Maturity in heifers

[ANAZAZI]

We all know that the herdsire must have adequate testicle size because his daughters are to reach sexual maturity before to late.
Question is, is late maturity at all a problem in any herd of yours?

Or is the worst problem that the heifer calves mature too quickly, and get bred too soon?

 

[Aero]

We all know that the herdsire must have adequate testicle size because his daughters are to reach sexual maturity before to late.
Question is, is late maturity at all a problem in any herd of yours?

Or is the worst problem that the heifer calves mature too quickly, and get bred too soon?

nutritional level dictates almost all of this.

 

[dieselbeef]

almost always too early

 

[3waycross]

We all know that the herdsire must have adequate testicle size because his daughters are to reach sexual maturity before to late.
Question is, is late maturity at all a problem in any herd of yours?

Or is the worst problem that the heifer calves mature too quickly, and get bred too soon?

nutritional level dictates almost all of this.

I believe there are some univerisity studies that disagree with your statement.. I also think it can vary greatly by breed.

 

[SRBeef]

I'd rather have an early maturing heifer than a late maturing one. I want heifers that are really ready to breed to a bull at 14-15 months to calve at 24 months of age.

The earlier they mature the more likely they are to calve on schedule (2 years from their own birthdate) with no problems. It is hard to see how anyone can afford to carry a heifer to calve at age three to first calf in the current cattle economy...or any economy for that matter.

Not letting her get bred too early is a management problem that is solveable. I see no reason to have the tail wagging the dog, so to speak. jmho.

Jim

 

[ANAZAZI]

Allright, does anyone feel that heifers matured too late when coming from a certain sire?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

There are always more differences WITHIN a breed, than BETWEEN breeds (as the old saying goes --_)
"Most" continental breeds are later maturing than British - although Simmental don't fit that, as they are actually earlier maturing than Herefords (according to Univ research).
Within each breed, I'm sure there are some pedigree LINES that are extremely early and some that are extremely late.
Where are you going with your questions?? anything specific?

 

[3waycross]

Gelbvieh's are also in general very early maturing. We reached the point where we roputinely lutalysed all of out heifers at weaning. Because we had some bad surprises and those were Sh/GV crosses. They were extremely fertile and were getting bred as early as 5 1/2 months

 

[mwj]

There are always more differences WITHIN a breed, than BETWEEN breeds (as the old saying goes --_)
"Most" continental breeds are later maturing than British - although Simmental don't fit that, as they are actually earlier maturing than Herefords (according to Univ research).
Within each breed, I'm sure there are some pedigree LINES that are extremely early and some that are extremely late.
Where are you going with your questions?? anything specific?

My guess is that everyone seems to be harping on testicle size in bulls of late. When asked they reply that it takes big balls on a bull to get early maturing heifers! I think the op thinks people are fixing a ''straw-man'' problem that does not occur very often :cowboy:

 

[ANAZAZI]

There are always more differences WITHIN a breed, than BETWEEN breeds (as the old saying goes --_)
"Most" continental breeds are later maturing than British - although Simmental don't fit that, as they are actually earlier maturing than Herefords (according to Univ research).
Within each breed, I'm sure there are some pedigree LINES that are extremely early and some that are extremely late.
Where are you going with your questions?? anything specific?

My guess is that everyone seems to be harping on testicle size in bulls of late. When asked they reply that it takes big balls on a bull to get early maturing heifers! I think the op thinks people are fixing a ''straw-man'' problem that does not occur very often :cowboy:

Something like that. I am still waiting to hear of one of my colleaugues on here, with problems of the extremelely late kind.

 

[ANAZAZI]

I am not debating that big balls sire early maturing heifers. Merely if it is that relevant.

 

[gberry]

We all know that the herdsire must have adequate testicle size because his daughters are to reach sexual maturity before to late.
Question is, is late maturity at all a problem in any herd of yours?

Or is the worst problem that the heifer calves mature too quickly, and get bred too soon?

nutritional level dictates almost all of this.

I believe there are some univerisity studies that disagree with your statement.. I also think it can vary greatly by breed.

I think I understand what Aero is saying. With our management, we will almost always have a few heifers who do not mature early enough to get bred at 14-15 months. I know we could feed them more and they would breed at 15 months, but we prefer to put a little pressure on them to identify the ones that can make it with our management.

I know of one Beefmaster breeder here who has very nice cows, but has told me he doesn't even try to breed them until 24 months or later because they are later maturing. I know others will disagree, but that has been his experience.

 

[alftn]

If well fed they seam to grow off quicker, get size , and thus maturity...I like to breed my at 22 to 24 months..their age is not that important, I want them to calf in 15 feb to 15 april, and I like to breed them late not early, do not like calving problems....Also the bull selection is important to how old the heifers are...15 mo heifer young angus ,low birthweight , probly be ok... The same heifer at 24 mo heifer breed to my 1850 lbs hereford, small headed, probly be ok....I raise my on cattle from birth to death, it always upset me and the girls when i have to get rid of the bull and start looking for a new one..They are aways happy to see a new one...

 

[Stocker Steve]

Gelbvieh's are also in general very early maturing. They were extremely fertile and were getting bred as early as 5 1/2 months

Neighbor had the same experience with his Gelbvieh crosses.
Chars seem to mature "late" and wf or Simi crosses seem to mature "early" for me.

 

[Aero]

Allright, does anyone feel that heifers matured too late when coming from a certain sire?

i wouldn't expect a lot of info from a .10 heritability.

 

[KMacGinley]

But Aero; alot of university studies disagree with you!

I sense that many people have no clue about the relative importance of heritability and management.

 

[novatech]

Sexual maturity is one thing. But you need physical maturity to go along with it. I would like a heifer to calf as young as possible. Possible means I'm not going to be pulling calves in the middle of a stormy night. I only push early breeding on heifers capable of delivering on their own.
In my mind (which may be slightly twisted) you need a heifer to have early sexual and physical maturity. But that is usually the terminals which are not going to be the same as cows you would want to keep as that may lead to frame creep. This is assuming you want to end up with a 1200 lb. cow that raises a calf half her own weight.

 

[Aero]

But Aero; alot of university studies disagree with you!

I sense that many people have no clue about the relative importance of heritability and management.

if you only find people that agree with you, you either haven't looked hard enough or you are all wrong.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Sexual maturity is one thing. But you need physical maturity to go along with it. I would like a heifer to calf as young as possible. Possible means I'm not going to be pulling calves in the middle of a stormy night. I only push early breeding on heifers capable of delivering on their own.
In my mind (which may be slightly twisted) you need a heifer to have early sexual and physical maturity. But that is usually the terminals which are not going to be the same as cows you would want to keep as that may lead to frame creep. This is assuming you want to end up with a 1200 lb. cow that raises a calf half her own weight.

Amen!