Replacement Heifer Gain Target ?

[Stocker Steve]

I have tested my roughage and are trying to do a good job of laying out a balanced ration for replacement heifers. I have calculated ADG targets for moderate heifers being bred at 800#, with some compensatory gain expected on pasture, and I am coming up with less than a pound per day required during the winter. Does this rate of grain sound reasonable to you?

 

[angus9259]

My replacements don't get grain.

It all depends how you're defining "roughage". Is your roughage wheat straw or 3rd cutting alfalfa? I assume by the fact you need a little bit of grain your roughage is somewhere in the middle...

 

[Till-Hill]

Sounds fine to me, unless heifers are going to/have the ability to mature into 1800# cows then you may be a tick shy. Our heifers adjusting yearling weights were 694-894 (actuals 660-806). Perfect for what I want.

Ours are weaned into a dirt lot, no roof just wind break from North and West winds. Fed crappy first crop hay that's been outside and grain of 80/20 corn/ddg with 60# to a ton of balancer mineral for byproducts. 8#/hd/day till really cold then go to 8.5# and we back off grain by some then at yearling weight time or about 2 months pre breeding.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I feed meadow grass hay most of the time.
Heifers are fat in the fall, but without some supplement they look pretty rough by late winter.
Limited data, but perhaps 0.5 # ADG w/o supplement.

 

[Till-Hill]

Sorry I forgot key item there. Right over 2# day last year from ww to yw. October to March. Never weighed em again. We also didn't go to grass last year and maintain about that 8# grain a day till this September. They are in perfect shape I'd call them.

 

[ddd75]

i never have fed any of my replacements any grain.

They also calve early. I'm averaging 18 months old.

 

[Stocker Steve]

i never have fed any of my replacements any grain.

Great that you have good fescue pasture. What is their average winter daily gain ?

 

[ddd75]

i never have fed any of my replacements any grain.

Great that you have good fescue pasture. What is their average winter daily gain ?

i'd say around 1.5 lb / day. They are usually only around 900 - 1000 lbs when they calve.

 

[pricefarm]

i never have fed any of my replacements any grain.

They also calve early. I'm averaging 18 months old.

That's early to calve a heifer. What do they weigh when the get breed at 9 months old ? Do you have any problems with them breeding back?

 

[Ky hills]

I like to get around a pound and a half gain per day for heifers. I like for them to weigh 700-800 with most being 8 or close to it at breeding. I feed them probably around 4 lbs per day from weaning till breeding, and then amend the supplemental feed according to how the pasture is.

 

[ddd75]

i never have fed any of my replacements any grain.

They also calve early. I'm averaging 18 months old.

That's early to calve a heifer. What do they weigh when the get breed at 9 months old ? Do you have any problems with them breeding back?

No problems ever breeding back. I had a 14 month old give birth to a really nice bull calf this year. He's still on her ( I really need to wean him) and I was afraid she was too small.. she was like 800 lbs when she had him.. He was around 55 lb calf. She's grown great (no grain) and her calf looks really good. You can't tell him apart from any of my other calves.

Anything around 650 - 700 lbs IMO is ready to bred.. which for my cows would be around 60% of full growth weight.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Anything around 650 - 700 lbs IMO is ready to bred.. which for my cows would be around 60% of full growth weight.

Thats around my 205 day weaning weights. :lol:

 

[ddd75]

Anything around 650 - 700 lbs IMO is ready to bred.. which for my cows would be around 60% of full growth weight.

Thats around my 205 day weaning weights. :lol:

yea.. they are usually around that mark at around weaning time. I usually wean off at around 8 months old.


crazy to me how some people will hold a heifer until 2 to get bred.. then she's almost 3 before she calves?! mine have already thrown out a 2nd.

 

[True Grit Farms]

i never have fed any of my replacements any grain.

They also calve early. I'm averaging 18 months old.

That's early to calve a heifer. What do they weigh when the get breed at 9 months old ? Do you have any problems with them breeding back?

No problems ever breeding back. I had a 14 month old give birth to a really nice bull calf this year. He's still on her ( I really need to wean him) and I was afraid she was too small.. she was like 800 lbs when she had him.. He was around 55 lb calf. She's grown great (no grain) and her calf looks really good. You can't tell him apart from any of my other calves.

Anything around 650 - 700 lbs IMO is ready to bred.. which for my cows would be around 60% of full growth weight.

We calve our heifers out by 20 months here, but we do have issues with some breeding back in a timely manner. I'll give a heifer 4 - 5 months to breed back depending on how she's doing with her calf.

 

[ddd75]

That's early to calve a heifer. What do they weigh when the get breed at 9 months old ? Do you have any problems with them breeding back?

No problems ever breeding back. I had a 14 month old give birth to a really nice bull calf this year. He's still on her ( I really need to wean him) and I was afraid she was too small.. she was like 800 lbs when she had him.. He was around 55 lb calf. She's grown great (no grain) and her calf looks really good. You can't tell him apart from any of my other calves.

Anything around 650 - 700 lbs IMO is ready to bred.. which for my cows would be around 60% of full growth weight.

We calve our heifers out by 20 months here, but we do have issues with some breeding back in a timely manner. I'll give a heifer 4 - 5 months to breed back depending on how she's doing with her calf.

I also give them some extra time to breed back. But they are usually on time. I try to take the calf off them early but this year I wasn't able to do it.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

ddd - are you saying they are 12-14 months old when they CALVE or when they get BRED?

 

[ddd75]

ddd - are you saying they are 12-14 months old when they CALVE or when they get BRED?

i had one calve this year at 14 months. Most of mine calve around 18 months old.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm not willing to push them that hard. Mine calve between 21 - 24 months old.

 

[bball]

I'm not willing to push them that hard. Mine calve between 21 - 24 months old.

Same. Calve between 22 and 24 months. Grow them on 4# of corn gluten pellet, soy hull pellets, whole corn mix per head per day. Quality hay and mineral.

 

[Till-Hill]

ddd - are you saying they are 12-14 months old when they CALVE or when they get BRED?

i had one calve this year at 14 months. Most of mine calve around 18 months old.

Do you calve year round then or how about do you get a defined calving season calving that early?

Penn State did a research project when I was in college we read about. They got Holstein heifers big enough and sexually mature to calve at 18 months. The milk lost in that lactation was unreal compared to the ones that calved on average at 24 months. It was around 8-9,000#. They other issue was some of their udders were not developed enough to even make any milk at all.