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How much do you expect from 1st calf heifers?
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<blockquote data-quote="SPH" data-source="post: 1586933" data-attributes="member: 20580"><p>It really depends on your environment and herd management practices. We breed for calving ease so we expect them to calve unassisted and be a good mother to their calf. If they are lazy and aren't showing effort when in labor or are terrible mothers and have issues claiming their calves they usually don't last long. The 1 problem we sometimes run into is the heifer milks so well and we have a dry summer they can't keep their weight up and breed back later or come up open. With ideal conditions most of the 1st calf heifers breed back on 1st cycle but we've seen that the 2nd year calving is the one they sometimes breed back 3 weeks later because we had a hot and dry year and they didn't cycle as soon. </p><p></p><p>Those females that breed back like clockwork and calve the same week every year and wean a good calf are the ones you build your herd around. Heifers are such a crapshoot. Over the years I've seen some great looking heifers turn out to be terrible cows and have seen marginal heifers we nearly culled turn into some of the best cows we've had so you'll have a gut feeling...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SPH, post: 1586933, member: 20580"] It really depends on your environment and herd management practices. We breed for calving ease so we expect them to calve unassisted and be a good mother to their calf. If they are lazy and aren't showing effort when in labor or are terrible mothers and have issues claiming their calves they usually don't last long. The 1 problem we sometimes run into is the heifer milks so well and we have a dry summer they can't keep their weight up and breed back later or come up open. With ideal conditions most of the 1st calf heifers breed back on 1st cycle but we've seen that the 2nd year calving is the one they sometimes breed back 3 weeks later because we had a hot and dry year and they didn't cycle as soon. Those females that breed back like clockwork and calve the same week every year and wean a good calf are the ones you build your herd around. Heifers are such a crapshoot. Over the years I've seen some great looking heifers turn out to be terrible cows and have seen marginal heifers we nearly culled turn into some of the best cows we've had so you'll have a gut feeling... [/QUOTE]
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How much do you expect from 1st calf heifers?
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