Ralgro Implants in Heifers - Good or Bad??

[ranchmom77]

We've always implanted our steer calves at branding with ralgro, but not the heifers. DH never implanted the heifers because we don't choose our replacements until close to weaning, and he heard that it wasn't good to implant one that you intend to keep for breeding.
Ralgro's website states in the FAQ that it is ok to implant a replacement heifer once when she is young, but she should not re re-implanted at weaning.
http://www.ralgro.com/implants/mag_qfar.asp
I did some searching here in the forums and found several opinions on the matter... some have said that they implanted all their calves when they were still on the cow, didn't re-implant the heifers at weaning, and saw no ill effects on the heifer's reproduction abilities. It didn't state if the heifers were bred naturally or by AI.
Another person stated that studies have shown that ralgro has decreased fertility/ovulation in a heifer's first estrus, but had no long term effects on her fertility over the life of the cow.
We AI our heifers so that wouldn't be good for us, but the ralgro website states that implanting heifers under weaning age is ok. We usually keep 10 heifers every year out of about 120.
Was wondering if you had any thoughts on the matter.. do you implant your heifer calves?
We're branding our first bunch this weekend and will implant then.. any input is very much appreciated!

 

[Mat Man]

A few years ago had a friend that had 3 out of 5 heafers that did not bred that had been Ralgro.I bred 10 heafers to the same bull at the same time that had not been Ralgro-all 10 bred.
That was enough for me to not use Ralgro on any heafers.

 

[bird dog]

I implant all my calves with Ralgro at about 6-8 weeks and then re-implant the steers at weaning. I have not had any problems with my retained heifers but I wait on breeding until they are about 17-18 months. The extra three months seem to help a lot on conception rates and calving ease. We did a batch yesterday and I plan on keeping a few of the heifers but a lot will have to do with the conditions the fields are in at weaning time. I wouldn't do any after about 6 months for sure.

 

[Lucky_P]

Have implanted heifers in the past - either with Synovex-C or Ralgro; never had any noticeable issues with cycling/breeding. Haven't done any for years; can't really say why, I just haven't - unless they're a dink that I know, early on, is not going to make it as a replacement female here.
Studies have shown that implanted heifers will have larger pelvic area than non-implanted heifers - could be an advantage in a little 'extra' room for that first calf to pass - but the spectre of adverse effect - whether real or imagined - on reproduction may offset that.

 

[Alpine Cattleman]

This is a progesterone issue. A bull calf like a heifer has progesterone it promotes early growth in both animals. When a bull is steered it gets rid of the progesterone and testosterone. Since progesterone promotes growth in young calves it is giving back in the form of implants. I personally wouldn't give it to heifers especially ones meant to be bred but to each his own

 

[Nesikep]

Something to think about buying replacement heifers calves at the sale barn too :S

I don't use it on any of my calves