# Is she a freemartin?



## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

We bought a two month old Jersey heifer "Magnolia" a few weeks ago from a man that picks them up at the dairys south of us. We asked if she was a twin and all he could tell us was that he didn't know, but probably not. 
I've been reading up on freemartinism and now I have myself all paranoid that she is one. This is our first heifer so I have nothing to compare her to, to see if she's normal. She does have a tuft of hair on the end of her vulva, but I don't know if that's normal.
Does anyone have a side by side comparison of the rear end of a freemartin and that of a breedable heifer? 
I'll try to include a pic of Maggies rear end, to see what you guys think.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Your pics arent showing for me.
Opinions are widely varied about being able to 'tell by the tuft'.

A freemartin heifer was just born on the farm where I work, and none of us could see any difference between her parts and any of the other heifers parts.

However, there is a simple procedure the vet can do called tubing.
That will set your mind at ease.


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

OH I can't figure out how to post pics here. UGH!:grit:


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

which photohosting site are you using?


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

Um..I just have the pics from my phone, sent them to my email, and tried to upload them from there. No such luck. Somewhere on here your supposed to be able to make an album, haven't figured out where thats hiding either.
And whats this tube thing?


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Okay, the probe thing is just a little tube. They stick it in the vulva. If is doesnt go down very far, freemartin. 

To post pics here, you need to use a hosting site like flickr or www.photobucket.com 

You upload the pics there, then get the image code (url) and paste it here. 
It makes a link through there so we can see the pic here.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I find it slightly humorous that your first HT photos will be of...what they are of. LOL.


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

Oh I know, when I was trying to get the pics of her nether regions I had her tethered in the yard. Cars kept driving by while I have her tail yanked up snapping pictures. :shocked: Lord only knows what they were thinking.
Thanks for the info about the pictures!


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

Surest way to tell is have her blood tested. The probe test isn't alway accurate dependant on how big she is.


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)




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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

Sorry about the poo caked on there. She hasn't quite learned proper hygene :teehee:

Is that too much tuft?


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

There was another thread on this subject a while back. The calf supposedly had a hairy vulva but at the end of the day, the calf was a perfectly normal little heifer. I've got cows that have calved many times with more hair on their vulva than your calf. 

Take the advice of Francis and have her blood tested if you have real concerns. Then you will know for sure.

BTW, she is one pretty, healthy looking little calf - and I'm sure she will do you well in the coming years.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

My vet said to wait until they are six months old to tube them - you get a more accurate answer then. I didn't know there was a blood test for it!


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Blood test is your best and only choice....Tubing is preformed on young calves 1-30 days of age. Draw and send out a blood sample and put you mind at ease. How much did you pay for her? Believe me the question is important, simply because the farmer may have sent out a sample and discovered the heifer has issues so she was sold...If the sellers were honest than the price tag should reflect. Topside


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Most dairies won't sell a heifer unless she's a twin to a bull. Keeping my fingers crossed for you though!


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I'm the one who had the heifer with a hairy vulva that turned out to not be a free martin. Unfortunately the pics are hosted on my web site which is down right now so I can't show the pics. I went ahead and got my vet to draw blood when he dehorned the heifers ~ $10 dehorn, drew the blood free because we were there~ then I sent it to Genetic Visions (run a search in google you'll find it) I think it cost me $35 each for the tests~ both came up NOT freemartin. That was a year ago. Both girls were bred AI last Thursday and I'm hoping they are pregnant now!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Sometimes dairies do sell their heifers, just to keep feedcosts down through winter.
When times are tough, the youngstock can be thinned pretty heavily. Or if the calf is born out of season and there are not others the same age to fill a pen. Or if somebody accidentally loads one that they shouldnt (that happens).

Glad you got the pics figured out.
Magnolia is a pretty little thing.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

gone-a-milkin said:


> Sometimes dairies do sell their heifers, just to keep feedcosts down through winter.


We sell a lot of heifers, simply because we do not need that many replacement heifers every season.
In my experience, hairy vulvas mean nothing.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

neighbor had a free martin in with a group of bulls he was raising. At 18 months she dropped a calf. Seems the tube method was a bit off......


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

> How much did you pay for her? Believe me the question is important, simply because the farmer may have sent out a sample and discovered the heifer has issues so she was sold.


We bought her about two weeks ago so that puts her about two and a half months. We paid $165 for her, she was the healthiest looking of the bunch, all the other heifers were a month younger and had snotty noses and chopped off tails, he wanted $125 for them.



Cheryl aka JM said:


> I went ahead and got my vet to draw blood when he dehorned the heifers ~


When I take her in I would like to get it all done at once also. She doesn't have horn nubs at all now, but when do they start coming in?


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

She's beautiful, but that's the price I would expect to pay for a steer @ 2 months old. Not trying to upset you, blood test tells all....Keep in touch,,,Topside


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

Well I called our vet and scheduled a time tomorrow for me to bring her in and get her blood drawn for that test. Then according to Genetic Visions (Thank you Cheryl) they should have the blood results back to me in about a week. But in the meantime I'm going to chew my nails down to bloody little nubs. Lets HOPE HOPE HOPE!


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## shagerman (Apr 10, 2008)

youll get a piece of paper in the mail. that you wont be able to read, lol. been there done that, so youll probubly have to call the vet back to get the answer,


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Cheryl aka JM said:


> I'm the one who had the heifer with a hairy vulva that turned out to not be a free martin. Unfortunately the pics are hosted on my web site which is down right now so I can't show the pics. I went ahead and got my vet to draw blood when he dehorned the heifers ~ $10 dehorn, drew the blood free because we were there~ then I sent it to Genetic Visions (run a search in google you'll find it) I think it cost me $35 each for the tests~ both came up NOT freemartin. That was a year ago. Both girls were bred AI last Thursday and I'm hoping they are pregnant now!


Ah Cheryl, I had an idea that it was you but couldn't find the original thread - and dial up can be so slow! Anyway, it doesn't seem a year ago we were having this discussion. Keeping fingers crossed that they have taken Have you any recent photos of them?

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Ronney said:


> Have you any recent photos of them?


Yes~ but my web site is down and I've not gotten it fixed yet. I'll get it and get new pics soon! 



shagerman said:


> youll get a piece of paper in the mail. that you wont be able to read, lol. been there done that, so youll probubly have to call the vet back to get the answer,


Mine was really easy to read. I got impatient and called before the paper came and they looked it up and told me they were not freemartins. Then when the paper came in the mail it was very clear. A short explanation of the type of test and that it was to detect the Y chromosome if it was there. Then two lines with each heifers name, date of birth, and a "Y chromosome present: No (not a freemartin)" Seemed pretty clear to me! And I really was pleased with how nice the people at the lab were. I've got two new ones this year I will have tested later too, at Genetic Visions again.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Good luck, keep in touch...Topside


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## whodunit (Mar 29, 2004)

I just learned about this whole thing via our vet. Fascinating.! I guess about 10% of heifers twinned with a bull are "freemartins".


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

howdunit it is the other way 93 % twin to a bull are freemartins


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## CCCJerseys (Apr 3, 2010)

myersfarm said:


> howdunit it is the other way 93 % twin to a bull are freemartins


Thats the way I have studied it too. There is always a chance that a twin is a viable heifer. 
My purebred single birth heifers are all VERY hairy back there so don't put much stock in that part. 
I did see a beef freemartin who's female parts looked real strange and she had a bull sac too.:shocked: I wish I could have gotten a pic of her but did not have the camera with me and she was at the sale barn and all would have looked at me like I had 3 heads!:teehee: LOL


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

Well after not receiving anything in the mail for almost three weeks I couldn't take it any longer. I called Genetic Visions and here was my answer, "Yes Magnolia is freemartin". Short, to the point and oh so painful!

Not quite sure what to do now, I've bonded to the little stinker. She knows her name and comes running when called, and will follow you around like a dog, and lets me trim her little hooves no problem. OH this is just my luck....:sob:


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## Creamers (Aug 3, 2010)

I'm sorry - that just sucks. Period.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

At least the seller did not overprice her. Seller priced her as a freemartin, so that's a plus. If your attached to her keep her, providing she's not a financial burden. Believe me the attachment fads in time..Topside


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## Shades of Gray (May 1, 2010)

She's not a burden at all to keep around, so I guess we'll just keep her to butcher. Hopefully when it comes time I'll be a little more hardened off. But it's not gonna be me hauling her away. Just wondering how long it takes for a jersey heifer to finish out. Two years?


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