Newbie questions regarding breeding

[Rockdale]

Howdy! :tiphat:
I purchased 3 Red Brangus heifers back in September that were born 6/4, 6/30 and 7/5/14. The oldest is now 19 months old. A photo of the trio:


Question #1 - How old do they need to be in order to breed?
Question #2 - How will I know when they are in heat? I'm not with them every day to observe them; mostly on weekends and the occasional weekday.
Question #3 - How does one go about obtaining the services of a bull to breed the heifers? Do bull owners 'rent' their bulls?

Reading, learning and reading some more...this board is a great tool!

Regards,
Don

 

[ANAZAZI]

They are old enough to breed. Now buy a bull.

(you are now responsible for the lives of these cattle - act fast and read up on how to keep them, or better still sell them to someone who has a clue and buy no new cattle until you know anything at all) :2cents:

 

[dun]

They are old enough now as long as they are cycling. To see if they are cycling you might want to paint their tailheads or us estrotech patches.
Unless you are planning on AIing them, you won;t need to know when they are in heat. A bull will know. The estrotech patches will just let you know if they are cycling yet or not. If they aren;t there is no sense in putting a bull in with them.
Some bull owners rent bulls. If you do rent one, make sure it has had a good BSE and trich test before he gets near your girls.

 

[Putangitangi]

...Unless you are planning on AIing them, you won;t need to know when they are in heat. A bull will know. ....

So helpful to know though, in nine months time. Better to have a two-week window in which you know to keep an eye on a heifer than to be wondering for six or eight weeks when it might happen. I watch all my matings and take copious notes so come calving time I can predict calving dates within a couple of days. Unknown heifers = unknown gestation periods, but at least you'd have better information with mating dates.

 

[angus9259]

Agreed. New as you are to this I would

1. buy not rent
2. get bse done
3. apply estrotects when you let the bull out so you know when the calves are coming

as infrequently as you are out there you will likely not see them in heat or calve so find a bull with some EPDs for calving ease instead of whatever you can rent from the neighbor!

 

[TCRanch]

Rockdale, do you know the history of your girls? As in vaccinations (including BANGS)? Heifers are generally old enough to breed at 15 months but it depends on the breed, body condition (your girls look good), pelvic size and definitely the bull. Our vet pelvic measures our retained heifers at 11 months, based on breeding at 15 months w/a calving ease bull (appx 69 lbs BW) when he vaccinates for BANGS & gives them their 1st round of pre-breeding shots. If they don't "measure up" we either hold them back or sell them. That said, there is absolutely no guarantee they will calve unassisted or have other complications (hip lock, uterine prolapse, not mothering-up, breech/mal-placed, etc) so I would strongly suggest estrotects or AI so you have a good idea when they're due to calve and either be there or have a trusted neighbor/partner/someone that knows how to assist/pull a calf and develop a good relationship with your vet. Good luck!

 

[Rockdale]

Rockdale, do you know the history of your girls? As in vaccinations (including BANGS)? Heifers are generally old enough to breed at 15 months but it depends on the breed, body condition (your girls look good), pelvic size and definitely the bull. Our vet pelvic measures our retained heifers at 11 months, based on breeding at 15 months w/a calving ease bull (appx 69 lbs BW) when he vaccinates for BANGS & gives them their 1st round of pre-breeding shots. If they don't "measure up" we either hold them back or sell them. That said, there is absolutely no guarantee they will calve unassisted or have other complications (hip lock, uterine prolapse, not mothering-up, breech/mal-placed, etc) so I would strongly suggest estrotects or AI so you have a good idea when they're due to calve and either be there or have a trusted neighbor/partner/someone that knows how to assist/pull a calf and develop a good relationship with your vet. Good luck!

Thanks for the great information. I spent most of today finishing a loafing shed for the heifers. While watching them, I observed that they were very interested in sniffing and licking at each other's backsides. I did notice that their vulvae were swollen and all of them had a clear, sticky sort of discharge across their vulva and tail-heads. Should I assume that I observed them in estrus today?

Regarding the question about their history; the person I purchased from told me he ran his herd as a 'closed' herd and they've never had any vaccinations. As soon as I can borrow a trailer, they will be going to the vet for a full round of shots.

Regards,
Don

 

[dun]

That discharge is a pretty good sign. Also in about 3 days you may see a bit of discharge with some blood in it. All that means is they were in heat and have ovulated