For the fifth time this season, Christina is going into heat again. We bred her in January, February, April, and June. And now she's mooing her head off, a sign that standing heat is coming.
We've learned the progression. First she starts mooing. Then she gets kind of hyper. Finally, she goes into standing heat, when other cows jump on her back side and she stands for it.
Today she mooing incessantly, so we watch.
We asked the dairy farmer who we bought Christina from if there are other ways besides getting jumped on to tell if a cow is in heat. She pointed out the eyes. She says when a cow's in heat, she has kind of wild eyes, not content. So my daughters have been looking in Christina's eyes. I think those are wild looking eyes.
So now we wait for standing heat.
But this is the fifth time this year. Something is going wrong. We have a shot from the vet that will prompt ovulation to use when we breed her. If that doesn't work, the next step is to put her with a bull (I really hope we don't have to do that, it will be such a hassle).
This is the part of homesteading that doesn't follow the rule books.
Hello Mia! I am so tickled to see another post. Lorie Lockwood told me about your blog, we will be getting a calf from her this coming month and we are very excited. I just wanted to let you know how inspiring I have found your blog. We have finally "come back to the land" this year and aspire to raise and grow our own food also. So far we have goats and chickens and soon to add our dairy calf and a couple of pigs. Next year we are hoping to get two beef cows. I am looking foward to learning more and reading about your life. Thank you very much for sharing it with all of us!
ReplyDeleteDebi
BlackAlderRanch.weebly.com