heifer calving question?

[farmboy814]

We put the herd bull in on June 12th, and I detected heat in my heifer early august. If she was bred by the bull at that cycle, she would be due on May 20th. Where I'm confused is that she has already been bagging up for almost two months and is getting pretty swollen. She also has also had quite the rib cage but now she is just huge with calf. Any help or thoughts would be great!
Thank You.

 

[BroncoFan]

Sometimes a heifer will cycle even after she was bred.  We had a heifer that was bred while she was still on her momma.  We didn't know it at the time because she cycled like clock work every 21 days.  Because she was so young when she got bred, her calf didn't survive.  In your case your heifer could be calving in about 2 weeks.

 

[blackdirt cowboy]

I agree with bronco fan. However, on the flip side of that, calving heifers can be a funny thing. We periodically sort out the heavy breds and put them in a trap to calve so we can watch them closer. Invariably, one of the the first "heavy breds" sorted out is the the very last to calve. Heifers can bag up, and flare up in the back end literally months before they actually calve. They are no where near as reliable as a cow. Keep a close eye on her and good luck.

 

[SimFarmer]

My first simmental heifer I ever had always begins to look like she is going to calve any minute about 3 months before her due date. Every year I start to think she will have twins but she ends up having one large calf, and she is usually 5 to 10 days late before she calves. By the time she gets to calving she looks like if she coughed she would spit the calf out. Might be something like that.

 

[farmboy814]

Im fairly certain that she expelled her mucus plug this morning. thats always about two weeks before calving right?

 

[BroncoFan]

I reread your original post your heifer will be at least 2 week out or so because what's the chances of her getting bred the first day you put the bull in.  (That's what I get for trying to read something so late or early in the morning.) Having said that, it sounds like she is showing some of the signs of being close to calving.  Is the heifer springing yet?  Has her vulva softened up yet? They can expel their mucus plug about 2 week early.  Heifers are a funny critter.  Sometimes you have to scratch your head at them and wonder what they are doing.  Sometimes they don't know what they're doing.