How do you treat your 1st calf heifers to ensure rebreeding?

[redangus]

I have my 2 year old red angus heifers on good quality hay, new grass, and a 25% salt limited feed with 14% protein. They are supposed to eat 5lbs a day of the feed. I have a couple that are falling apart. Am I giving them enough supplement or do I just need to cull the boney butted ones?

 

[plbcattle]

if a first calf heifer doesn't get brought down milking her calf, she is the one that needs to go. all cows should get brought down a little nursing a calf

 

[redangus]

Is what I am doing adequate to get a heifer to re-breed?...about 4 pounds of corn & sb meal a day?

 

[Jake]

if a first calf heifer doesn't get brought down milking her calf, she is the one that needs to go. all cows should get brought down a little nursing a calf

not necessarily, why cull her if her calf is just as big or bigger than the rest just because she herself doesn't lose condition? shouldn't that be one to keep?!?

 

[1848]

if a first calf heifer doesn't get brought down milking her calf, she is the one that needs to go. all cows should get brought down a little nursing a calf

not necessarily, why cull her if her calf is just as big or bigger than the rest just because she herself doesn't lose condition? shouldn't that be one to keep?!?

I have to agree with Jake, but I think what plbcattle means is that the other heifer "may not" be milking heavy enough to pull her down. Her calf will tell you this in the end. Some hiefers don't began milking better until their 2nd or 3rd calf, so don't sell her short. If you are feeding first calf heifers like that then I commend you for giving them every opportunity to make the grade..and continue to grow. Unfortunately, mine will not get that kind of treatment, and have a harder row to plow.

 

[dun]

As usual, I have slightly different take on this. If she loses condition but still cycles and breeds back, as long as she'll put condition back on after her calf is weaned, so waht.
Our vet has had to change his attitude about how much condition a heifer can lose and still breed back. We've had several that went to skin and bones and settled first service. Ours don;t get any supplement but minerals and salt. We haven't had a heifer not breed back (except the luantic that we couldn;t get to the catch pen and ended up eating) in many years.

dun

 

[jt]

Is what I am doing adequate to get a heifer to re-breed?...about 4 pounds of corn & sb meal a day?

i personally think that is adequate... but it really depends on several things... how her calf is doing, how she is doing, and remember.. she still has some growing to do.. so she will need a little better care than an older cow...
like some of the others... i wouldnt cull one just because she lost a little body condition... the true test is how well did she do with her calf and did she breed back on time..and is she growing? and is she what you want? some cows are just hard keepers.

one other thinig that will help them breed back is to make sure they are in good shape at the time of calving.. imo about 6 on a body score for a heifer...and they should breed back better. ..

just my opinion..

good luck

jt

 

[jerry27150]

have they been wormed? heavy milking heifers will lose weight the first 3 months or so. wouldn't hurt to give more grain if you want , but i never give mine any grain although i know i should

 

[certherfbeef]

When the first calf hits the ground the mineral gets switched to breeder booster+mag. The 1st calf heifers get nothing different than the mature herd...no grain. If they don't cycle to where they stay on track with the spring herd...they leave.

 

[Farmhand]

I would give her another go if she raises a good calf. We had one that looked anorexic all her life but raised excellent calves. Best disposition too. Cried the day she left because of old age.

 

[TLCfromARK]

I have my 2 year old red angus heifers on good quality hay, new grass, and a 25% salt limited feed with 14% protein. They are supposed to eat 5lbs a day of the feed. I have a couple that are falling apart. Am I giving them enough supplement or do I just need to cull the boney butted ones?

I'm guess they've got calves on them now? One reason that 2 year old heifers will pull down quite a bit is that they're still growing, growing the calf off and sometimes they lose baby teeth about same time and can't convert their feed as well. Sometimes we'll sell the first calf just a little early to give them a chance to recover body weight before they calve again. By the way they are expected to breed back in a timely manner, fat or poor.

;-)

 

[jgn]

I'm with Dun on this one. If she loses some condition which is expected it's no problem if she can again gain that conditioning before she is ready to calve again. I also wouldn't expect to have to give her anything but the mineral supplements, if she can't breed back without having to give her feed to do so I would cull her out of the herd.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

Mine get mineral and about 2 pounds per day 20% breeder cubes.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I can't and won't feed cows.
Heifers get plenty of grain from weaning to breeding. My heifers are bred two weeks earlier than the cows so that they have a little longer to return to heat. When grass comes (late April or early May) and they are pregnant, they go out on grass with the main herd. In the winter, I keep the coming 2 year olds & 3 year olds seperated from the older cows and they receive our best baleage - try to have them in BCS of 6.5 - 7. After calving, again they are kept seperated from the older cows. Receive baleage & mineral/salt. Yes, they may lose some condition, but are expected to breed with the cow herd - or they don't stay here or go to someone else's breeding herd. They are culled.

 

[ollie]

I can't and won't feed cows.
Heifers get plenty of grain from weaning to breeding. My heifers are bred two weeks earlier than the cows so that they have a little longer to return to heat. When grass comes (late April or early May) and they are pregnant, they go out on grass with the main herd. In the winter, I keep the coming 2 year olds & 3 year olds seperated from the older cows and they receive our best baleage - try to have them in BCS of 6.5 - 7. After calving, again they are kept seperated from the older cows. Receive baleage & mineral/salt. Yes, they may lose some condition, but are expected to breed with the cow herd - or they don't stay here or go to someone else's breeding herd. They are culled.

Jeanne, I have to grin a little here. Your balage is better quality than most of the feed mixes I hear about on this board. IE "newtobovine says he is feeding 14% wood and sawdust... do I need to up the protein?"It doesn't have to come out of a sack to be feed. Dun some of the same should be said to you. Your pasture management is good enough to equate to sorry management with feed.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Ollie, you have me on that one. It is actually better hay than I should be feeding to my dry cows - but can't put up dry hay - weather does not allow drying time in spring - early summer. We put up 2nd cutting as dry hay, and that goes to the replacement heifer calves during the winter til I run out.
But, when we lived in Kansas, we only fed dry hay to our herd - no grain.

 

[Bez]

I do not do a darned thing.

I breed to the animal. If she does not breed back on what she gets in the field then I do not want her.

Improve the genetics and you solve your problems.

No animal - if healthy - gets anything other than what God and Mother Nature provides in the summer plus a little salt. In the winter it's regular old hay, some corn that I get for free and mineral when it is available.

Just do not want her around if she can't hack the program.

Funny thing. Since we started this, we have had fewer health problems and better breeding rates all round.

Bez