Dexter gestation time

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:29 am

I was chatting to a friend about gestation periods and found out that there is a whole range based on different breeds. Can anyone tell me what the usual period is for the Dexter breed? I have been using my AI calendar and it seemed right on but I haven't actually counted the days. My cow is due, according to the calendar, in a week, but her bag doesn't look that big.

Kathy ???

oliver1921 · Post by **oliver1921** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:48 pm

We seem to work on 285 days but you must remember 'women will be women' and wait for the coldest wettest day especially if calving outside! - ours are coming thick and fast at the moment but the 285 days seems about right

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:48 pm

Thick and fast is just about right, 3 today! Six in the last 3 days. So busy, busy.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:06 pm

I use a circular plastic "calculator" based on 280 days and it is never too far out, often spot on. My last heifer to calve was 276 days. She herself was 276 days getting here. Dr Thrower's book "The Dexter Cow" uses a table based on 287 days.

Duncan

Liz D · Post by **Liz D** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:12 pm

Hi kathy; I find that with my girls it really depends on the individual cow and the sex of the calf, believe it or not. I have one cow who is about 273 days with a heifer and up to a week longer with a bull calf. Her sister was consistantly 285 with bull calves. I don't know if anybody else has experienced this but I find that once the gestation period is know for an individual cow (same for my Icelandic sheep) they never stray too far from that number of days year after year. Liz

Louisa Gidney · Post by **Louisa Gidney** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 6:14 am

I use a very less precise guide from service date of back 3 months, forward a week, plus or minus 10 days. But they do calve when expected and each cow is usually close, or spot on, to the same date of calving each year.
At the moment it's lambs thick & fast, c. half the flock lambed in a week & more twins than enough. Quite what they expect to eat at this time of year is another matter. Total white out on Sat. Come back Global Warming, all is forgiven!

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:24 pm

Thank you, everyone. Here's another great question ??? Do I count the day she was AI'd when I'm tallying up the days?

Kathy, whose ewes have gone on strike after the first 5 lambed. Now we have wet, cold, rainy weather so I guess they will start lambing again! :p

marion · Post by **marion** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:02 am

Here's some numbers of mine, sleuthed from old calendars:
(All Dexters) Cow #1 - (starting at age eight, she had lots of calves before these) 268 days (heifer), 281 days (bull), 275 days (heifer), 270 days (heifer).
Cow #2 - 273 days (heifer), 273 days (heifer), 265 days *(bull) *Correction - this one was also a heifer.
Cow #3 - 283 days (heifer) This cow was 15 yrs old.Many calves before this one.
Cow #4 - 277 days (bull) her first calf.
Cow #5 - 275 days (bull) her first calf.
Cow #6 - 265 days (bull) her first calf.
These numbers are not counting the day of A.I.
marion

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 5:13 am

Well, I went back to my records and found out that she took 272 days to calve a bull (not counting the AI day). Today is day 272 and I am on pins and needles. Last night she refused to come into the barn and spent the whole night sleeping in the rain by herself. I hate seeing animals in the rain but put the herd out to pasture today. Luckily my husband didn't notice them but did INSIST that the yearlings and bottle calf be allowed access to their shed (they had access all night) so I had to let them back into a grazed down paddock. Did they go into the shed?? No! they spent the whole day in rain and wind outside overgrazing the short grass in the paddock and ignoring their nice fresh paddock :p

Dexters are hardy, right?

Kathy

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:19 pm

I use a circular calendar as well and then make a plus or minus allowance of 10-14 days around that date. Its easier just to keep an eye on the cow's behaviour and degree of readiness. Heifers are a bit harder to read than 2nd or more calvers, because they don't know what they're doing so well as an older cow. Also different cows swell up in the udder at different lengths of time before calving.

I've often been caught out by a cow whos udder looks nowhere near ready, so I've left her with the herd, thinking she'll be another 3 weeks yet and must have conceived on the second cycle (we use a bull, not A.I.), then she calves a few days later. I miss the sudden increase in udder size.

There have been other cows whos udder has looked enormous for weeks and I'm out there checking her each night expectantly for yet another week. But eventually the calves do arrive and you get to find out if its a heifer or bull, horned or polled, Black or Red. I love checking out new calves. Its just a shame we'll only have half a dozen calves this year as we've sold most of our Grade 2 cows, which has reduced our herd size.