how old to breed

[gerardplauche]

I guess he lives by the old adage- "Old enough to feed em, Old enough to breed em"

Nicely put. :lol2: :lol2:

 

[TexasBred]

I guess he lives by the old adage- "Old enough to feed em, Old enough to breed em"

Well I suppose that is one approach but how in the world could a 2 month old calf "conceive"?? I know bulls have no morals but how could a mature bull "stoop so low"....... literally???

 

[novaman]

I guess he lives by the old adage- "Old enough to feed em, Old enough to breed em"

Nicely put. :lol2: :lol2:

I'm glad you guys are having fun making your jokes. I'm not asking you to believe me but please use a little common sense. If you think about it, a two month old calf is at mother's side when the bull is put into the pasture. The calf getting bred was definately not a goal of mine. If I would have known about it I would have terminated the pregnancy. I never imagined they could get bred that early myself but obviously it can happen. As far as a mixup in the calf, that is impossible. She was being fed with fellow yearlings only in a seperate lot not to mention she had the feet hanging out and couldn't have the calf on her own as she was too small. Had to do a c-section and both she and the calf died because of complications. My only explanation is that it was a freak of nature. If you still don't believe the story then move along. I don't see the point in making what I have to say a joke.

 

[never2old2learn-ron]

While I haven't seen 2 mo. olds concieve, I have seen 4 mo. olds get bred. I am thinking of 3 right off-hand. All 3 delivered healthy calves with only 1 needing help. These heifers were also pasture bred while on the mothers, not on purpose of course, but it can happen.

 

[bsr]

Just found three heifers that weigh about 1500 pounds.two of them are 3 1/2 and one is 8.they have never been exposed to bull but were tried at AI but failed.two are santa gerts and other is charlais.These cows are muscled like steers and well taken care of.owner is asking 600.00 ea.Tell me what ya think. Do you think they will breed?

 

[Stocker Steve]

An 8 year old heifer... Time for the meat grinder!

 

[TexasBred]

I guess he lives by the old adage- "Old enough to feed em, Old enough to breed em"

Nicely put. :lol2: :lol2:

I'm glad you guys are having fun making your jokes. I'm not asking you to believe me but please use a little common sense. If you think about it, a two month old calf is at mother's side when the bull is put into the pasture. The calf getting bred was definately not a goal of mine. If I would have known about it I would have terminated the pregnancy. I never imagined they could get bred that early myself but obviously it can happen. As far as a mixup in the calf, that is impossible. She was being fed with fellow yearlings only in a seperate lot not to mention she had the feet hanging out and couldn't have the calf on her own as she was too small. Had to do a c-section and both she and the calf died because of complications. My only explanation is that it was a freak of nature. If you still don't believe the story then move along. I don't see the point in making what I have to say a joke.

Nova not trying to have fun at all. Not at your expense. Just never heard of such and still find it hard to believe but WILL take your word for it and hope it never happens to me. My apologies if I offended you.

 

[iowahawkeyes]

Someone mentioned on another string they couldn't understand why someone up North where the weather is so severe will breed cows to calf in that cold weather. I'm curious too.[/quote]

It's easier to calve when the ground is frozen solid. March and April can really be a muddy mess (like last year :frowns: ) Jan and Feb are cold, but we usually have a place to put them out of the wind.

 

[angie1]

If nova says his heifer bred at 2 months, then she bred at 2 months. Thats all there is to it.

As for calving in cold....
We calf in May to avoid cold weather calving. March and April are not only cold, but cold and wet. I would just as soon calf in Feb, than March and April. I will say though, that we are the exception. Many calf in Feb., March and April. I am noticing an increase locally in farmers choosing to calf in the fall. I think this is fine as well. Weather still warm and babies have a chance to get their legs under them befor winter hits hard.

 

[pauline]

I have a question though. If a calf can be bred at 2 - 4 months, how can you run the mother cow together with the calf and the bull? We usually wean our calves at 6-7 months, while they are with the bull all the time.

 

[angie1]

Pauline ~
Often times a shot to force the heifer calf to abort will be given at weaning along with other vaccinations if the heifer calf was run at her mothers side with a bull.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It isn't an age thing. It depends on how fast the animal matures and their size. I've had heifers bred as early as 2 months of age. Obviously the goal is to get them to a point where the pregnancy won't hinder their growth or their ability to give birth. That said I try to breed my heifers by 15 months of age so their first calf is right at 2 years of age. As far as bulls I'm not sure. All I can tell you is that I buy yearlings and they go out with the girls around 15 months of age and have never had a problem.

2 months??? I'm blown away...

Sort of questioned that one myself. But if he said it happened I'm sure it did ;-)

It can and will happen. Not often.

A neighbor had one get bred like that. Once she was full grown the cow never went over 700 lbs. He finally caught that little wild thing and she went to the sale barn. She'd jump fence like a deer.

 

[novaman]

Since the I found this heifer to be bred I've become very careful with any calves coming off the pasture. I give all my replacement heifers shots of Lut and Dex to force any pregnant heifers to abort. Doesn't cost much and it gives me the peace of mind knowing I won't have another episode.

 

[HOSS]

We breed strictly based on our normal breeding season. We don;t want the calves born much before March 1 and don't like them born later then mid to late april. Since all of our calves are born in that window we breed the heifers to calf in the same. Makes them around 14-15 months when bred. One standard rule of thumb is I won't retain a heifer I wouldn;t be willing to buy.

I follow this same pattern. I do watch age and weight. If the heifer is smaller framed I wait a little longer say maybe 17 to 18 months. If she is in that 800 pound range I have bred them at 14 months of age. All of my calves this year will be born between March 3rd and April 20th........I hope

 

[Jen]

novaman we too have had 2mo. old heifers breed. They are also Gelbvieh. We have up to 10% of our replacement heifers bred. Nice to hear others have that problem, too.

 

[Wewild]

We have had two 14 to 15 month old heifers calve. I quess that would mean bred at five to six months. They were LIms. One this past year. That 2 month stuff don't sound right.

 

[Double R Ranch]

It isn't an age thing. It depends on how fast the animal matures and their size. I've had heifers bred as early as 2 months of age. Obviously the goal is to get them to a point where the pregnancy won't hinder their growth or their ability to give birth. That said I try to breed my heifers by 15 months of age so their first calf is right at 2 years of age. As far as bulls I'm not sure. All I can tell you is that I buy yearlings and they go out with the girls around 15 months of age and have never had a problem.

2 months??? I'm blown away...

I hate to say it but I bought a pair of 5 weight heifers some years back, they both looked healthy and in good shape. Excellent to breed when they reached the proper weight. Only problem was that one of them calved a few months later. The estimated time of breeding according to the vet was 3 months old. Had to pull the calf. By the time we realized she was pregnant there was nothing we could do. We pulled the calf and both cow and calf ended up at auction. Cow was ruined and calf never grew. Lost a lot of money on that deal! It happens. Don't buy from the auction anymore anyways but still a hard lesson to learn.
Live and learn,
Double R

 

[Wewild]

I The estimated time of breeding according to the vet was 3 months old.Double R

i find that hard to believe.

edit.. we didn't buy them ... we raised them.

 

[3waycross]

Someone mentioned on another string they couldn't understand why someone up North where the weather is so severe will breed cows to calf in that cold weather. I'm curious too.

It's easier to calve when the ground is frozen solid. March and April can really be a muddy mess (like last year :frowns: ) Jan and Feb are cold, but we usually have a place to put them out of the wind.[/quote]

My friend who runs about 3000 mother cows has gone to calving Jan/Feb, says it's easier than going broke medicating for scours. The downside of this is he lost 10 out of 64 calves that were born in a blizzard this year.

As far as the early breeding. A vet told me last year that when she was in college they did a study on sexual maturity and the Gelbvieh's were in esterus consistantly at 4/5 months of age. We are giving Lute to all the Gelbvieh cross heifers at weaning after having two calve at 14 months last summer.

 

[farmguy]

I had a hiefer give birth normally almost exactly 1 year old. Calf was fine but small. I double checked her tattoo and ear tag. Farmguy