Young Heifer Pregant

[gmoo]

I bought a group of heifers that are 15 months old and discovered that one of them is pregnant. Looks about 30 days before calving. What should I do with her???

 

[blackdirt cowboy]

Watch her really close and calve her out. It can be successfully done, but be prepared for the worst.

 

[LLBUX]

First, I would make sure she is getting no grain, just
medium quality hay to help make sure calf is small.

Does a vet think she has a large enough pelvic opening?

Watch her close and have chains ready.

There are a number of these things each year
and many have positive outcomes.



I think back to my childhood and recall a heifer
that calved like that.  She was a fertile girl and
had her third calf before she was three.  Every
calf came unassisted.  These are marvelous
beasts.

 

[simba]

I had one calve at 15 months old a few years ago. She shouldn't have been bred and we didn't realize that she was until she started bagging down. We watched her very closely and let her have it. She needed help because she was so small but it didn't turn out to be the trainwreck that I had imagined. All of our other cows had calves on them so we chose to let her raise it. I had planned to supplement her with a bit of grain but we had lots of grass and she was doing well so she raised the calf all on her own. We weaned the calf off at 5 months old and then gave her the year off to grow and develop (like she would have had she not been bred so early). She had her first planned calf last spring and is currently my second favourite cow in my herd. She doesn't look stunted or anything and I credit that to good genetics and allowing her the year off. In my case the extra bit of hassle was worth well it. Good luck!

 

[OH Breeder]

You can always have your vet palpate her to see if she has ample room and get a rough estimate of the calf size. We calved one out about same age. Just have to keep close eye on them. We didn't have any issues after with fertility.

 

[gmoo]

Thanks for the info! She was one of my top pick in the group.