amysflock
Loving the herd life
Hi, all,
I spend a bit of time on another discussion board where most folks own dairy cattle, so I've learned a lot about labor signs from those folks, like "stringers" and monitoring the pin bones prominence, bagging up, etc. I've heard, though, that the signs in beef breeds can be different or more subtle, and also that the signs in heifers is often different than in cows.
I check Bridgit, our 2-year old first calf Scottish Highland heifer, every evening after work as I comb her...feel her pins, check for stringers, and feel her udder. (Thankfully she allows all this...I'm hoping that will help make contact easier after she calves.) I've noticed subtle changes from week to week, but last night the back of her udder felt a lot fuller than the night before (not big, but the width of my hand from the bottom of the udder/top of teats to her belly), and she had a much longer stringer than I've seen yet (although it was all tied up in her long hair so kind of a loopy mess).
I'd love to hear your experiences with beef heifers (or dairy heifers) showing signs of heading toward labor, anything I should watch for, or "xx hours probably until labor if you see yyy" type things.
We expect her calf around the end of the month, but she was running with the bull so we really have no idea exactly when she's due. I'm thinking it might be sooner, so will be buying some supplies today at lunch and we'll get the other emergency supplies (feeding tube, dried colostrum, etc.) over the weekend so we have it when it's time.
Thanks!
I spend a bit of time on another discussion board where most folks own dairy cattle, so I've learned a lot about labor signs from those folks, like "stringers" and monitoring the pin bones prominence, bagging up, etc. I've heard, though, that the signs in beef breeds can be different or more subtle, and also that the signs in heifers is often different than in cows.
I check Bridgit, our 2-year old first calf Scottish Highland heifer, every evening after work as I comb her...feel her pins, check for stringers, and feel her udder. (Thankfully she allows all this...I'm hoping that will help make contact easier after she calves.) I've noticed subtle changes from week to week, but last night the back of her udder felt a lot fuller than the night before (not big, but the width of my hand from the bottom of the udder/top of teats to her belly), and she had a much longer stringer than I've seen yet (although it was all tied up in her long hair so kind of a loopy mess).
I'd love to hear your experiences with beef heifers (or dairy heifers) showing signs of heading toward labor, anything I should watch for, or "xx hours probably until labor if you see yyy" type things.
We expect her calf around the end of the month, but she was running with the bull so we really have no idea exactly when she's due. I'm thinking it might be sooner, so will be buying some supplies today at lunch and we'll get the other emergency supplies (feeding tube, dried colostrum, etc.) over the weekend so we have it when it's time.
Thanks!