First Calf Heifers

[Kaden]

I'll have some first calf pairs this summer and my question is should I leave the bull longer than my desired 60 breeding season? I know heifers can sometimes cycle later than a mature cow would so I'm curious whether I should leave him for and extra 30 days to catch anything that cycled late.

Thanks in Advance

 

[Warren Allison]

I'll have some first calf pairs this summer and my question is should I leave the bull longer than my desired 60 breeding season? I know heifers can sometimes cycle later than a mature cow would so I'm curious whether I should leave him for and extra 30 days to catch anything that cycled late.

Thanks in Advance

Where are you from, Kaden? You should go back into your profile and put in your location. What kind of cattle do you have? When will these heifers calve? How many are there? What kind of bull(s) do you use?

 

[Kaden]

I'm located in Oklahoma, these heifers are balancers and are starting to calve now through April 15th. There are currently 11 and I'll be using a balancer bull. I also plan to pull these calves around the 5 month old range.

 

[Dsth]

it depends a lot on the Body Condition Score of the heifers before they calf. several other factors like feed quality after calving, did they have trouble calving, weather conditions, age at calving, and others. if you don't mind the longer calving season next year, let the bull in for an extra 30 days but realize that it is generally hard to catch them up with the rest of the herd once they fall behind. It is suggested to calf your heifers 30 days before the cows start to calf to help them breed back with the cows the following season.

 

[coachg]

My thinking is put him in with the heifers maybe 15 days early and maybe give them some extra protein/ blocks . Will help their calves and their breeding back also .

 

[gizmom]

This IS the roughest year this cow will have, she is still growing, trying to grow a calf and trying to cycle in order to breed back. If you provide her with the tools she needs to get all these jobs accomplished ie mineral, hay/grass and some type of feed she should be able to get bred back in a 90 day window. We actually shoot for 75 to 80 days with a goal of 60 days and the opens go to the sale barn. They are all treated the same have the same opportunity to get the job done her contemporaries did so why give her a second chance. We have also found the nutrition plane is important if they are losing weight it's really hard to get them to settle, however if they are gaining conception % increases.
gizmom