# Annabelle's Waiting Thread! When will she pop?!



## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

After waiting for her to grow up, then having to wait for my bull to get big enough, I'm finally going to get a little calf out of Annabelle! :leap: I'm really excited, I've been waiting quite a while!!

Only thing is, I have NO idea when she's due. At the absolute latest she would be due in July as I sold the bull in September, and that would be putting her at 4 months along right now, but I feel like she is further along than that...

It has been a very long time since I've had any heifers calve here, so I'm not that savvy on a heifer's udder development.

Here is my fat Annabelle, she is usually enormous, this is her being thin. I was out of hay yesterday and my sister brought me some for them this morning, so she didn't have the chance to fill up before the pictures :lol:

So what do you guys think? On track for a July calf or earlier? Did I mention I'm excited!! :greengrin:

May 20th. Just udder wrinkles.








October 3rd. Seems to be filling out those wrinkles.















Today (January 20th). A lot more filled out all around, building her fore udder and gaining definition.


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## Crossroads Boers (Feb 19, 2011)

I don't know anything about cows calving or how she should look, but I LOVE her name and she's beautiful! Happy calving!!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Thanks! I cant wait!!  She's bred to a red and white bull, so I'm hoping for color! 

I really hope she's going to have a heifer, but either way I'm excited to get some milk! My sister and I are looking forward to having real milk and making ice cream, cheese, cheese cake, yogurt, etc, so many possibilities! And I'm way curious to find how how much she's going to milk, her mom milked 14 gallons a day


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Here she was as a baby  Can't find the rest of her baby pictures....She actually wasn't my favorite as a calf since she was never very friendly, but since Snow White broke her hip and had to be put down, she tamed down a lot. Snow White was the more beautiful of the two, to me, but I'm very happy to still have Annabelle


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Little-Bits-N-Pieces said:


> Thanks! I cant wait!!  She's bred to a red and white bull, so I'm hoping for color!
> 
> *I really hope she's going to have a heifer, but either way I'm excited to get some milk! My sister and I are looking forward to having real milk *and making ice cream, cheese, cheese cake, yogurt, etc, so many possibilities! And I'm way curious to find how how much she's going to milk, her mom milked 14 gallons a day


:lol: :lol: You do realize goats have milk too, right Lacie? Picky,picky lol
Good luck...she's gorgeous. I would love to own a cow!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Well this is the first time I've heard about that! :ROFL: I _can_ drink it, until I remember it's goat milk and then it instantly tastes like a buck to me. I've yet to get past that little hangup I have. Also, sometimes it upsets my stomach, so I have no idea there. But I can live off of cows milk, and do frequently :lol:


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## Crossroads Boers (Feb 19, 2011)

Awww! They are sooooooo adorable!! I can't wait to see what color she'll have! Is the black or red more dominant? 

Holy COW!! 14 gallons a day? Hey, I need a milk cow. These darn bottle babies are eating me out of house and home! LOL


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Pretty girl! Good luck! Can't wait to see calf pictures.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

She had some mucus discharge this morning, about a 6 inch sting of it. Her vulva looks a bit swollen today too, especially to the sides of it, but she still looks like she has a ways to go. Or maybe I'm totally wrong! :lol: 
Her udder is firm, but still has wrinkles, so she's not ready yet in that department. 

Probably another 5 months to go in reality :lol:


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Awww, I love her cute little udder :lol:
Good luck, hopefully she doesn't wait 5 more months!
She's pretty, I love her coloring
14 GALLONS?!? Wow, I think you might end up with enough milk:lol:


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## Sprucewoodsask (Jan 15, 2015)

If she is anything like my Holstein - her name is Mrs. Milk haha her bag should get quite tight! Any heifers we ever had bagged for a good long time before they calve. I have heard of them bagging after calving but none of our heifers ever did. She probably has awhile to go. Happy calving


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Crossroads Boers said:


> Is the black or red more dominant?


Totally forgot to answer this question, sorry!

I have no idea how this calf is going to turn out, since she has the standard Holstein color, which the black is the dominant gene. But the sire to the calf is a Milking Shorthorn, where the red gene is dominant. 
I did some reading on it and from what I've seen is dominant red trumps dominant black, so the calf may come out red and white, which I'm totally fine with!  
I really want a heifer calf, but a healthy calf is priority.

Did I mention I felt baby kicks today? :greengrin:

ETA: After googling some pictures of Milking Shorthorn x Holstein crosses, I also have a chance of blue roan, blue and white, or blue spotted :chin:


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Sprucewoodsask said:


> If she is anything like my Holstein - her name is Mrs. Milk haha her bag should get quite tight! Any heifers we ever had bagged for a good long time before they calve. I have heard of them bagging after calving but none of our heifers ever did. She probably has awhile to go. Happy calving


Thank you!! I'm hoping she makes a lot of milk! I'd be happy with even 5 gallons a day


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

I think she'll go before July. So helpful, huh? :lol:


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## Crossroads Boers (Feb 19, 2011)

Ok, wow! That makes it really fun.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

What a pretty girl! I think I love all black and white animals though.  
I'm not terribly experienced with cows, but I say, judging by her udder, March/April is when she'll calve.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Okay, I don't know if she's just fooling me or what, but I think she may calve this month, possibly in the next 2 weeks? 
I have pics of her tonight, internet is being retarded though, will upload when I can. Her back teats are full and shiny, front teats are filling, udder itself is a little more full too. She's been holding her tail out for the past few hours that I've noticed too. Ligaments seem soft.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Okay, here's the pics! I have no idea if it's normal for them to fill their back teats first, so we'll just say yes? And that tail holding has me wondering when she's gonna calve. If I'm not mistaken, they do that when they're going to calve soon.
She still has to fill her udder a bit, but she's certainly working on it.


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## thegoatmama (Mar 19, 2015)

Good luck Annabelle!!! :wahoo:


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Thank you!

After some reading, it looks like it is normal for the back teats to fill first, and she could be as little as a week out from calving, judging by her teats starting to fill now


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Yay!!
:woohoo: Hope she goes soon...Oh gee, I almost said hope she kids soon:lol:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good luck! Can't wait to see calf pictures.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

She's in stage 1 labor. Praying all goes well! ray:


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Yay!!
hope all goes well!


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

It's a girl!


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## Goatlover14 (Jan 8, 2015)

Good luck!


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## Goatlover14 (Jan 8, 2015)

Oh just saw the update, congrats!


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

:stars: :stars: Congrats!! She's so cute!!

Now you can start getting that "real" milk :lol:


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

She's figuring out the whole nursing thing, making a ton if noise doing so too :lol:

So glad I got my little heifer!!! Holy cow what a pain to get her out though, almost got the winch for her. But I said a prayer and basically hung my body weigh on her legs for about 20 minutes before she started moving out. Poor thing, I was worried I was going to hurt her legs!

But shes perfect! Annabelle took a while to come back to her, she wasnt sure about the whole baby thing, but shes taking care of her now


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

She's figured out how to nurse and is even trying to run with her awkward little baby legs :lol: Milked Annabelle a little bit and she did great, she has wonderful colostrum!
More pics to come.


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

:woohoo:
CONGRATS!! Glad she and baby are doing well!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Shes still holding onto the afterbirth. I gave her shot of oxy and that did nothing at all.
I'll give her a vitamin and mineral shot in the morning to see if that helps her. I'm concerned but won't worry too terribly much until after the 24hr mark.
Calf is doing well though, got a nice full belly


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Too cute! Congrats!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Thanks, I'll get some pictures of her tomorrow! 

I put a sweater on her tonight in case she gets cold, it's really hard to dress a calf in the dark! :lol:
Good news though, Annabelle passed her afterbirth!


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## Crossroads Boers (Feb 19, 2011)

Congratulations!!! What a beautiful little girl! And you didn't have to wait all that long!


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

Oh my goodness so cute! Congrats!


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

As promised, pictures, or it didn't happen :lol: She's a cutie! She's walking a lot better today, glad her poor little legs are feeling better, they must be sore. 
I had to milk Annabelle a bit so she could even latch on this morning, she's doing pretty well with being milked though, really happy about that! 
Can't wait for the colostrum to get out of there so I don't have to buy milk anymore!!


But in the meantime, this little girl needs a name!! Obviously her mothers name is Annabelle, and her dads name is Sugarfoots :lol:


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Awww so so so sweet!!

You could name her.... Sugarbelle? :laugh:


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Awww, she has a pink nose


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That pink nose is adorable! She is just way too cute!


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Congratulations! That's the most adorable calf I've seen in ages!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Congratulations on your adorable new calf!


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

deerbunnyfarm said:


> Awww so so so sweet!!
> 
> You could name her.... Sugarbelle? :laugh:


Wow that's the first name that came to my head too! Lol

Congratulations on your beautiful new calf


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

She is so cute with that pink nose! I think Rosie is a good name


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

Molasses? It's a type of sugar, and she has a gorgeous brown gloss in the sun that makes me think of molasses.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Sugarbelle is a cute name  my friend wants to name her pinky after her goat and because she has a pink nose :lol:

Annabelle is producing too much for the baby already. She was streaming milk when I came out this morning and her udder is very tender. I milked a half gallon from each quarter before she stopped streaming. Then I milked her until she quit letting down (she's still holding a lot back).
Poor girl is breaking capillaries in her front right quarter, she's got pink milk coming out of that one. 
Baby is on antibiotics now, wasn't feeling to hot today. Her temp was 103.4 (normal range is 101.5-102.8). Got her on penicillin now, gave her banamine and b-complex too. I just checked on her amd she was running around the pen, so she must feel a bit better now


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

She's adorable! And maybe it's just the photo, but some of those head shots look like she's got some red hi-lights from daddy, yes?


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Yep, she has some red and some chocolate on her. I wonder if she'll shed out differently.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

This was daddy, as a wittle baby


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## thegoatmama (Mar 19, 2015)

Congratulations!! What a doll! Look at those pink nose! 

As for a name...I thought of Sugarbelle, too but other than that I'm drawing a bit of a blank. :doh: :lol:

Boots?
Gingerbelle?


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Well, she has been named! :lol:

My cousin said to name her Annie, so I'd have Annabelle and Annie, but that was too plain for me. Then my sister came over to maul her little cow face, and I mentioned that you guys said Sugarbelle (which is a really cute name, by the way, we both liked it a lot) and she immediately had a name for her 

You may now refer to her as Emma Lou Sugarbean! :ROFL: Sugar, Sugarbean, or Emma Lou for short :lol:


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Oh and I learned something the other day, by day 2, cow milk is already cow milk, no yucky colostrum taste like with a goat! :stars:
I tried some of her day 2 milk before it was completely chilled and the cream hadn't risen to the top yet. It was SO good, I was also surprised how creamy it was. The next morning I looked in the fridge and 1/3 of it was cream! That would explain why it went down creamy! :ROFL: My sister and I had a good laugh about that 
But it's the best chocolate milk ever, I fully expect to gain 50lbs now :ROFL:


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## thegoatmama (Mar 19, 2015)

That is a super cute name! :laugh:
There are times I wish goat's milk would separate like cow's milk... 1/3 cream?! I'm envious! :drool:


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