14 month old heifer - no heats

[djinwa]

So I bought two British White heifers in November and in March discovered that one had been bred at 6 months of age. As posted in beginners forum, got the calf out of her yesterday.

Seem to have the other extreme with the other heifer. 14 months old and no sign yet of heat. She seems to have a bullish look to her. Does such a build related to fertility? I know normally heat should show by now, but how late would you accept? I’m thinking I should probably butcher her.

 

[dun]

Have a RTS (repro tract score) done on her. That will tell you what you need to know.

 

[BRAFORDMAN]

I have some british white cows and a bull. at 14 months she should be cycling. British white are known for maturing earlier than 14 months.
Have her palpated. IF the other bred at 6 months old the heifer that you say is not cycling may be bred as well.

Did the other heifer and calf make it?

 

[djinwa]

I have some british white cows and a bull. at 14 months she should be cycling. British white are known for maturing earlier than 14 months.
Have her palpated. IF the other bred at 6 months old the heifer that you say is not cycling may be bred as well.

Did the other heifer and calf make it?

Yes, they made it after a hard pull yesterday and a bigger calf than I wanted. He's perking up today finally.

This heifer shows no signs of pregnancy which would have to be advanced now since I bought her in November and the guys heifer calves were separated from herd in September. No udder, no belly, etc.

Anyway, Dun, the RTS thing is interesting. I did preg checking many years ago, so might need to bone up and check her out. LA vets are far away around here, and the guy I used yesterday doesn't seem to do much.

Practically speaking, though, would the score change a decision if she isn't showing heats at this age?

Here's a link I was reading.
http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter- ... s-935.html

 

[dun]

Practically speaking, though, would the score change a decision if she isn't showing heats at this age?

Here's a link I was reading.
http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter- ... s-935.html

The RTS will tell you the status of her repro tract. It wouldn;t change my decission on shipping her, but at least you would know what is going on and maybe give you something to deal with if you talk to whoever you bought her from.
A couple of years ago we bought a show heifer that had been synced and time AIed. Calving time came and went and nothing. Had the vet do a RTS and it turned out she had an immature repro tract and only one ovary. Those are the kinds of things that are handy to know.

 

[hillsdown]

Or you can give her a shot of prostaglandin and see if she comes into heat in the next 72 hours. If she doesn't come into heat glove up or if unsure get a vet to do it.
Also some heifers do not show visual signs of heat so they are missed. We have one once in a while that are never ridden and seperate themselves from the group but just stand by the gate and bawl for hours. Makes it tricky to AI so you have to know what to look for. Magic was like that and I manged to get her AI'd and after she had her first calf she now gets ridden by other cows. Lady Ideal was the same way this year and I hope I did get her AI'd ,if not the bull will get her.