Breeding Buttercup - Part 2

Several days ago I went to my friend Jim's to get a roll of hay and while I was there we took a walk over to visit Buttercup. You may remember from my previous article that Buttercup has been staying at the Beauchamp farm in preparation for breeding. We had decided to Artificially Inseminate her, but without another cow or cows in the field with her (she is our only cow) it is too difficult to know her exact estrus cycle, so she has been staying at Jim's farm.
It seems that Buttercup and her pasture-mate Ten, the head cow at the Beauchamp farm have been up to a little mischief.

Jim told me that she and Ten had staged a break out - and more than once. They knocked down the fence and went visiting. He said that when he saw Butter she was out walking with Ol' Bully Bully (not his real name), and you know what that means! We hope not. We had planned to have her inseminated with Purebred Jersey semen but now it's a possibility that she's been bred by a Limousine / Angus bull.

 He has since moved away from the Beauchamp farm, and Ten (who was most likely the instigator) has been confined to another pasture. Buttercup now has another girlfriend who shares her meadow - My Heifer. They are newly acquainted and just getting to know one another.

I did learn of some mistakes I'd been making with Buttercup. She's our first cow and Jim has been raising cattle for years - I'm thankful to have a friend so knowledgeable to share information with me. I've been feeding our cow Perennial Peanut hay which is very high in protein. I thought this would be healthy for her but I learned that it is too "hot" - the term used when a feed has too much protein. It was beginning to cause her udder to swell prematurely, and she was becoming overweight. This diet could also cause the calf to become too large which leads to birthing problems. In addition to the Perreenial Peanut hay I was feeding her dairy pellets and a calf starter/grower mix. Again, too high in protein. Right now all she needs is grass hay and silage - a mixture of chopped corn, hay and some other nutrients, and plenty of clean fresh water.
It remains to be seen whether Buttercup has been bred naturally. We should know within the month. In any case gestation is 9 months (285 days) for a cow so by January we expect to have our first calf on the homestead. I'll be sure to post updates.

Breeding Buttercup - Part 1

Meet Buttercup. She is our 2 year old Jersey heifer. A heifer is a young female cow that has not yet had a calf.   In order for a cow to produce milk, cream and  butter she has to have a calf  - the term is "freshen", so yesterday we took her to be bred for the first time.  To breed your cow each year you have three choices: maintain a bull on your farm, bring your cow to  neighboring bull, or have her artificially inseminated. We chose the latter. Fortunately, a friend that we buy hay from has a son who has been through AI school and  he agreed to board Buttercup at his farm for the procedure.

Just getting her into the trailer was an exercise in itself. You see, we made the mistake of not halter training her when she was a calf so we had no way to lead her in. We won't make that mistake again! And though she is a very friendly, bottle raised family cow, she had never been in a trailer before and was quite leery.

Add to that a herd of goats that also wanted to eat the grain we were coaxing Buttercup in with...
Eventually we did get her into the trailer.


This is Ten. She is a half Limousine, half Angus cow. She is the dominant, lead cow on the Beauchamp farm and she will be Buttercup's companion until bred.
 

Here are some things I've learned about breeding cows:
  * A cow goes into heat (estrus) about every 18-24 days year round.
  * There is an 18 hour window in which a cow can be bred. This is called "standing estrus"
  * Many cows will bellow and bawl frequently.
Poor Buttercup "moos" pitifully all day long!
  * During estrus a cow will become restless and will begin mounting and being mounted by other cows.

I was completely unaware of this phenomenon until one day while I was working in the barn, not paying any attention to Buttercup, she came up behind me and face planted me in the dirt. I wasn't hurt, just a little shaken, and in her behalf, she was very gentle - for an 800 pound heifer! It was actually quite graceful - she literally stood up on her hind two legs and gently put her front two hooves on my shoulders. I was caught completely off guard and off balance and went down. I now know to always keep a close eye on her.

This is why Buttercup will have Ten as a pasture mate.  When Buttercup goes into estrus, Ten will recognize this and begin to try to mount her. When Buttercup willingly "stands" to be mounted without walking away or turning and butting, this is called "standing estrus" and it is now time for her to be bred or inseminated.

When we left the Beauchamp farm yesterday Buttercup was too busy eying the other cows to notice. She didn't even say goodbye.