townfarmer":2tair9xz said:
I plan on retaining two weaned heifers out of six to replace a couple of older cows. My plan was to keep the two heifers from the mothers with the best production records. However on visual appraisal a few of the heifers from the less productive cows have more eye appeal. I'm interested to hear people's opinion on heifer selection. Which do you place greater emphasis on; visual appraisal or the dam's performance record? I'm sure some of you guys have an effective system or formula for retaining heifers. I'm eager to learn.
Thanks in advance
Andrew
Well, if I were you and had to chose right now with the information you've given, I'd keep the heifers out of the cows with the better production records and let someone else have the possibly/probably (?) less-productive eye candy (hopefully at a premium).
...HOWEVER...if you're willing to consider a different approach...
There are lots of ways to do this ... I'm not claiming on having a patent on doing it "the right way", but what follows makes sense to us:
* An animal (cow, bull, heifer or steer) leaves the herd for aggression, regardless of all other factors
* A cow leaves the herd if she's not confirmed bred (unless we're intentionally keeping her open to be a recip, etc.) 60-90 days after the embryo / AI / bull breeding program we run has ended.
* A cow does
NOT leave the herd just because we think she's getting old --- it's not uncommon to have Aubrac cows calving annually into their teens or early twenties
* Heifers are scored in contemporary groups and only after they have their 2nd calf (which assumes they got bred the first time), as follows:
a) if (for example) you're targeting a March 1 to April 30 calving season, turn the bull in with the heifers on June 1st and remove the bull on July 31
b) preg check all heifers whenever you're comfortable doing so (30-90 days after the bull comes out) ... anyone not bred is a goner.
c) calve out the calves ... any heifer that needs to be assisted is a goner.
d) as soon as the first heifer calves, turn the bull in with all heifers ... leave the bull in until July 31st.
e) preg check all of them again ... anyone who's not bred is a goner once her calf is around 4-6 months old
f) calve out the calves ... any second-time cow that needs to be assisted is a goner.
g) monitor the number of days between the day they calved their first calf and the day they gave you their second calf ... the heifer(s) with the shortest calving interval are noted and you only keep your replacement bulls out of that group of females.
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This is pretty tough selection criteria ... you'll automatically cut out your worst performers over a couple of years and the overall genetic quality of the remaining animals will be much higher as a result.
Oh, and I would avoid keeping cattle based on the "eye test" alone. Remember, Ryan Leaf was once the 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft because he "looked great" in a uniform.
You don't know which heifer is your best one until she's almost 3yrs old under the above program ... it's a long-process. Do you want to keep the 'best looking one' only to find out she's infertile (or sub-fertile)?
Pick cattle that will produce for you, in your area, on your pasture, under your management. Doing it differently than others isn't a problem as long as you do it as consistently as you are able.
Good luck to you!