09/14/2026
UPDATE - I intentionally did not mention the breeder that went MIA that did not care for my cow as that was not the point of this post. What is done is done. I am hoping it may help someone in the future.
But let me be clear. The Breeders of Snap Crackle Pop , Jon and Christy Randolph and Dylan Scarpa of Lonesome Pines breed beautiful cows and did a great job with creating Snap as well as choosing her first sire and then helping me select her 1st AI. They were the first people I reached out to and sent pictures for advice on the best way to bring her back to health when we picked her up.
ORIGINAL POST:
She still not pregnant. I’m guessing several of you have been in our shoes or will be if you are a breeder.
One of our favorite cows and of course most expensive has had difficulty maintaining her calf after a positive blood test.
Her history: (if you wanna skip her history, feel free to scroll down to the bottom and read my 3 takeaways but I knew some people would post in the comments, wanting more information about her history)
Snap Crackle Pops’ first calf has turned into a huge steer. Well over 1500 # and over 8ft T2T. And his younger brother is following close behind.
Both are very easy keepers and extremely well made.
Her first was a Natural Breeding and the second was AI. All easy breedings and delivery’s. She has a great bag, very attentive and out produces herself. I forgot to mention, she pretty much took first place in all futurities and non haltered events she attended. Hence one of our favorite cows based on all her achievements in and out of the ring.
Her next round at AI did not turn out as well. We dropped her off with her calf at side, at a vet that a breeder friend insisted we use for AI which touted as the best he has seen. The breeder offered to hold on to her since he lived just minutes from the vet till she was confirmed bred via AI in the event it didn’t that on the first go. This vet would only use 1 straw vs the 2 our previous vet used on our other cows. It was an attractive concept not having to use 2 straws and he had had 100% success with this vet on the 2 straw.
The breeder basically went MIA. When we got her back 6 mos later she looked emaciated, so much so she was only recognizable via her distinctive facial markings. And ….she was not pregnant. Obviously we worried about her future conception situation being put through this situation.
Over the next year we nursed her slowly back to health before we attempted breeding again. Since we were new breeders we did not have a bull and had only used AI very successfully I might add.
Then came the drought. We tried to AI but unfortunately it didn’t take along with a large portion of our entire herd so we weren’t too worried trying to accomplish this during the worst time of the year.
Then spring 2025 she tested pregnant! YES!!! But noticed our bull was very interested in her the following month. So we tested her again and she was open. Next month saw the bull mount and she again tested positive along with all the other cows. Finally we are good to go right??? Side note all of our blood test have been 100% accurate so I’m confident she was pregnant.
Last fall, everyone started calving and Snap was starting to look like she was going to pop along with the rest of the girls, but never calved. After everyone was done we decided to draw blood. Result was negative AGAIN.
We took her to Hoofstock Genetics and they suggested we get her to loose the weight she gained along side her pregnant friends! She also was very tight so AI wouldn’t be an option this round but get her back with a Bull and when we could confirm positive insert a c***r. So that was the plan.
Since then we’ve seen the bull have interest in her every month so at this point we’re not even getting it to hold long enough for a positive pregnancy check.
Needless to say, we weren’t gonna turn our back on one of our most expensive cows before we exhausted all options. So off to A&M we went last week.
The outcome was she had developed too much fat on her uterus. We knew she looked pregnant but never thought a cow that is not the best quality grass (we live in between mountains in central Texas so a lot of rock, dust, dirt and native grass in that order, and very limited rain) liquid feed and minerals. The only cubes she gets is when bringing in for herd checks.
We have her back home and in a pen where we are regulating her total hay intake. I’m very optimistic and quietly excited because the vet actually said upon reviewing all her test results and examinations he sees no reason she won’t be able to hold onto a calf after she looses about 200 #’s. And he agreed with Hoofstock’s plan and said that will be the protocol once pregnant.
We will keep yall posted as she progresses but the reasons for this post I hope you take away are several.
1. Be proactive when your livestock is not on your property and do regular check-ins no matter who the breeder is that is housing them.
2. If it’s a great cow, don’t wait to seek a specialist to get answers. Thank you Hoofstock and Dr Thompson at A & M
3. Most importantly, dont let your livestock get fat. Just because your cow is not on show feed, don’t think because your cow is on pasture and liquid feed and minerals they still can’t develop fat on ovaries. Our grazing is lower quality than what we’d like so we do buy quality costal hay. This year our Klein grass came in nicely so better quality is on its way. Yet she is still too fat to hold onto to a calf. Dr Thompson said the majority of cows he sees at the clinic for infertility issues are show cattle that can’t get pregnant due to the amount of fat. I had always heard that but never thought my cow would be one of those “Too Fat” to hold a calf since she has basically never been given any feed or cubes except in extreme weather like when the snow lay on the ground for weeks. Just some good for thought. Hope this post helps someone out there in this situation of cull or try a specialist if it makes sense for your special cow. I’m not saying this is gonna work but it’s worth a try for our girl. Not sure how long this weight reduction program is going to take. We are going to try to take it slow and safe.
