any cattle people out there!!! - Page 13

  Thanks!!!  He is a great bull, so far!!  He took first at the winchester futurity of the North, and 2nd at the hornshowcase!  Now we'll be hitting the futuries again starting in February, hopefully he does well!  Then his first calf crop will start hitting the ground in April.  I can't wait for all the babies!!!!  Wish us luck come February, I get soo excited and nervous come show season!

It's funny. I was looking at the pictures in this thread and my mom calls me to look out the back window. One of the black angus cows from the farm behind me got loose and was eating grass in the backyard. They've been coming over lately so there must be a pretty big break in the fence line. Luckily the owner got him back in, but I was able to snap some pictures in the process. I will post them once I get them loaded! We couldn't quite tell if it was a bull or a steer, but it did look somewhat young.

I have 10 arc. we are thinking of geting some Dexters.

Re: preg checking that Jersey bred in August.  You really cannot tell by looking at her. The vets tell me that it's easiest to tell by internal palpation at about 40-60 days bred.  After that, the calf/uterus falls further into the body and it's much harder to tell if she is preggy.  Once you get to about 7 months gestation or so, you can try *bumping*.  Bumping is gently but firmly bumping your hand into her side below the V in her back and behind the rib area.  Feel for baby kicks/movements in response. Try both sides because you don't know which side the calf may be laying on.  It could take some strong bumping. You won't hurt her... ask a preggy mom about baby movement.  By the 8th-9th month you should see calf movement under the skin if you carefully observe at certain times when it's moving.  I agree, if she showed regular heat behavior and stopped after breeding, she is likely preggy.  We had a heifer once who bawled incessantly at each heat. We could always tell when she was bred. Life was much more peaceful then!