a Deal" on the pair. Bought them to raise for butchering, which is still going to happen.... not soon enough for me, LOL!)...was told "she's a freemartin, they're all sterile anyways, you don't have to keep them separated", etc. etc.

:D :D , odds are she is bred. If that is the case, you would be far better off to sell her as a bred, than to eat her. Murphy's law, you buy her to eat, she gets bred, you buy her to breed, no chance that would have happened.
 
I've never seen a freemartin develop even a puberty udder. I'm suspecting that A she's not a freemartin and B she's bred. Have the vet palpate her. Other then waiting for her to calve tha's the only sure fire method.
 
Just an update: Fatty Udder, not bred. She has 2 ovaries,(Which is why she was cycling, and now that the "bull" is a steer, he's lost interest & only has his mind on feed, where it belongs!) one ovary is deformed, and has a vagina, but no uterus in between, so, no calf.
Which is great news... didn't want to have to milk her in January, LOL! So, he name of "Filet" remains!
 

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