How young can bulls breed?

[CWT Angus]

Hi everyone.
Can you tell me at what age my young bulls are able to successfully breed? I have a 7 month old angus bull & he seems very interested in the one heifer we have in with him who is in heat. He's constantly chasing her & mounting her, but I don't see the possibility of anything happening. I'm not sure at what age they are mature enough.

 

[bigbull338]

most bulls an breed heifer at 16 months old,but your bull might accadently get her bred when he is younger.but im really all that sure. scott

 

[Scotty]

I would say it might depend on the breed. Angus, my breed of choice, can very young. Idont blame him for being interested. I would keep him away especially if you don't want his calf. He is going to exert himself while she is around and in heat and not grow as he should be. This is my opinion only.


Scotty

 

[Larry Sansom]

My Angus bulls can easily pass a Breeding soundness exam at a year- some breeds need a little more time. Sounds to me like your calf is ready to be weaned.

 

[CWT Angus]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, this is an angus bull calf & he is being weaned. The long yearling heifer he is chasing around is the "babysitter" in the weaning pen. Soon as the flies & heat die down the little monster and his friends will have a meeting with the bander.

 

[Rustler9]

He can successfully breed at 12 months old but if I was going to keep him I wouldn't let him breed until 15 or 16 months old. He still has some maturing to do. I doubt if he can breed your heifer at 7 months.

 

[jcarkie]

a steer will mount a cow in heat and so will other cows, your bull will act like a bull at a young age but may not be able to get the job done. it does happen, that is how some people have heifers calve at 15 - 17 months old.

 

[Susie David]

CWT....band him at seven months, he would be better served with a date with the emasculator.
Know what it is to buy a "open" heifer and watch her get fat over the winter and drop a spring calf...
DMc

 

[jkwilson]

a steer will mount a cow in heat and so will other cows, your bull will act like a bull at a young age but may not be able to get the job done. it does happen, that is how some people have heifers calve at 15 - 17 months old.

We lost a heifer and calf this year at 14 months and a few days. We brought the heifer and momma home to a pasture with no bulls on May 29th. We noticed her looking "calvy" in January,and she tried to deliver on March 6th. She was 4 months and 3 days old when last exposed to the bull.

 

[MikeC]

a steer will mount a cow in heat and so will other cows, your bull will act like a bull at a young age but may not be able to get the job done. it does happen, that is how some people have heifers calve at 15 - 17 months old.

We lost a heifer and calf this year at 14 months and a few days. We brought the heifer and momma home to a pasture with no bulls on May 29th. We noticed her looking "calvy" in January,and she tried to deliver on March 6th. She was 4 months and 3 days old when last exposed to the bull.

Wow! That's the youngest I ever heard of a heifer getting bred!

Whodathunkit?

 

[jkwilson]

Wow! That's the youngest I ever heard of a heifer getting bred!

Whodathunkit?

We didn't. Registered cattle, so we are sure of the dates. She was the oldest heifer, and all of the bull calves were cut within 3 days of birth. My eyes told me she was getting soggy and looking bred, but I KNEW she couldn't be. If I'd have believed it when she first started showing, we could have saved the heifer. We gave all of this year's heifers a shot of Estrumate(sp?) when we worked them two weeks ago. Cheaper than the $30 it cost to get the heifer hauled off in March. Not to mention the cost of losing a 14 month old heifer that would have brought $ even as a feeder.

 

[Jake]

a steer will mount a cow in heat and so will other cows, your bull will act like a bull at a young age but may not be able to get the job done. it does happen, that is how some people have heifers calve at 15 - 17 months old.

We lost a heifer and calf this year at 14 months and a few days. We brought the heifer and momma home to a pasture with no bulls on May 29th. We noticed her looking "calvy" in January,and she tried to deliver on March 6th. She was 4 months and 3 days old when last exposed to the bull.

Wow! That's the youngest I ever heard of a heifer getting bred!

Whodathunkit?

Last year we had a heifer calf at about 13.5 months. This year we had two replacement heifers calve. One of which was at about 14.5 months, the other was right at 16 months. The younger one had some issues because she layed on a slope head downhill and was exerting effort to try to correct herself and squirt out the calf so the calf had to be pulled after the birth sack had dried over it's nostrils and suffocated it. The calf was about 85 pounds do to length, she wouldn't have had problems if she'd have stayed on the flat. The other calf weighed about 50 pounds at most and was up runnin around in notime. She started labor before supper and had the calf as soon as I got done eating so it was perfect. She bred right back and stuck so you talk about one heck of a cow.

 

[MoGal]

That is one of the reasons the feedyards are sending employees to the Graham school so they could learn preg checking. There were 4 there last month from KS who are having to check these heifers before they put them on feed/growth hormones as they are 5 and 6 months old and are bred. One fella lost 30 head in a 90 day period because the heifers were bred. That would be a significant loss to me but maybe its a drop in the bucket for others.