heat cycle

[kathy]

how long are they in season, usually? mounting the youngest heifer should i worry about them hurting her? won't be easy to seperate for any length of time.

 

[Susie David]

Kathy...what's going to mount the youngest heifer and why?
We breed our heifers so that they will calve as two year olds.
PM me your email address and I'll send you some info on reproduction in cattle that will give you a better understanding of what to expect and what is normal behavior in your cows.
DMc

 

[kathy]

sorry i guess i wasn't very clear, i have a couple of heifers in cycle now. i wasn't wanting to have summer calves, so i was going to wait. since you're from east. wash. you know how hot it gets. they would be perfect age to breed now it's just the timing.

 

[kathy]

susiedavid - actually i can't send email cuz it's changed and i can't seem to get it updated on my profile

 

[dun]

sorry i guess i wasn't very clear, i have a couple of heifers in cycle now. i wasn't wanting to have summer calves, so i was going to wait. since you're from east. wash. you know how hot it gets. they would be perfect age to breed now it's just the timing.

If you breed now the calves would be born late August.
They normally stand for 8-12 hours but will mount others before they actually start to stand. If they're about the same size being mounted shouldn;t be a problem. The cycle is (theoretically) 17-21 days, but some are as early as 16 and others as late as 23.

dun

 

[kathy]

isn't there more stress with calves in the summer tho. july and august are our hottest months here with temps hanging around 90's to 100's. so do you just breed whenever, then i would have calves coming all year, what would you advise?

 

[dun]

We calve early in the year to avoid the worst heat of the summer. But calving too late in the spring can lead to difficulties getting them bred in the summer heat. Our calving season usually runs around 50-55 days even though the breeding season is only around 45 days long. We're usaully done breeding by the latter part of june for that reason. As was posted somewhere else, the climate in each area is one of the things that dictates when to breed/calve.
When the weather is particularly hot and humid during august I alwasy feel sorry for the neighbors cows that are heavy bred but it seems to bother me more then it does the cows.

dun