ESTRUS: Has 4 stages.
1.
Anestrusis - this is the rest period between heat cycles
2.
Proestrus - the first days of the cycle
a. swelling of the vulva
b. start of blood
c. follicles start to mature, this can take anywhere from a few days
to over a week
3.
Estrus - this is the time that your female will accept a male
a.
blood will become alight pink
b.
lifting her tail
c.
moving her tail to the side
d.
moving her rear sideways when you touch her next to her tail. (This is
called Flagging) This is the time ovulation occurs.
4.
Metestrus - the uterus readies itself for pregnancy. If fertilization
occurs the eggs will attach themselves to the uterine wall. This might
take up to a week. If fertilization does not occur, it is back to
step 1.
One way to keep a check on
this is to visually check her every day for the changes,
use a cotton ball to keep a check on the color
of the blood, and be willing to feel her
because this is important. She will start
out, when swelling, feeling soft and full, as she continues in the cycle
she will start to feel firm and hard, when the valva starts to soften is
when she is starting into estrus. You can not be timid about this.
It is part of breeding cockers. |
An
old rule of thumb is
1. Start heat 7 days
2. Standing heat 7 days
3. Going out of heat
7 days
Granted not all bitches display this cycle.
Each bitch does her own thing. You need to watch her closely to see
how she has her cycle.
I've had one bitch that had only a three day
cycle
Day 1 coming in
Day 2 standing
Day 3 out.
If you didn't have her in with a male, you missed
her. And I have had one bitch that took three months to go through
her whole heat. This was normal for her.
Also, there is not set month time frame.
Some females cycle regularly every 6 - 7 - 8 months, some females cycle
once a year. Each bitch is different. Learn to know your female.
Keep records.
When the female ovulates,
it takes around 48 hours before the eggs can be fertilized. She can
release hundreds of eggs. Not all will be fertilized but a great
number can be. Nature usually allows for this and absorbs the unhealthy
ones and even the healthy ones when there are too many for the bitch to
carry to term. |