breeding weight&breed

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Have four mixed heifers (1 char 1 angus hereford 1beefmaster 1limo) averageing about 325 lbs. How big do they need to be before i can breed them. And any suggestions on what i should breed them to would be greatly appreciated. Am thinking of using artificial insim rather than stud. Would like to keep any heifers that drop to increase heard size and possible any bull that drops if it looks good enough and sell its mother. Been raiseing feedlot calves for years, just starting on breeding. thanks in advance.

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> Have four mixed heifers (1 char 1
> angus hereford 1beefmaster 1limo)
> averageing about 325 lbs. How big
> do they need to be before i can
> breed them. And any suggestions on
> what i should breed them to would
> be greatly appreciated. Am
> thinking of using artificial insim
> rather than stud. Would like to
> keep any heifers that drop to
> increase heard size and possible
> any bull that drops if it looks
> good enough and sell its mother.
> Been raiseing feedlot calves for
> years, just starting on breeding.
> thanks in advance.

You could go British all the way or you could be creative and use a British breed (Red Angus, Angus, and Herford for example) for your Char and Limo and a breed such as Simmental or Gelbvieh for your Beefmaster and Baldy. Just remember that you don't want to end up with a mongrelized herd of cattle lacking in vigor and consistency. Why not stick with AI for a few more years until your herd grows to about thirty or so before you buy or retain a bull. You have a chance to select from some of the best bulls of all of the breeds.

Tod NTD Red Angus
 
These heifers should way probably 80-1000 lbs at least that's what we shoot for.If you want to go black try a Krugerrand bull (angus) put the name in the sire search for the Angus assoc. <A HREF="http://www.angus.org" TARGET="_blank">www.angus.org</A> and you should find some really good cattle out of him low birth weights extemely high weaning and yearling weights and moderate milking we are goin to try to use some of these animals on our heifers and I think they are some of the best in the breed. Jake

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> These heifers should way probably
> 80-1000 lbs at least that's what
> we shoot for.If you want to go
> black try a Krugerrand bull
> (angus) put the name in the sire
> search for the Angus assoc.
> <A HREF="http://www.angus.org" TARGET="_blank">www.angus.org</A> and you should find
> some really good cattle out of him
> low birth weights extemely high
> weaning and yearling weights and
> moderate milking we are goin to
> try to use some of these animals
> on our heifers and I think they
> are some of the best in the breed.
> Jake breed them at around 15 to 16 months of age. you have a variety of good breeds, breed them to whatever you wish. for first calf i'd go something with small birthweight such as angus or longhorn
 
I was giving him the Angus bull for the reason of low birth weight and outstanding growth... And you shouldn't have to wait for a age you should breed them at around 60-70% of their mature weight if you want them to calf at two years of age you can't go for that late of an age anyways. Just wondering but why type of animals do you breed that you have to wait that long to breed them perhaps Brahman? I say this because they usually hit puberty later than alot of breeds. Just wondering.... Jake

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> I was giving him the Angus bull
> for the reason of low birth weight
> and outstanding growth... And you
> shouldn't have to wait for a age
> you should breed them at around
> 60-70% of their mature weight if
> you want them to calf at two years
> of age you can't go for that late
> of an age anyways. Just wondering
> but why type of animals do you
> breed that you have to wait that
> long to breed them perhaps
> Brahman? I say this because they
> usually hit puberty later than
> alot of breeds. Just wondering....
> Jake the last time i figured it, if you breed them at 15 months, they will be due to calve at 24 months (maybe a week or so later) i think 24 months and 2 years are pretty close to being the same time. the angus hereford cross will probably breed first, beefmaster last. if he waits until they reach 60-70% of their grown body weight to breed, he will be breeding the charlois much later than the rest. he has plenty of time to decide what he wants to do.
 
OK my fault with the ages I read it wrong. But to make my point for target weight between 800-1000 lbs is correct even the Charlois are at 60% at 1080 lbs, at a 1800# mature weight with a angus cross say with a 1400# mature weight is around 840# at 60% and if you take her to 70% she weights 980# which is almost a thousand so... when you do the math it all comes out about the same weight with a 10% spread so he would have to wait a few weeks for the Charlois to gain that weight and let the britsh crosses move up the scale a little bit and everything is ready at about the same time..... Jake

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British breeds are normally considered ready to breed at 650-750 lbs. If they won't make that by 15 months there are some problems. They should wean at 500 minimum that means less then a lb a day gain following weaning

dun

> OK my fault with the ages I read
> it wrong. But to make my point for
> target weight between 800-1000 lbs
> is correct even the Charlois are
> at 60% at 1080 lbs, at a 1800#
> mature weight with a angus cross
> say with a 1400# mature weight is
> around 840# at 60% and if you take
> her to 70% she weights 980# which
> is almost a thousand so... when
> you do the math it all comes out
> about the same weight with a 10%
> spread so he would have to wait a
> few weeks for the Charlois to gain
> that weight and let the britsh
> crosses move up the scale a little
> bit and everything is ready at
> about the same time..... Jake
 
A.I. would be great, you could use many different sires.. Not sure where you live, I would suggest Leasing(renting) a Black Angus Bull to use on all of them. You can rent a good reg. angus bull for 250$ a season(90 to 120) days, unless you are in a real hurry, and have lots of expirence calving out heifers, I would wait to 20 plus months ,depending on the seasons.. Breed May thru July for early spring calves... I would us the Black Angus bull on all four cows , for two or three yearsand keep their girl calves for breeding...2nd Bull would use a Hereford 2-3 yrs. Could be different bulls but same breed. 3rd Bull Black Angus Bulls.. It seams you would get a Black Baldie herd with time, this is a good way to go. I do prefer Blacks and Herefords for a cow herd basics with a little Brangus,Black Limm Bulls in the furture.

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With a properly selected bull and average sized heifers, calfing at 24 months there shouldn't be any calving roblems. You have to keep an eye on them for malpresentation and to make sure they properly mother their calves. But that's the same if they are 24 months or 36 months at calving. Our heifers all calf at 23-24 months and we haven't pulled one of our calves in years. We keep in practice pulling them for neighbors. We also keep the cows on the small (by some standards) side. Mature cow weight between 950 to 1100 at the heaviest. Weaning weights run in the low 500 for heifers and mid to high 500s for cows. No grain, no creep.

dun

> A.I. would be great, you could use
> many different sires.. Not sure
> where you live, I would suggest
> Leasing(renting) a Black Angus
> Bull to use on all of them. You
> can rent a good reg. angus bull
> for 250$ a season(90 to 120) days,
> unless you are in a real hurry,
> and have lots of expirence calving
> out heifers, I would wait to 20
> plus months ,depending on the
> seasons.. Breed May thru July for
> early spring calves... I would us
> the Black Angus bull on all four
> cows , for two or three yearsand
> keep their girl calves for
> breeding...2nd Bull would use a
> Hereford 2-3 yrs. Could be
> different bulls but same breed.
> 3rd Bull Black Angus Bulls.. It
> seams you would get a Black Baldie
> herd with time, this is a good way
> to go. I do prefer Blacks and
> Herefords for a cow herd basics
> with a little Brangus,Black Limm
> Bulls in the furture.
 
>Efficiency without compromise. Assuming the heifers are fertile and have a large enough pelvis an optimal target weight for mating should be 600lbs (It is important that your retained heifers be treated with a parasiticide). This weight should be achievable from 14 months onward (This is a critical minimum weight). Supplementary feed can be given to achieve this critical minimum weight. If possible a heifer may be mated approximately 3 weeks before the remainder of the herd to allow them extra time to recover and resume cycling after their first calving. Your heifers should be mated to high serving capicity bulls (known to have a history of fewer calving difficulties)for six to 12 weeks, and preg tested six weeks after bull removal. This program may not suite all breeders but it is the Optimal system and will allow you to have and breed more efficient cattle. Another consideration is your breeding program. You may have to wait an extra few months to allow your heifer to drop her calf during your breeding season. (This is not Optimal as your heifer is not as efficient as she could be).



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> With a properly selected bull and
> average sized heifers, calfing at
> 24 months there shouldn't be any
> calving roblems. You have to keep
> an eye on them for malpresentation
> and to make sure they properly
> mother their calves. But that's
> the same if they are 24 months or
> 36 months at calving. Our heifers
> all calf at 23-24 months and we
> haven't pulled one of our calves
> in years. We keep in practice
> pulling them for neighbors. We
> also keep the cows on the small
> (by some standards) side. Mature
> cow weight between 950 to 1100 at
> the heaviest. Weaning weights run
> in the low 500 for heifers and mid
> to high 500s for cows. No grain,
> no creep.

> dun i read somewhere one time that a survey or study had been done and the ideal weight on a cow was between 1000 and 1150 lbs. thats large enough to wean a good calf, but not so big as the cows will eat you out of a house and home. the bottom line is making a profit, and if your cows eat so much of your profit up, you havesn't accomplished very much. a 500 something pound calf which brings top dollar, will make you more money than a larger calf which brings considerably less per pound
 
It is also about time. You would want to achive the weight goal within a 205 day period. If one was to use a Brangus bull on English cattle the hetirosis (spelling) would help to acheve your goal while still producing a small birth calf.



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