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<blockquote data-quote="milkmaid" data-source="post: 211823" data-attributes="member: 852"><p>Oh that does help a lot Linda <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> Thanks for taking the time to give me a lengthy response like that.</p><p></p><p>I'm thinking about taking a trip one of these days to Jerome to watch the dairy sale. I've never been down to watch it and I want to see what sort of heifers they are that bring the top money down there. So far I've just been going by the rumors, and most of them say BIG SPRINGERS bring the good money. 1200lbs plus. I'm sure conformation plays a part in who sells high and who doesn't...what I hope to gain from watching the sale is exactly WHAT people are looking for.</p><p></p><p>I'm assuming you've watched the dairy sales before. Would you know if it's ever announced going through the ring if the springer in question is vaccinated (with something other than bangs), out of a known dam with known production records, maybe what sire the springer herself is by, um....how about what <em>she's </em>bred to? Or do they just run them through and you get what you see?</p><p></p><p>I have a heifer here that's short bred, and I have a vet appointment for next Friday for an ultrasound to determine if she's carrying a heifer calf or bull calf. If it turns out to be a heifer calf, I think that'd make her worth a lot more if it were announced going through the ring, right? Out of my younger stock - I have quite a few young heifers - I'd like to end up breeding them all with sexed semen and then follow it with an ultrasound to confirm the sex of the fetus. Seems to me that could significantly up their value IF and only IF the buyers will know about it.</p><p></p><p>And I do have something up my sleeve with the questions about retaining heifers...but that's another story for another post. LOL. ;-)</p><p></p><p>Fellow near me was theorizing on what age to have his heifers calving. Me personally, I'm raising them to maturity and therefore breeding and selling just as fast as I can get them there. (The bred heifer I mentioned above is 72 days bred today, 1200lbs, and turns 15 months old on the 21st of April.) I saw an article in one of the magazines - think it was Dairy Herd Managment? - that said something about getting your heifers to calve at 24 months of age (not later!) and when I was browsing the DHI site it comes up that the average age of springers in my region is about 26.3 months or something like that.</p><p></p><p>Anyways, this fellow was theorizing that his heifers would produce better and hold up longer as cows if they were given MORE time to mature before having their first calf. He was holding his heifers out to 28-30 months before their first calf. (Of course I asked him to tell me, sometime in the future, how this experiment turns out.) I know I've seen the articles about how growing too fast reduces production in the first lactation. I'll have to take a pen and paper to it someday and see which way comes out most economical - calving early, at 21 months or less and getting the heifers into production sooner but getting lower production as a result, OR calving at 24-26 months same as most folks standardly do and getting the best production. I'd have to have a really good reason to be holding heifers out longer than 24 months before their first calf. Sooner they can pay back their cost the better off I am.</p><p></p><p>You have any thoughts or opinions on that subject above?</p><p></p><p>I'm off to work now - thanks again Linda!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="milkmaid, post: 211823, member: 852"] Oh that does help a lot Linda :D Thanks for taking the time to give me a lengthy response like that. I'm thinking about taking a trip one of these days to Jerome to watch the dairy sale. I've never been down to watch it and I want to see what sort of heifers they are that bring the top money down there. So far I've just been going by the rumors, and most of them say BIG SPRINGERS bring the good money. 1200lbs plus. I'm sure conformation plays a part in who sells high and who doesn't...what I hope to gain from watching the sale is exactly WHAT people are looking for. I'm assuming you've watched the dairy sales before. Would you know if it's ever announced going through the ring if the springer in question is vaccinated (with something other than bangs), out of a known dam with known production records, maybe what sire the springer herself is by, um....how about what [i]she's [/i]bred to? Or do they just run them through and you get what you see? I have a heifer here that's short bred, and I have a vet appointment for next Friday for an ultrasound to determine if she's carrying a heifer calf or bull calf. If it turns out to be a heifer calf, I think that'd make her worth a lot more if it were announced going through the ring, right? Out of my younger stock - I have quite a few young heifers - I'd like to end up breeding them all with sexed semen and then follow it with an ultrasound to confirm the sex of the fetus. Seems to me that could significantly up their value IF and only IF the buyers will know about it. And I do have something up my sleeve with the questions about retaining heifers...but that's another story for another post. LOL. ;-) Fellow near me was theorizing on what age to have his heifers calving. Me personally, I'm raising them to maturity and therefore breeding and selling just as fast as I can get them there. (The bred heifer I mentioned above is 72 days bred today, 1200lbs, and turns 15 months old on the 21st of April.) I saw an article in one of the magazines - think it was Dairy Herd Managment? - that said something about getting your heifers to calve at 24 months of age (not later!) and when I was browsing the DHI site it comes up that the average age of springers in my region is about 26.3 months or something like that. Anyways, this fellow was theorizing that his heifers would produce better and hold up longer as cows if they were given MORE time to mature before having their first calf. He was holding his heifers out to 28-30 months before their first calf. (Of course I asked him to tell me, sometime in the future, how this experiment turns out.) I know I've seen the articles about how growing too fast reduces production in the first lactation. I'll have to take a pen and paper to it someday and see which way comes out most economical - calving early, at 21 months or less and getting the heifers into production sooner but getting lower production as a result, OR calving at 24-26 months same as most folks standardly do and getting the best production. I'd have to have a really good reason to be holding heifers out longer than 24 months before their first calf. Sooner they can pay back their cost the better off I am. You have any thoughts or opinions on that subject above? I'm off to work now - thanks again Linda! [/QUOTE]
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