Birth control for heifer?

[DaveM]

I have a 10 month old heifer that I do not believe has come in to heat yet, but could start cycling any time now. I also have a yearling bull, a bred cow, and a steer. No grass here in Northern Pa yet, still feeding hay in a small corral. I put them all in my barn at night and will continue to do so until pasture is fit to turn them out.
I don't want the heifer getting bred yet, she's still too young and not close to being developed enough to breed. Is there any type of safe drug for cattle, similar to birth control pills, that will not allow her to become pregnant while on the drug? I've read some posts about aborting calves but haven't seen anything about preventing or delaying breeding with drugs. My goal is to not let her get bred until she's at least 15 months. For some reason this little heifer gets all stressed out unless she is standing beside my bull. I've tried separating her from the bull, left her with the steer once and the older cow once, she still goes a little crazy until she can get back to the bull.
I used the search feature, but didn't find any previous posts on this topic.

 

[randiliana]

MGA is the only thing I can think of that would keep her from cycling, but you have to feed it to her daily, and it probably wouldn't be something you would want to feed to your bull.

 

[Supa Dexta]

What breed is she? I bet she's bred already.

 

[DaveM]

She is a registered Mini Hereford.

 

[dirtfarmer1000]

Estrumate, to abort her if she is pregnant or gets pregnant.

 

[Koffi Babone]

You can try implanting a CIDR or something similar, but it may be cheaper just to give her a dose of estrumate and 20 mg of dexamethasone just before you want to breed her.

The CIDR slowly releases progesterone, the pregnancy hormone. So your animal will not cycle. However:
1) You have to be sure she is not pregnant (because otherwise there is no point in putting a CIDR
2) You will also have to read the label, the CIDR is effective for 1 or 2 weeks if I recall correctly, so you will have to change the implant.

10 yrs ago, CIDR were about 7-10$ (every two weeks), not sure of the price today. Estrumate and dexamethasone is a one shot deal for about the same price...but you are stuck with an abortion if she was knock up...

 

[Jake]

You can try implanting a CIDR or something similar, but it may be cheaper just to give her a dose of estrumate and 20 mg of dexamethasone just before you want to breed her.

The CIDR slowly releases progesterone, the pregnancy hormone. So your animal will not cycle. However:
1) You have to be sure she is not pregnant (because otherwise there is no point in putting a CIDR
2) You will also have to read the label, the CIDR is effective for 1 or 2 weeks if I recall correctly, so you will have to change the implant.

10 yrs ago, CIDR were about 7-10$ (every two weeks), not sure of the price today. Estrumate and dexamethasone is a one shot deal for about the same price...but you are stuck with an abortion if she was knock up...

I wouldn't leave a CIDR in for extended periods of time as they will cause scarring after a week or so. You are better off to pen her seperate as constantly aborting her isn't beneficial to her reproductive system either as it can lead to infection if she is constantly expelling a couple month along pregnancy.

 

[AllForage]

Just like Jake said, only real and true birth control is separate pens. That's just the way it is.