Breed at year old or wait till 2

[Lucky_P]

On average, pelvic bone sutures fuse at around 27 months. If you can get them bred and calved out before that time, there's a little more 'wiggle room' available for getting a calf through the birth canal; probably not all that big a deal if you're using a low birthweight/calving ease bull.
We rarely had Angus-influenced females cycling reliably at 15 months (Simmental heifers would be cycling at 6-8 months!), so we usually held all our heifers to 17-18 months before breeding.

 

[Redgully]

Signs to look for are standing and letting others ride her. If she runs when they try to mount her she is not in standing heat or the cow trying to do the mounting is the one in heat. A clear mucus discharge is a sign she is in heat but can be early or late. If you see a blood discharge she was in heat a day or two prior. Standing heat is your best indicator, when i see a cow standing i breed a few hours later but even when i have no time i breed them then and there and have good results too.

 

[greggy]

Sounds good....I am able to observe......can a mature steer play any role....however they run with the heifers atm.

 

[Dsth]

the only time I have a steer run with the cows is one that I plan on filling the freezer with at a later date, but they seem to have a good interest in cows that are in heat. My feeling is that the more options for other cattle to ride cows in heat, the more likely to catch standing heats.

 

[TCRanch]

Sounds good....I am able to observe......can a mature steer play any role....however they run with the heifers atm.

Yes. Think teenage boys. And they still think they got game.

 

[gcreekrch]

Breed at 14 to 15 months, they get 35 to 40 days with bulls to decide if they want to stay or not. Open heifers weigh 780 to 920 after a 220 mile haul and a few hours standing at the sale yard. Lots of open and thin 2 year olds will barely weigh 950 with the same weigh conditions.Hardest two years of a cow's life.