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Post by spiritedhawk on Feb 28, 2009 1:32:50 GMT -5
We got our first Dexters last fall so most of y'all are much more experienced than us, so what do ya think of a year old heifer that is apparently way overweight? We got her last Oct., she was born in March, from a family that had been feeding her their extra milk and apparently sweetfeed. They had her tied to a long rope in the backyard to keep her away from their bull which is why they wanted to sell her. They didn't have a separate pasture fenced for the bull. She was fat when we got her and we figured she would lose the extra pounds over the winter once we got her on a better diet (hay and our grass). She has only gotten chubbier! For a while we thought maybe she had accidentally gotten bred before we got her but I don't think so. Her teats aren't dropping like our heifer that is due in Mays are, but she is fatter than the bred heifer! We do give all our cattle a morning treat of a coffee can mixture of range cubes and alfalfa/timothy cubes. She is the tamest, sweetest of the bunch and were counting on her to be a good milking cow since she lets us touch her all over and loves the attention. We want to breed her in May to our bull but worry about breeding her as chubby as she is. We take her for walks on the lead rope for extra exercise... for both of us  She seems hungry all the time and will try to yank the rope from us when we get near a tree she knows still has some old apples on the ground. We have a tub of thermolass hi mag protein in our pasture with the barn and switch her and the bull every few days so they each have a chance at it. Any thoughts? (Besides having her preg checked). I just recently got a headgate, but have to do some work on it and mount it in the barn before we can set it up and make some sort of squeeze chute. Thanks, and have a great spring! |
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Post by ctownson on Feb 28, 2009 5:50:44 GMT -5
I think you need to pregnancy test her first. Then, if not pregnant, reduce the amount of food. I test mine via a blood test - you could probably draw blood from her without a headgate if she is real tame.
charles
beavertree farm
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Post by copperhead on Feb 28, 2009 11:27:01 GMT -5
Is she a "shortie" the one I had always looked pregnant, even when she wasn't. They just have a way of staying much fatter than the long legs ones.
P.J.
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Post by spiritedhawk on Mar 1, 2009 21:38:04 GMT -5
She's not a "shortie" PJ. At least I dont think so. "Moon" (BVF Halfmoon at Noon) ADCA#020407 had her 1st B-day today ;D There's pics of her on our website, but I'll get some that show her... 'wideness' tomorrow and try to figure out how to get them on here Genebo. She's on our opening homepage at www.cedargroveacres.com/index.html She's the dun on the left. The black is our bred heifer due in late May, and the dun on the lower right is our bull Snowball that will be a year old next week. We have another bred heifer coming soon. By the way, can anyone tell me the easiest way to pull them tail hairs on the bull? I believe we're supposed to get 25 to 30 to send in. Do ya pull the last tail hairs? All at once or a few at a time? I was thinkin maybe a pair of vise grips latched on and 5 or 6 at a time? That outta be fun, haha. He's really starting to "feel his oats", bellowing and playing headpush games with me. I think he's hoping I'm a cow!  |
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Post by ctownson on Mar 2, 2009 6:17:57 GMT -5
She does look fairly short to me and not terribly overweight based on the photo; I would still check her to see if she is pregnant.
I just sent in two hair samples. A good pair of pliars is all you need. Clean them well before the procedure to make sure the sample is not contaminated. You need to get good roots from the hairs for the test. Grab about 10-20 hairs in the tail switch. Pull/Jerk with a quick motion to get the hairs out with roots attached. It didn't seem to both mine much at all; did it with them tied to a fence post.
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Post by Clive on Mar 2, 2009 8:40:54 GMT -5
As far as you can tell from a photo she doesn't look at all fat to me.
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Post by rhonda on Mar 2, 2009 14:30:44 GMT -5
I pulled my bulls tail hair while he was laying down--didn't seem to bother him til I got too much the last couple times--should you play head butt games with a bull??
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Post by spiritedhawk on Mar 2, 2009 23:25:42 GMT -5
Trying my hand at photobucket with a more revealing photo.  Took this pic this morning. |
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Post by spiritedhawk on Mar 2, 2009 23:48:05 GMT -5
Hey Rhonda, I dont butt him with my head, lol. He just likes to push against my legs and get a good scratching around the horns and such He is getting a bit rougher sometimes, and I'll carry a stout stick to put between me and his head and he'll scratch up and down the stick.  |
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Post by spiritedhawk on Mar 4, 2009 7:36:54 GMT -5
Thanks Gene. Both sides are equally fat. She has always been chubby since we got her at about 8 months of age. She turned 1 year last weekend. I think she's just a chubby cow I guess. Her pasture mate Violet (bred heifer) repeatedly tried mounting her yesterday. Last time she did that Linda told us that was normal as a dominance/cowplay type of thing if it was just an occasional sporatic accurance but if it was repeated and persistant then it was a good chance that Moon was in heat. Well Violet was very persistant yesterday trying to mount her and smelling her back end so I took Moon for a walk around the bulls pasture (opposite side of the fence) and our bull got very excited and smelling her as she ate along the fence line. Then I noticed a clear gel like discharge coming from Moon. All the cattle seemed more vocal than usual yesterday. I wrote down on the calendar that Moon was probably cycling. We are planning to put her in with our bull in late May for a late winter early spring calf. I hope she's not so chubby that she'd have difficulty birthing. Regarding the feeders, I threw 2 of them together mounting them on 4' rails. They've lifted them up but never tipped them over. I was afraid they would, especially Moon cause she likes to tip over the water bucket and mineral container and wear it like a 10 gallon hat. After about 4 months they eat them clean but don't tip them over. I move them around the pastures hoping the seed that drops will grow some of the burmuda and other grasses.
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Post by spiritedhawk on Mar 6, 2009 23:55:13 GMT -5
Gene. The feeders not very heavy. I just roll it over and back up on the legs. If I want to move it far, I slide it up on a trailer. The bottom is 4' wide, about 3' deep, with 4' rails or feet. it's smaller at the top and only holds about 1/2 a bail, so it has a wide stance for it's size. We tote hay to them in a cart behind a 4 wheeler. Had they started tipping it over I was gonna use 8' 4x4's for the rails and miter the ends so I could drag it with a 4 wheeler or my little tractor. We plan on building something similar on 12' or 14' 4x4 skids and making a chicken tractor to drag around the pastures and future garden areas. I'm getting conflicting views on our chubby heifers mucous, clear, gel like discharge. It only happened that one day when our other heifer kept trying to mount her. Visited a vet today and explained the whole situation. He thinks she was most likely in heat and is just a chubby cow. I read some posts here about 'stringing'? Before calving? Seems to me that if she was about to calve, even though she's just over a year old that nature would be taking it's course and her teats would be dropping. They are so short you really have to reach up to find them. I figured the vet would want to check her out, but he didn't think that was needed, that she was cycling. Since our grass is starting to come up, we've cut out the morning range and alfalfa cubes, and cut back on her hay.
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Post by laughingllama75 on Oct 3, 2011 14:49:31 GMT -5
Is your little heifer still "fat" or did she calf? sorry, was just reading through all the old post and found this one. I might find the answer somewhere......
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She seems hungry all the time and will try to yank the rope from us when we get near a tree she knows still has some old apples on the ground. We have a tub of thermolass hi mag protein in our pasture with the barn and switch her and the bull every few days so they each have a chance at it. Any thoughts? (Besides having her preg checked). I just recently got a headgate, but have to do some work on it and mount it in the barn before we can set it up and make some sort of squeeze chute. Thanks, and have a great spring!
