1st calf heifers

[Anonymous]

Are 1st calf heifers any more or less prone to being good brood matrons? Size, milk capacity, fertility? The mothers (heifers) are of good size and age. Will I be better off to sell their 1st heifers, or keep them for mamas? I only want the best. In the same vein of thought, how about bull calves from heifers?

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

This is one of "those" types of subjects. Heifers won't milk as heavily as they will as the mature. But given that they are or should be the best genetics in the herd, thir first calves should now be the best genetics in the herd. Many of the top bulls at AI studs are from heifers. Soooo, as long as you are using top notch bull on top notch heifers, keep the offspring if they fit your breeding plan/goals. This is one of the reasons I personally don;t like the concept and see no reason for using bulls on heifers that you wouldn't want to keep the daughters and sons for that matter. I've seen too many dairys that have used a Jersey bull on Holstein heifers just to get them fresh. Then because they decide they would like to expand, they keep the heifers from the mating. These cross heifers are frequently very good cows but they decide to breed them to a Jersey bull to just get them fresh, then they keep those daughters. Before long they will have a bunch of high percentage Jerseys and the milk quantities start to go down. If they really want a Holstein herd there are enough good Holstein bulls with high calving ease numbers available. Off the soap box now.

dun

> Are 1st calf heifers any more or
> less prone to being good brood
> matrons? Size, milk capacity,
> fertility? The mothers (heifers)
> are of good size and age. Will I
> be better off to sell their 1st
> heifers, or keep them for mamas? I
> only want the best. In the same
> vein of thought, how about bull
> calves from heifers?

 

[Anonymous]

> Are 1st calf heifers any more or
> less prone to being good brood
> matrons? Size, milk capacity,
> fertility? The mothers (heifers)
> are of good size and age. Will I
> be better off to sell their 1st
> heifers, or keep them for mamas? I
> only want the best. In the same
> vein of thought, how about bull
> calves from heifers?

I agree with Dun. Keep the heifers and use the very best bulls to breed them to produce even better heifers for herd improvement. You should feed the 1st calf heifers a little more. They are replaceing their teeth, raising a calf and trying to grow at the same time.



[email protected]