Will a heifer born twin go into heat?

[BK9954]

Will a heifer that was born a twin with a bull still go into heat?. I know they will never get pregnant but does anyone know if they still go into heat. I have a few heifers I bought from a broker a while back that arent bred. I have a yearling bull I cant really test yet but not sure if these girls are sterile. Not wanting to sell them while the market is so low.My heifers all go into heat but I am thinking my bull is still young or just no good. He is a yearling jersey bull. His penis is very skinny. Would this have anything to do with it? A lot skinnier than my other bulls.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

Theres no heat if theres no eggs or thats my thoughts. Why don't you take your bull and have his semen checked? I've never heard of a bull being good or bad from the size of their dick.

 

[dun]

Freemartins can range from basicly no plumbing to everything including ovaries. The catch is that even if they have all the plumbing they still won;t have adequate hormones to maintain a pregnancy. So yes, a few of them are capable of having heats.

 

[BK9954]

Okay. If the bull is good the heifers are gonna go. I have done everything right with them as far a nutrition and minerals. I tried AI last september with no success but chalked it up to a bad vet or being too young. Thanks for the info. They are getting close to 2 years old now.

 

[angus9259]

1. IF you can't test the bull, how do you know "the bull is good"?
2. You can blood test to see if they are freemartin - $25.
3. You could have a vet come out and palpate.
4. 7% of heifers born twin to a bull can carry a pregnancy.

 

[BK9954]

I can test him but the vets say he is a little young for it to be accurate. I didnt know I could get the heifers tested. The heifers will be palpated this month.

 

[angus9259]

I can test him but the vets say he is a little young for it to be accurate. I didnt know I could get the heifers tested. The heifers will be palpated this month.

I don't know how they can be too young to be accurate. never heard of that. the gun is either loaded or it aint.

 

[dun]

Palpating will only tell you if there is a gross abnormality. The blood test is the way to go. We do a BSE on them at around 11 months.

 

[Rafter S]

I can test him but the vets say he is a little young for it to be accurate. I didnt know I could get the heifers tested. The heifers will be palpated this month.

I don't know how they can be too young to be accurate. never heard of that. the gun is either loaded or it aint.

I agree. The vet likely meant that he's relatively young to expect him to be good now, and a negative test now doesn't mean he won't be perfectly fine when he gets older.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Okay. If the bull is good the heifers are gonna go. I have done everything right with them as far a nutrition and minerals. I tried AI last september with no success but chalked it up to a bad vet or being too young. Thanks for the info. They are getting close to 2 years old now.

So you don't know if the heifers are even pregnant at close to 2 years of age? This seems to happen to alot of folks. And calling a pregnancy is really one of the easiest things to check. And an open heifer or cow is the most expensive problem in the cow business. Folks at 16 months your heifers need to be pregnancy tested.

 

[BK9954]

The bull has been with them 4 months. Going to get them checked this month when I get time off. I work about 80 hours a week at my real job. Cattle are my part time. Just getting started 16 months ago. Dont see them showing any signs yet.

 

[BK9954]

The bull earned his keep. All of the heifers are bred. If not he was off to the sale barn. Going to keep this Jersey bull for a little longer to breed 4 more heifers in about 5 months from now.