Gestation Length

[cowman]

OK, dumb question.

When putting Shorthorn genetics on Angus females I expected a longer gestation. However, at what point do I get concerned? 290? 292? How long are they going to go???? All cows only bred AI so I know The due dates.

Thanks,

Cowman

 

[LN]

Why do some get so worked up on gestation lengths? My philosophy is let nature take it's course and the calves wil come when they're ready.

 

[cowman]

I am only nervous about calf size. These are not low BW Angus cows, and let's face it Shorthorns aren't usually small at birth either.

 

[Rustynail]

Well I will admit that I am dumb, but my cows never calve at 283.  I have 17 AI'd and 283 was on the 23rd.  One small heifer who I would say was a little early by what her BW was compared to my calves average Bw.  What is everyone else's opinion a gestation lengnth.  My neighbor who raises charloias figures  289.

 

[box6rranch]

We just calved a shorthorn bull with a maine cross cow. I think the best chart after much deliberation was 286 days. She was born on the 285th day.

 

[P-F]

I may be completely wrong but wouldn't the cow determine gestation length regardless of what you breed her to

 

[Show Steaks]

WE have about 15 heifers due March 7.. all but 3 have already calved as of the 26th of Feb.
But we have one simmental cow that is now 3 make that 4 days over her due date.
Talk about nerve racking most early then one over

 

[rtmcc]

This year all of our Angus bred Angus. Charolais bred Charolais and SimAngus bred to Simmental have run 277 to 284 days.  Every thing seems to be a few days early this year.

 

[justintime]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our gestation lengths are all over the map, and they are even more crazy with ET calves. I have seen 18 days between the first and last ET calf from the same flush and have seen this more than once. Right now I am calving 12 reipcs with ET calves. By the gestation table they were due on Feb. 24th. The first one was born 8 days ago, and the second was yesterday. 10 more to go and some look like they will be at least a week. There was no clean up bull for 6 weeks after the embryo were implanted and no other bull within 5 miles of them.

I have Angus cows and Charolais cows as well as my Shorthorns and I have seen wild variations in gestation time. I am thinking there are other factors involved in determining gestation length besides the sire. That said,I have also seen big differences between sires so the sire must have a role in this. On average, there was 11 days difference between our two Irish import bulls, Highfield Irish Mist and IDS Duke of Dublin.We are using a full Irish son of Irish Mist on our heifers for the last three years and we have not touched a calf yet. He is the shortest gestation length bull I have ever owned.

I have never induced a female who has gone over, as I have always felt it was Mother  Nature's job.I have probably calved between 6500 and 7000 cows here in my adult life, and  I have never seen the need to induce, but that is just me. I know my vets do it on a regular basis with some of their clients. I have one neighbour who worries about his cows at calving ( probably too much in my opinion) and he is inducing them the moment he thinks they are going over their due date. Then he fretting after they have calved because some of the cows have not cleaned.  She is much better at knowing what is right and when it is right for a calf to be born. I guess there are exceptions to this but, I just have never had reason to do this. I often wonder about the birth weights of bulls when I am looking for a new herd sire. It makes a difference if the dam was induced or not.

 

[farmboy]

hoping it is 283 cuz our AI calves are due today

 

[LIMO]

It is frustrating to have to wait, seems the more I watch, the longer it takes.  An old cattleman tells me every time I start to get worried about one not calving on time  "These cows ain't got no calender inside them".

 

[GLZ]

Why do some get so worked up on gestation lengths? My philosophy is let nature take it's course and the calves wil come when they're ready.

i don't think it is wrong to get worked up about gestations lengths at all.  While I agree with you it is best to simply let nature take its course, you have so much time, energy, emotion and even money tied up in the cattle it is hard not to get nervous.  It is like the night before Christmas.  Nervousness and excitement wrapped into one.  The only problem is there is always that chance that something could go tremendously wrong.  Thus the anxiety.

With Simmies, the average gestation tends to be closer to 285 than 283.

 

[LazyGLowlines]

For us it's nice to know when they're due if only because they need to be moved to a different pasture just prior to calving.  We don't induce either, though we were tempted to last year when one of our recips wouldn't give it up for anything.  We were tempted to take her for a ride over bumpy roads and give her spicy food.