Bred Heifer Weights

[nap]

I recently purchased a group of hereford bred heifers. I weighed them when the arrived on the ranch in June and I weighed them yesterday which was 120 days later. They are gaining at about 0.5 lbs per day according to my weights. This seems a little low to me and I was wondering what others thought. They are due to start calving in February and I am a little concerned.

 

[novatech]

Depends on how much growth they already had and what condition they were in.

 

[dun]

How much do they weigh now and when were they born?

 

[nap]

I should have been a little more informative in my first post. The heifers had an average weight of 750 lbs 4 months ago. The larger ones going about 820 and the smaller ones about 690. They varied in age form 13 to 16 months. I would say their body condition was fair to good. I would appreciate any input.

 

[dun]

I would say thewere and are light for their age. The reason they're not gaining more weight could be genetics or it could be nutritional

 

[bigbull338]

are you running them strictly on pasture an no grain.they need to gain a lb a day till they calve.might be you need to feed them 2lbs of grain every day or every other.

 

[nap]

are you running them strictly on pasture an no grain.they need to gain a lb a day till they calve.might be you need to feed them 2lbs of grain every day or every other.

They have been on pasture primarily. About 2 weeks ago I started to give them a bucket of range cubes. Thanks for the pound a day figure, it gives me something to go on.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I have some fall calvers that put on over 400# in 9 months or an about 1.5# per day. These heifers are now about 1250# and really slick from being on good pasture. How fat is too fat to calve easily?

 

[Brute 23]

I thought there was some thing about if they are too fat the excess fat blocks the mamary glands so they don't produce as much milk, not sure though. Don't like for them to carry excess weight. They should look just slick to their frame. Also, if they can't get to the right weight on my pastures as heifers... they won't make it as mommas, on that same pasture. Little grain when they are weaned or if we are in a bad year and thats it.

 

[dyates]

I should have been a little more informative in my first post. The heifers had an average weight of 750 lbs 4 months ago. The larger ones going about 820 and the smaller ones about 690. They varied in age form 13 to 16 months. I would say their body condition was fair to good. I would appreciate any input.

Sounds a little light to me, also. Has some to do with frame score, but I generally figure about a pound and a half per day after weaning. If you figure weaning a 500 pound heifer calf at seven months, a 13 month heifer should weigh 770 pounds and a 16 month heifer should weigh 905 pounds.

 

[nap]

I should have been a little more informative in my first post. The heifers had an average weight of 750 lbs 4 months ago. The larger ones going about 820 and the smaller ones about 690. They varied in age form 13 to 16 months. I would say their body condition was fair to good. I would appreciate any input.

Sounds a little light to me, also. Has some to do with frame score, but I generally figure about a pound and a half per day after weaning. If you figure weaning a 500 pound heifer calf at seven months, a 13 month heifer should weigh 770 pounds and a 16 month heifer should weigh 905 pounds.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like I'm a little under the curve at this point. They have plenty of pasture but I may have to supplement them a little.

Here is another question. These heifers are bred to a low birth weight hereford bull. What would be a good weight to shoot for when they start calving in February?

 

[KNERSIE]

I'll be the contrarian again...

It's ideal to have heifers at around 85% of mature weight when the calf (the weight after calving, not including the weight of the foetus). Assuming they'll mature at 1300lbs you want an empty weight of 1105 lbs, take the weight of the foetus for 150lbs including placenta, foetal water, etc, so ideally you want to hit 1250 just before calving...

...However, I have calved many heifers out at 1000lbs and even less because of drought, or other factors, if the grazing is good you'll be surprised how much they'll grow in the first few months after calving and then again as soon as the first calves are weaned. It certainly isn't ideal, but it can be done without ruining their productive lifes.

If you are on the light side two months before calving its never a bad idea to just maintain them then and limit the protein and energy intake, in my herd this means just straw and a protein lick in block form. Make sure they are free of parasites and give them a shot of Multimin +(either, Se, Cu, Br or the combinations thereof depending on your area) 2 months before calving and again a month before calving followed up by another one a month before breeding season starts.

 

[dyates]

I'll be the contrarian again...

It's ideal to have heifers at around 85% of mature weight when the calf (the weight after calving, not including the weight of the foetus). Assuming they'll mature at 1300lbs you want an empty weight of 1105 lbs, take the weight of the foetus for 150lbs including placenta, foetal water, etc, so ideally you want to hit 1250 just before calving...

...However, I have calved many heifers out at 1000lbs and even less because of drought, or other factors, if the grazing is good you'll be surprised how much they'll grow in the first few months after calving and then again as soon as the first calves are weaned. It certainly isn't ideal, but it can be done without ruining their productive lifes.

If you are on the light side two months before calving its never a bad idea to just maintain them then and limit the protein and energy intake, in my herd this means just straw and a protein lick in block form. Make sure they are free of parasites and give them a shot of Multimin +(either, Se, Cu, Br or the combinations thereof depending on your area) 2 months before calving and again a month before calving followed up by another one a month before breeding season starts.

I do agree with you. I shoot for 70% of mature weight at breeding (14-15 months) and 85% at calving (23-25 months). The math comes out perfectly on paper, but not always in reality.

 

[HerefordSire]

I recently purchased a group of hereford bred heifers. I weighed them when the arrived on the ranch in June and I weighed them yesterday which was 120 days later. They are gaining at about 0.5 lbs per day according to my weights. This seems a little low to me and I was wondering what others thought. They are due to start calving in February and I am a little concerned.

Are they registered?

 

[Stocker Steve]

I recently purchased a group of hereford bred heifers. I weighed them when the arrived on the ranch in June and I weighed them yesterday which was 120 days later. They are gaining at about 0.5 lbs per day according to my weights. This seems a little low to me and I was wondering what others thought.

Most heifers and some steers have grow slower after about 700 pounds. Short or summer pasture often results in 0.5 level ADGs but folks do not know this since they are not weighing their cattle very often. They average the (high) spring gain in with the (low) summer gain to come up with an "average" gain... ;-)

 

[nap]

I'll be the contrarian again...

It's ideal to have heifers at around 85% of mature weight when the calf (the weight after calving, not including the weight of the foetus). Assuming they'll mature at 1300lbs you want an empty weight of 1105 lbs, take the weight of the foetus for 150lbs including placenta, foetal water, etc, so ideally you want to hit 1250 just before calving...

...However, I have calved many heifers out at 1000lbs and even less because of drought, or other factors, if the grazing is good you'll be surprised how much they'll grow in the first few months after calving and then again as soon as the first calves are weaned. It certainly isn't ideal, but it can be done without ruining their productive lifes.

If you are on the light side two months before calving its never a bad idea to just maintain them then and limit the protein and energy intake, in my herd this means just straw and a protein lick in block form. Make sure they are free of parasites and give them a shot of Multimin +(either, Se, Cu, Br or the combinations thereof depending on your area) 2 months before calving and again a month before calving followed up by another one a month before breeding season starts.

Thanks Knersie. There is a lot of good advice in your post. I have been raising Brahman cattle for many years but this is my first experience with Herefords. It is a completely different ball game and I want everything to go as smoothly as possible.

 

[nap]

I recently purchased a group of hereford bred heifers. I weighed them when the arrived on the ranch in June and I weighed them yesterday which was 120 days later. They are gaining at about 0.5 lbs per day according to my weights. This seems a little low to me and I was wondering what others thought. They are due to start calving in February and I am a little concerned.

Are they registered?

Yes.

 

[nap]

I recently purchased a group of hereford bred heifers. I weighed them when the arrived on the ranch in June and I weighed them yesterday which was 120 days later. They are gaining at about 0.5 lbs per day according to my weights. This seems a little low to me and I was wondering what others thought.

Most heifers and some steers have grow slower after about 700 pounds. Short or summer pasture often results in 0.5 level ADGs but folks do not know this since they are not weighing their cattle very often. They average the (high) spring gain in with the (low) summer gain to come up with an "average" gain... ;-)

Good point. These were summer weights and my pastures were a little dry earlier in the summer. I only got the second weight on 3 (out of 23) which I chose at random. I suppose it is possible that the numbers would look a little better if I had second weights for all 23.

 

[dun]

Since you use cattlemax, why not plug these heifers in and give them an arbitrary BW of 80 lbs and as close as you can a guesstimate as to their birthdate. You can then calculate lbs for day of age. Our heifers, all british run around 1.85 - 2.10 lbs per day of age at 11-13 months

 

[HerefordSire]

I recently purchased a group of hereford bred heifers. I weighed them when the arrived on the ranch in June and I weighed them yesterday which was 120 days later. They are gaining at about 0.5 lbs per day according to my weights. This seems a little low to me and I was wondering what others thought. They are due to start calving in February and I am a little concerned.

Are they registered?

Yes.

I would like to see the sire's name. If the sire is a relatively decent bull.......and with the cost of commodities being relatively high.....and with cash being sucked out of the economic system.....and since the small herd is registered instead of commercial.....there appears to be more risk in underfeeding and developing runts that do not calf successfully. Therefore, it may be cheaper to temporarily overfeed in an attempt to catch up and protect your investment. For example, if the experts on this board say feed 2 pounds of range cubes per day, you may want to consider feeding them 4 pounds per day. You can look like it as...."pay me now or pay me later".