Maxine appears to be open, still...

[Olga]

Our new bull Belmont arrived in late November. At that point Maxine was about 4.5 months postpartum. Her body condition was a bit low, at about 4. I can't remember when exactly, in either January or February, I brought Maxine to the house for milking and extra conditioning. I noticed that someone was coming into heat, but couldn't tell if it was Maxine or the yearling heifer Penny. Finally I cought Maxine in standing heat during two consecutive cycles. So we took her back to the bull right before her March 21 heat. However, when we were checking the cows on April 11th, I noticed that Belmont was intensively courting Maxine, again.
Maxine appears to be very regular with her cycles, with 21-22 days between standing heats. She is still nursing her steer calf Maxwell (almost 10 months old); I plan on weaning him next week. Her BCS is about 4.5. My plan is to schedule a vet visit to have her palpated.

[legendrockranch]

Just so you cover all bases you might also want to have Belmonts semen evaluated.

Barb

[zephyrhillsusan]

I'm really sorry you're having a hard time getting Maxine bred.  As long as she's lactating, why don't you send off a sample of milk to AntelBio for biotracking? It's SO easy and quick and much cheaper than a farm call.  I called them and talked about how to do it, and they ended up sending me a kit with instructions, tubes that are pre-dosed with preservative and a box for mailing the tube(s) back.  I still have tubes left, so the second time I just got a Priority box at the P.O.

[Olga]

Great idea, Susan.

[Olga]

I have to check with my new cow vet if he does repro checks on bulls. His facility is pretty small.

[Olga]

I have to check with my new cow vet if he does repro checks on bulls. His facility is pretty small.

[Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk]

Is she getting plenty of phosphorus in her diet? Do your minerals have a good amount of phosporus?... I'd try a mineral mix that is 12% or 14% phosphorus.

"Phosphorus enhances reproductive performance
at several stages in the reproductive
cycle. In Arizona tests, P increased rebreeding
efficiency for beef cows. Irregular estrus periods
have been associated with moderate P defi-
ciency, infertility with marginal P levels, and
anestrus with low P levels in Australia. In Texas
tests, 64 percent of the control cows produced a
calf on range alone compared to 85 percent of
the cows on range plus P supplement.
Phosphorus has been shown to increase
fertility, calving rates, calf growth rates, and,
when applied to pastures, carrying capacity."



www.ipni.net/ppiweb/bcrops.nsf/$webindex/734FE8EC3ABD7C6B852568EF0068287B/$file/99-1p32.pdf

[Olga]

Well, Maxine's trouble conceiving wasn't related to Belmont. Pistol Polly calved last Sunday, Claire on Monday, and Macy on Wednesday. Penny doesn't look far behind.

[zephyrhillsusan]

I don't know whether to say "Bummer!" for Maxine or "Hooray!" for Belmont. Both, I guess. Did the vet ever have any helpful input?

[Olga]

She did finally take, Susan. When she calves, I will be able to tell when, exactly

[stephanie]

Hello Olga, I had a lovely cow called Spice...sadly put down in the summer aged 18, that showed proper standing heat right up until she calved some years. First time she did it, which was the year I bought her I knew she was in calf anyway, so I was fortunate. On one occasion, there she was reversed up to the gate - hanging her tail over on bar of the gate as the bull was in the next field and he seemed pretty sure she was in season as well it was chaos. Her udder was already filling with milk and she calved just over 2 weeks later!

So there is a chance your cow was in calf before you think....

Stephanie

[zephyrhillsusan]

Wow, that's insane! It's good to know, though, as it gives hope and a reason to hang onto a cow.

That's one nice thing about the AntelBio milk test (I don't know if it's available in the UK). As long as the cow is in milk, it will detect pregnancy 28 days after breeding. It's not complicated or expensive, and would be worth redoing if a supposedly bred cow comes in heat, because it would let the owners know if she slipped the calf or was just acting "Spicy." They do like to keep us guessing, don't they?

[kansasdexters]

I've had Dexter cows act like they were in full blown standing heat, even to stand for the bull and allow him to "breed", and they have been pregnant and in their 3rd trimester. I had a cow that I wanted to cull after she struggled through winter, but she had been exposed to the bull, the summer before, and I'd written down a due date for her. We had the vet come and palpate her and he said she was "OPEN", and then 6 weeks later she calved on her "due date". Fortunately, her processing date had been scheduled for later in the season, and she was allowed to calve and raise her calf.

So now, I always wait until any possible chance of a calf being born has passed; and that a cull cow is OPEN, and that I know for sure that she has to be OPEN.

[stephanie]

I don't think the milk test is available here zephyrhillsusan but it sounds an excellent idea...except with....some dexters.... like my quietest cow in theory.  Over the years I've taken a little colostrum off her once or twice to freeze "just in case" First when she was a heifer, each time I was SO glad of my background in dairy farming. Any boxer would be proud of her lightening speed and dexterity! But then mine aren't milked , although they are bred from a herd that were.

Stephanie

[zephyrhillsusan]

stephanie, LOL, maybe I should revise my statement that it's "not complicated!"