Got 2 new Angus heifers last week

[upstatenyangus]

My 11 year old son (with dads money and a commitment to pay back by cleaning stalls) purchased 2 -10 month old Angus heifers. They weigh 600-650 pounds each. They are 41.5" at the hip. I raise horses and cows are new to me. To my eye they seem kinda heavy....?? My son hopes to show them at the fairs and breed them AI this summer.

We are currently feeding each one 6 pounds of 14% grain mix and all the grass hay (80%) + second cut alfalfa (20%) they will eat.

Are we feeding them appropriately?
Is 41.5" at the hip, 600 or so pounds normal for 10 month old Angus Heifers?
Could they really jump a 50" wire mesh fence (as my horse vet says they will)?

Thanks in advanced for helping me by not ruining the heifers with too much or too little!

 

[bigbull338]

My 11 year old son (with dads money and a commitment to pay back by cleaning stalls) purchased 2 -10 month old Angus heifers. They weigh 600-650 pounds each. They are 41.5" at the hip. I raise horses and cows are new to me. To my eye they seem kinda heavy....?? My son hopes to show them at the fairs and breed them AI this summer.

We are currently feeding each one 6 pounds of 14% grain mix and all the grass hay (80%) + second cut alfalfa (20%) they will eat.

Are we feeding them appropriately?
Is 41.5" at the hip, 600 or so pounds normal for 10 month old Angus Heifers?
Could they really jump a 50" wire mesh fence (as my horse vet says they will)?

Thanks in advanced for helping me by not ruining the heifers with too much or too little!

no your not feeding them to much.since he is going to show them.i might up the feed 4lbs a day.your feeding them enough hay.600lbs sounds a little light for 10 month old heifers.but thats just me.i havent seen pics of them .

 

[milkmaid]

Welcome!

600-650lbs at 10 months isn't bad. They may be just a little light for their age, but not bad. 650lbs minus an 80lb birthweight (BW) gives you 570lbs, divided by 300 days (10 months) equals 1.9lbs average daily gain (ADG). I like a minimum of 2lbs/day ADG on calves, and prefer 2.5lbs/day, but that's just me. The calves don't always cooperate.

If they'll gain 2lbs/day from now on out they're on track to breed at 850lbs and 13-14 months of age, which is about perfect. (That would put them calving next January; is that what you want?)

IMO you're doing a good job feeding them. 6lbs of grain is 1% of their body weight, which is good. When graining calves you should feed between 1% and 3% (max.) of their body weight. I'd probably stick with 1% as long as the hay is good quality; they should gain weight easily without having to break the bank to feed them. They do need free choice hay, so good job there. If your son wants to show them, he can up the feed accordingly; 2-2.5% would be more what you'd expect to feed to show heifers. Be careful as you increase the grain; do it in very small increments, especially as the amount of grain reaches over 2% of their body weight, they become very sensitive to minor adjustments in their ration.

 

[upstatenyangus]

Thanks for the quick and friendly responses. I will begin to slowly increase their grain rations.

Does weight to frame size matter much at this age? They seem short (41.5"), but I understand Angus are a short breed.

A local dairy friend warned me the second cut Alfalfa I raise my young horses on could kill the heifers (bloat) if they get more than a couple flakes a day. Does that seem right?

You will get a kick out of my sons assumptions of my ability to judge cattle (Dad, you know everything about raising and selling horses, here is a book about cattle confirmation....can you pick out two nice heifers for me, this farmer I called has 42 in a pen to choose from! :shock: ). All i know is I got some Bushwacker line heifers who have good length and stand real good (cause thats all us hrose guys look for anyway). Topline? BW? EPD's? got me. But I got a few months to learn to keep up with his interest.

 

[swampbillies]

upstatenyangus, You are a good Dad. I hope your son appreciates you.

 

[milkmaid]

A local dairy friend warned me the second cut Alfalfa I raise my young horses on could kill the heifers (bloat) if they get more than a couple flakes a day. Does that seem right?

Depends on how rich it is. Yes alfalfa hay, being a legume, can cause a cow to bloat (cattle equivalent of colic) and it can kill them. What's the chance of that? depends how rich the hay is. If it's stemmy or has a lot of grass in it I wouldn't worry at-all. If it's really leafy you may want to keep an eye on them.

I personally have been feeding straight 2nd crop most all fall and not worrying at all. I do have bloat blocks out to try to prevent problems. Now, as my 2nd crop runs out I'm going to start feeding 3rd crop, which in this case hasn't been rained on and is extremely leafy. Recipe for disaster? I hope not. I fed 3rd crop all last winter without problems, and I'll be feeding this about 2/3 to 1/3 with grass hay.

The only comments I have are that you're best off to feed free choice -- when you have problems is when the cattle get hungry and gorge themselves. IMO you're probably fine feeding 100% 2nd crop, but that where they're getting grain too, they probably don't need all alfalfa. So what I'm getting at is that just keep doing what you're doing; it's fine.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

upstatenyangus- By mere virtue of the fact that you admit (to yourself and others) that you have a lot to learn, your are ahead of the game by several years! GOOD for you!

I would suggest that you log onto this link - and read it all carefully. Then order "stuff" and kick back in your leather recliner and enjoy! Pretty soon, Sonny boy will say, "Hey, Dad, I didn't know you were so smart!" That will be music to your ears!

http://www.angus.org/sireeval/howto.html

http://www.angus.org/performance

DOC HARRIS