The Growth of a Cow
By: Alonso and Rivero
Reproductive Cycle
- Age at Puberty: 4-14 months
- Duration of Estrus: Range- 10-26 hours; Average- 18 hours
- Length of Estrous Cycle: Range- 18-24 days; Average- 21 days
- Length of Gestation: 274 days
- Time of Breeding Cycle-seasonal: All year long
- Signs of Estrus: Mounting of other cows, restless, bawling and vulva becomes enlarged
Pregnancy Diagnosis
- You can know if a cow is pregnant because it'll start getting bigger
- Methods are palpating and sonogram
Care of Parturition
When the cow is giving birth watch the cow closely. If she looks like she needs help you go and pull the calf out and clean the calf and usually clean out its nose so that it can breathe.
Types of Breeding
Some types of breeding are AI which stands for Artificial Insemenation and natural which means you use bulls to breed your cows.
Growth and Development
- Rate of Growth:
- How to Increase Growth: Making sure the cows are getting good nutrition to produce sufficient milk for the calves and giving calves creep feed when they are able to eat.