Dexter Heifer

Sweetened

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While I know the only way to tell with certainty is to have her palpated, but I havent been able to get her into the headgate (still trying as we have a vet coming to geld a horse next month), but Im curious if you think this is grass belly.

Star is a dexter. She was with a bull (inadvertently) from 7 months on, and is currently 17 months old. Some days I think she is pregnant, other days I dont. Never saw her breed, cant figure out when she is cycling. Anyway, we have our bull at another location and are selling him -- I will be going to AI.

Interested in your thoughts on pregnancy, possibly how far along

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greybeard

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She certainly could have already been cycling at 7 months--not unusual at all--and if your bull is known to be a sound breeder, with even a moderate libido,and she has been exposed to that bull for the last 10 months, there is every reason to assume she is bred. Just from the photos, I'd 'guess' 4-5 months along, but I am not at all familiar with Dexters. Visuals are often misleading.
You didn't mention what breed your bull is, full size or a smaller breed, or if he has a history of making big calves, but if you are concerned about the heifer being able to calve , your vet needs to palpate it and if in an early stage, can give it a shot of lute, but the longest I've ever heard of waiting was about 140 days after breeding.
 

Sweetened

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Thanks, Greybeard!

She was on pasture with her mother longer than she should have been, and thus was with a proven dexter bull from 4-9 months. When she came back here, we had a 7 month old dexter bull calf we brought home who was a fence mangler from day one and couldnt be seperated. He left here in June to a friends place who can better handle him and is up for sale.

My concern isnt large calf or anything. I dont want to sell her if she is bred. She comes from a high milk volume cow (4gallons a day at 15 years old) and is sired by a bull known for putting milk and excellent udders on the ground. If she is lnt likely bred, mind you, we are planning a move so id keep her up for sale.

Some days she looks like this, other days she looks slim. But when she is more round, she is always circular up high instead of saggy low. Not sure if that matters.
 

greybeard

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Yes, it should have sent you an alert with a link to this thread...
You are known as the cattle expert around here!
I see.
I have that feature disabled.

I usually check in @ least once per day, read every new thread and every new reply in the cattle section, look at the active threads in Forages, Fences, Structures, and sometimes Random whatever it's called, tho that section is now but a shadow of what it once was, just as this cattle section is.
 

greybeard

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As I said--it is a "guess'. It is very difficult to look at a heifer or even an older cow and try to say one way or another whether she is bred or not. Easier, if one sees it in real life over a period of time, but just looking one time and at pictures, much more difficult. If you had not included the history of the heifer being with the bull, I would have passed on giving any kind of opinion at all.
There are things to watch for in their behavior that can indicate if she's still open, even if there are no other cattle around for her to be bully on. Basically, personality and physical motion changes, and of course, during cycle, her vuvla appearance holds clues. I will try to write something up on it later. (btw.. if you can at least get her penned or tied, the vet can draw a blood sample and determine for sure if she is bred, but it won't tell you how far along she is--or you can order the kit and draw the blood yourself then send it in. Also there is a PTest urine preg test. )
I find it much easier to palp and to observe for heat.
Thanks, Greybeard!

She was on pasture with her mother longer than she should have been, and thus was with a proven dexter bull from 4-9 months. When she came back here, we had a 7 month old dexter bull calf we brought home who was a fence mangler from day one and couldnt be seperated. He left here in June to a friends place who can better handle him and is up for sale.

My concern isnt large calf or anything. I dont want to sell her if she is bred. She comes from a high milk volume cow (4gallons a day at 15 years old) and is sired by a bull known for putting milk and excellent udders on the ground. If she is lnt likely bred, mind you, we are planning a move so id keep her up for sale.

Some days she looks like this, other days she looks slim. But when she is more round, she is always circular up high instead of saggy low. Not sure if that matters.
 

farmerjan

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I agree that just looking is next to impossible to tell if she is bred. Do you grain her? Only grain her in the head catch or at least take a couple of gates or panels and get he into a small enclosure and only feed her there and then get her to go into the head catch. You've got to "catch" her to milk her so she needs to know now what to do. If the vet is coming in a month to geld the colt you should be able to get her into it. Do not close it the first few times, let her put her head in to eat, move around her normally and let her back out & go in so that it doesn't feel like a trap. Then after a week of that she ought to not mind you around her head & you can get it closed. REWARD her with grain or alfalfa hay and DO NOT LET HER OUT when she is pulling/fighting it. Make it a "not a big deal" experience. Give her a little extra grain and release it when she is eating and just walk away a little so she backs out and you are looking like you don't care. And don't catch her every time she puts her head in it. It's not like manhandling a goat. I would say it is likely she is bred and the 4-7 month range figuring she may have started cycling at 12 to 14 months. Many do younger especially anything that has jersey in it. 8-10 months is common for them. Alot of vets do ultrasound now instead of just palpations, and the 5-8 month range is hard to pinpoint a date since the calf is way over the pelvic bone and growing in size and they can't feel the coteleydons (sp?) on the placenta. Since she looks to be good sized the dexter breeding shouldn't produce a difficult sized calf. Mood changes , thin clear mucus, swelling of the vulva, "mooing", fence walking all can be signs of heat but some never show it. After 7 months she will start to develop the udde, some quicker than others but I think you need to get her palpated or ultrasounded when the vet comes. Even the blood test she needs to be caught up and the urine test you might be lucky to get close enough to catch some but she needs to learn the head catch so can be a productive member of your herd. Lute is short for lutalyse which is used to abort a calf, or to help the uterus "clean" if she fails to pass the afterbirth, or gets a uterine infection, to get rid of the cl to make an animal come back into heat. Will also cause many "silent heat" cows to show a heat; causes contractions and changes the hormone levels. The head catch is necessary to do AI breeding too.
 

Sweetened

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Thanks all, sorry for the delayed response.we have seen significant changes in belly size over the past couple weeks. There are still days where it doesnt seem to br promising but most days she is heavier set than usual. When the gates go in, i can work on her in a head gate, but that wont be until mid september. If i so much as touch a pail that has something that rattles in it, I am mauled by goats, so I will need to be able to keep the goats at bay and just have Star in an area where there is no stress or pressure with said grain. I do not otherwise grain, and once trained, will probably go to alfalfa pellets rather than anything else.

She is interested but skittish, and I can pet and scrub her if and only if there is grain down or im wearing a particular shoe she licks incessantly, and then I can only reach over top of her, I cannot step to her side.

She got this habit from her mother who HATED me (and is back with her original owner). Im glad avoidance is the only trait she took on. I will likely build her a pen in the barn with the goats for the winter so she can calve out of the wind and not be tainted by the presence of bucks. Its not odeal for feces management, but its the best I can offer her.
 

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