Bred at 9-10 months

[skyhightree1]

I was talking to a farmer thats been raising cattle for as long as I have been alive and he had a heifer that was bred at 9-10 months and he didn't seem to worry about it. He knows it shouldn't have happened of course but felt that his bulls low birth weight wouldn't cause an issue. What could be the worse case scenario of this happening ? Is this something that you all experience alot of ? I have never had that happen yet.

 

[dun]

Worse case is losing both. We've never had it happen but we give a shot of lute 2 weeks post weaning after the baby bulls have been separated.

 

[skyhightree1]

Gotcha... I haven't had that happen yet either. Whats the earliest you let yours breed dun?

 

[dun]

Gotcha... I haven't had that happen yet either. Whats the earliest you let yours breed dun?

Late borns around 13 months normally around 14 months. If they're too young to breed and calve in our normal cycle they find a home at the feedlot.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Over the years I have probably had about 5 heifers calve at 15 to 18 months, never had any trouble with them and never lost one. Of course it's not the best way to make good cows but it can be ok. The last one was bred to one of my lbw angus bulls and it is going to be as good as if It had been bred to calve a 24 months.

 

[skyhightree1]

Gotcha... I haven't had that happen yet either. Whats the earliest you let yours breed dun?

Late borns around 13 months normally around 14 months. If they're too young to breed and calve in our normal cycle they find a home at the feedlot.

Gotcha.

 

[KNERSIE]

Over the years I have probably had about 5 heifers calve at 15 to 18 months, never had any trouble with them and never lost one. Of course it's not the best way to make good cows but it can be ok. The last one was bred to one of my lbw angus bulls and it is going to be as good as if It had been bred to calve a 24 months.

I'll take that with a pinch of salt....

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Over the years I have probably had about 5 heifers calve at 15 to 18 months, never had any trouble with them and never lost one. Of course it's not the best way to make good cows but it can be ok. The last one was bred to one of my lbw angus bulls and it is going to be as good as if It had been bred to calve a 24 months.

I'll take that with a pinch of salt....

Why?

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I had it happen one time. The heifer calved with no trouble at all. The calf was a dink and the heifer/cow did okay, but I sold them both.

It is not a practice which I would advocate. However, there are plenty of folks who have this happen regularly.

Katherine

 

[skyhightree1]

Yea, I definately wouldnt make that a farm practice

 

[hillsdown]

I have had a couple calve at 19 and 20 months old BUT that was on purpose and the were already the same size as the heifer group they were in. No one had a problem but it is not something that I would suggest or make common practice .

All heifer calves get a shot of prostaglandin and dex a week after we separate the bulls and bull calves out . In 2011 I had to repeat , as I never saw any heats in the heifers after we aborted them .

Common practice in my area is if you buy heifer calves ,especially form the sale barn give them all a shot of prostagaladin and dex , jic .

 

[cow pollinater]

I've seen quite a few jerseys calve at 14-15 months old. They send them to the AI pen at 13 months and they're making a bag when they get there. That dairy tried milking a few of them and was sorely disappointed. ;-) I told him to just dry them off and leave them with me a little longer and he'd have a free calf to pay for the extra month on feed.

 

[Dave]

I have a half a dozen of these out in the pen right now if you are interested in some. Buying yearling heifers out of the sale barn. A full 20% are bred. And I bought 5 baldies out in the country. They were March calves. When I pregged everything 3 out of these 5 were bred. He claims he pulled the bull in October which is about when the vet says they were bred. So they were bred at 6 or 7 months. About July or August I get to practice my calf pulling skills.

 

[KNERSIE]

I have a half a dozen of these out in the pen right now if you are interested in some. Buying yearling heifers out of the sale barn. A full 20% are bred. And I bought 5 baldies out in the country. They were March calves. When I pregged everything 3 out of these 5 were bred. He claims he pulled the bull in October which is about when the vet says they were bred. So they were bred at 6 or 7 months. About July or August I get to practice my calf pulling skills.

That is being realistic, saying never had a problem with them like was said above is not quite as realistic.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I have a half a dozen of these out in the pen right now if you are interested in some. Buying yearling heifers out of the sale barn. A full 20% are bred. And I bought 5 baldies out in the country. They were March calves. When I pregged everything 3 out of these 5 were bred. He claims he pulled the bull in October which is about when the vet says they were bred. So they were bred at 6 or 7 months. About July or August I get to practice my calf pulling skills.

That is being realistic, saying never had a problem with them like was said above is not quite as realistic.

I know it is not the way it supposed to happen, I was saying I have never had any problems with a 15 to 18 month old heifer calving.

 

[Dave]

I have a half a dozen of these out in the pen right now if you are interested in some. Buying yearling heifers out of the sale barn. A full 20% are bred. And I bought 5 baldies out in the country. They were March calves. When I pregged everything 3 out of these 5 were bred. He claims he pulled the bull in October which is about when the vet says they were bred. So they were bred at 6 or 7 months. About July or August I get to practice my calf pulling skills.

That is being realistic, saying never had a problem with them like was said above is not quite as realistic.

I know it is not the way it supposed to happen, I was saying I have never had any problems with a 15 to 18 month old heifer calving.

I have 5 breds left. Three of them weigh over 800 now and aren't due until August so I am not too worried about them. But the other two little piggy things do bother me. One of the problems with those teen pregnancies is the heifer puts everything into growing the calf instead of herself. So she doesn't fully develop and grow out to a size that makes calving easy.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

One of the problems with those teen pregnancies is the heifer puts everything into growing the calf instead of herself. So she doesn't fully develop and grow out to a size that makes calving easy.

And thus the reason why I sold the pair I had. The calf was a dink and the mother didn't 'mature' as I would have liked.

Katherine