We purchased some registered "open" heifers last fall from a very reputable breeder, and we discovered last week one of the heifers was getting ready to calve at 14 mos old. So we immediately took the heifer back to the breeder, and the breeder immediately told us he would replace her. That heifer didn't grow like the other heifers we bought, so now we know why - because it apparently got pregnant at 5 mos of age, probably by a bull calf in the same pasture. Yesterday, the heifer had a healthy 65 lb. calf (the breeder had to help pull the calf). Since she had the calf and is mothering it, we are wondering if we should take her back, or if we should take the replacement which was offered. The replacement is an open heifer, 8 mos. younger than our original heifer, which doesn't seem like a good trade. We've thought if we take the original heifer and her calf back, we'd give her grain and give the calf some milk replacer, because I doubt if the calf is getting enough milk from the Mom alone. But we're not sure if the heifer would be an ok cow in the future. However, we would be able to sell a steer, even though it wouldn't be registered, since we don't know who the Daddy is. Any suggestions on what we should do?
14 month old heifer gave birth
- Thread starter hcrancher
- Start date
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HOSS
Well-known member
I would keep the heifer and calf. The calf is a bonus. You would now have a more proven commodity than a heifer that has never calved. If she is showing to be a good momma and nursing the calf without too much problem that is. Wait a while and then breed her back she should be fine. Her growth will catch up.
TexasBred
Well-known member
The folks you got the hiefer from have already made a very generous offering by taking the pregnant heifer back. Now that she has calved and there is apparently doing well and there are no threat to her or the baby you want her back???How much do you expect from him? He's already given you your replacement and you accepted it. It's a done deal as far as I'm concerned. But he may be one super fine man and give you your "pair" back. Personally I wouldn't even ask him to do such a thing.
Yes, he is a super fine man, and he's done a lot for us, and we appreciated it that he offered to take the heifer back. He told us he would replace her later, and we haven't agreed to anything yet - we didn't take another heifer home. We are not the type of people to take advantage of others in any way. FYI - we've purchased lots of cattle from him. Thanks for your opinion - we want to hear what everyone says, since we're fairly new at this.
TexasBred
Well-known member
Then it sounds like you have a "win/win " situation. Best Wishes.
1982vett
Well-known member
Another thing you could do, watch both mama and calf closely. Make sure mama is not loosing weight and calf is gaining. If either starts to not look so good, pull the calf. Since mama is only 14 months old, I might be tempted to pull the calf now and sell it as a bottle calf unless you want to do that yourself. Get moma in shape to breed.
bigbull338
Well-known member
if you still have the heifer id keep her.but if you took her back to her owner.then id just get another open heifer.
If you don't mind my asking what breed are these heifers.
We went through the same thing last year with some Gelbvieh/Shorthorn heifers. They both calved at 15 months. The lutalayse shot apparently did not work.
We weaned the calves earlier this spring and will not breed them back until May 15th. They both raised a calf but sure not a great one, both weaned at 450 lbs at 7 months.
We went through the same thing last year with some Gelbvieh/Shorthorn heifers. They both calved at 15 months. The lutalayse shot apparently did not work.
We weaned the calves earlier this spring and will not breed them back until May 15th. They both raised a calf but sure not a great one, both weaned at 450 lbs at 7 months.
Tod Dague
Well-known member
If you have a place where you can feed her and the calf separately you may want to do that to ensure that she breeds back on time and wean the calf at 3 months. It wont be much of a calf but at least she will start paying her way a year soon than the rest.
TexasBred":1orukevd said:
Yeah, I wouldn't ask either. If you took her back, it sure seems you didn't want her . . . till the pot sweetened. It seems to me too, one of the reasons for the post is to see if there's any reason you should still leave her with the breeder. Will she breed back? Will the calf be ok as a steer? Etc, etc. You bought an open heifer, the breeder made a mistake, took the risk you didn't want to take (for good reason), and made right.
If I remember correctly, JHH had a similar thing happen. If he doesn't see this thread, I'd PM him and ask him how his heifer is doing. I would ask people who have had it happen if there was any trouble that could/does come along with a heifer calving so young.
skyline
Well-known member
hcrancher":3tt67yii said:
If you're taking a long term approach to this issue, I'd be concerned about whether this heifer that calved would ever "catch up". She put a lot of herself into that calf during a time when she was supposed to be growing frame for herself. You might wind up with a small cow that you wind up having to assist during calving each year. That would be my concern about keeping her. How much smaller is she at this point than the other heifers her age?
you will not gain much with the pair because she will be smaller and raisiing the calf will only work against her. she will have to struggle and if you are lucky enough to get her bred back on time, which i doubt without a lot of help it will not pay off well in the loooonnnngggg run. i would get a suitable replacement and be grateful. my opinion.
gertguy
Well-known member
I agree with Texas Bred
The heifer is a Gelbvieh. She was approx. 600 lbs. when she gave birth - I would guess the other heifers her age we purchased at the same time are at about 800 lbs. or more. We hated it that this happened to her - she is a real beauty with a great personality, very mellow and easy to handle.
Thanks for the suggestions - we wanted to get a feel for how this is normally handled, and what happens to a heifer and the calf when this happens, and we got some great feedback.
Thanks for the suggestions - we wanted to get a feel for how this is normally handled, and what happens to a heifer and the calf when this happens, and we got some great feedback.
The reason I asked is we had the same problem with GV crosses. They reach sexual maturity very early, ours were bred by their father. We no routinely use lutalayse when weaning, because of this very problem.
hcrancher":2zrot9ur said:
If she fits with what your looking for in a heifer, I personally would keep the heifer and calf, I would pen her/pasture her seperately from the rest of the herd - probably with another yearling heifer who could use a little extra feed, feed her a little grain/good quality hay (depending on whether she was penned or pastured), supplement the calf with a little milk replacer - how little depends on his mother's size, and milk production, and monitor her development. If you handle this situation correctly, there is no reason why this heifer won't continue to grow and reach her full potential. We've had this happen, the heifers were handled according to their individual circumstances, and you would never have known they gave birth prematurely a year or so later.
