A Strange Hormone Problem.

[carragheendexters]

After reading on another thread how someone's due to calve heifer was being harassed by the other cattle, I thought I would share on here what happened with one of my heifers last year.

I had a heifer (Japonica) running with a bull, to be bred. I don't normally have any problems getting our cows and heifers in calf, first breeding by the bull and they are normally pregnant. Japonica was duly bred by the bull but returned (unusual but not something to worry about) and was then rebred 3 weeks later. Bull was pulled from cows as assumed all should be in calf. We don't normally preg test, but have in more recent times started doing Biopryn for Ais or ones that I really want to know about.
I did not Biopryn Japonica.

She returned yet again, and again. I was a little perturbed, as I like this heifer and was worried she was infertile and would have to go. I moved her to our coastal property where our old bull resides and left her to be bred by him for an indefinite time, last ditch effort to get her in calf. By this time I was resigned that she was barren and would have to go. I put it off as she wasn't causing any problems, is only small and doesn't eat much, and geeze, I really liked her.
Some months later, I notice she has been bred by the bull again, oh flip! she is still empty after nearly 5 months of running with the bull, she has to go. I am trying to sort this out in my mind and come to terms with it, and the next week when I am there I check on her and think to myself, 'Japonica, what is going on, you are losing condition, you are looking poor around your rump. Next she swishes her tail and I glimpse her vulva, oh my goodness" Yep, she is due to calve soon. I check her udder, nice bit of springing there.

So all of this time she has been in calf and comes back in heat and is bred by the bull. A quick trip to take her home for calving, and she duly goes into labour 2 weeks later.

I had to go back to work on the coast but Don my DH looks after her. When I left at 6.30 she was early labour, wandering, tail out. Don checked her at 8.30 as he goes to work, still wandering, but no active labour yet. he comes home at 10.30 to check on her and she has calved a perfect, "healthy looking" little heifer calf, all cleaned and dry but DEAD, never took a breath, she had died before being born.

Don concerned, calls the vet and tells her what has happened. It was her belief and in her experience that the last mating ( 2 weeks before calving) had caused an infection which killed the calf. I had noticed that the last few days before calving the calf movements were less vigorous, and the day before calving , no movement at all. The vet recommended antibiotics for Japonica.

She duly returned back in heat 3 weeks after calving. We have let her have a few heats and have AI'd her. She has returned after that breeding, but this time we will Biopryn her before rebreeding.
According to our vet, as unusual as this sounds, it does happen. Sometimes they will only have one or two heats after getting pregnant, but there is the very occasional one that will cycle right through the pregnancy. She recommended to breed and test,and that if she tests positive to obviously not leave her with a bull again.
Who would have thought?

[kansasdexters]

Louise -

During one of our drought years, we had a couple of cows that were bred, confirmed pregnant, yet they continued to shows signs of heat. I even put one of them with the bull and she stood for him and he "bred" her, but she calved 2 months later, so he really wasted his time (and sperm) on her that go round. All of them had healthy calves and we haven't seen this behavior since we recovered from the drought. Because the quality of our hay and pasture was not the best during that time, I wonder if there was some nutritional deficiency that resulted in this unusual behavior.

Patti

[zephyrhillsusan]

That's too bad, carragheendexters. Who would have thought she'd have kept having heats time after time like that? That's so sad, but thank you for sharing your story. It's nice that you have BioPryn to check her with from now on so you won't risk that happening again. I hope she gives you a live heifer this time!

[Pinevalleydexters]

I have heard of this before. A person I know had a cow that same back into heat when bred. She never preg checked her and finally got mad at her and had her butchered. She was carrying a heifer calf that of course died.

[zephyrhillsusan]

Oh, how sad, Pinevalleydexters! I bet he was sick! That's why I love BioPryn and AntelBio--a simple milk test with a lactating cow or a simple blood test with one you suspect isn't bred will prevent such tragedies. Combined with Estrotect patches, which will show when a cow is standing to be mounted, a blood test 28 days later will tell you if she's pregnant and will closely pinpoint the date she was bred.

[hoperefuge]

Oh, what a frustrating thing to have happen, Louise!  Hopefully she settles down for you this time.  I've only usually heard of that happening with dairy breeds.

Interesting, Patti, that you saw it only during drought...does make you wonder.

Kim

[carragheendexters]

It s interesting that it happened to your cow Patti during a drought time. Drought causes strange things to happen in breeding animals.
This heifer was bred by the bull up to 2 weeks before calving, she stood and he mated every time. She is a big bodied heifer, and the calf was a chondro heifer so small, so I didn't notice any increase in her size.
Drought in Australia can go on for years, the last one lasted about 10 years I think. It causes weird things to happen, and animals' fertility suffers even if their condition is still good. In this last drought Which for us ended maybe nearly 10 years ago) we were having a terrible time getting cows to take to AI. We had the vet out for another visit and talking with him, he was saying that it was happening to everyone and to not even waste our time on AIing until there was green feed on the ground as the chances of them taking were minimal. He was also talking in general about AI ing, and Brahmans have to be done at dawn or dusk, or they don't take.
On the large properties in Northern Qld over here, because of the conditions, the heat, the dry, the flies and the ticks, there are mainly bos indicus cattle, predominantly Brahman that cope with the conditions, they are paddock bred by bulls and only have a calf every 2nd or 3rd year. Fertility is affected so much by climate.

We find on our inland property that is very hot and dry through the summer months, that it is hard to get the cows to take on the first AI. That is when they have to be bred for a Spring calving, so frustrating.

[carragheendexters]

Yes Susan, BioPryn is fantastic, especially as the person who has the licence to do the testing is driving distance for me. I just drop the samples off in a box that they have at their front gate for the locals to drop off samples.
I am waiting on a  couple of others that we AI'd, to collect blood on Japonica and the others and get them tested. She has cycled again so I am dubious if she took, or it's another repeat of last year. Ugh!
Pinevalley Dexters, that was nearly me. If I hadn't been so soft and liked her so much she would have been gone. She is so cheeky and naughty, she makes me laugh at her antics all of the time, she really brightens my day so I am glad she is still with us.
It is indeed frustrating Kim, not knowing yes or no. I will test the others we AI'd just to confirm, but I already "know" that they took. With her, I would just be guessing LOL

[carragheendexters]

Update on Japonica, we did the BioPryn this week and she is negative. She has had 2 heats since AIing, but I was waiting on testing her as I had a couple of others to do who had been AI'd a little later.
So she will have to be Ai'd again next heat and retested. I can see this is going to b e a frustrating venture. I could take the easy way out and use the bull next heat but I would prefer to use a different bull for her.
The other 2 that were AI'd are pregnant, one of which will be our first calf from Apple Coda.

[zephyrhillsusan]

carragheendexters, I'm sorry she's negative. Bummer! But at least you know. Good luck with the next round of AI!