Right Time To Breed Heifers

[vs_cattle]

When Do You Breed?
Age / Weight

 

[rattler]

vs we try to breed our's at about 15-16 month's old weight i think you wait till 65% of their matuer s weight.We like for them to calve at 24 month's.

rattler

 

[Limomike]

Same here.. try to breed at around 14-15 mths old..but it also depends on what the heifer looks like. If she is a bit on the smallish side, I hold her back for another couple months.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

The biggest thing is the weight. She must be about 65% of her expected MATURE weight.
We breed out heifers to calve between 22-24 months of age, but they are grown out properly.

 

[MikeC]

Breed them about 2-4 weeks before your older cows get bred.

If they ain't big enough......it's your fault.

 

[vs_cattle]

Thanks For The Feed Back

 

[Alan]

I agree with all the post, but will add tht when you breed them at 15 to 16 months, remember to give them plenty of nutrition. They are still growing and they are also developing a calf. You want them close to mature weight when they calf.

Alan

 

[Muratic]

If they ain't big enough......it's your fault.

Exactly. Breed them according to age, cull hard on the ones that don't make the weight.

I like the heifers to calve a couple weeks before the cow herd, like Mike. I am able to give the heifers a little more attention that way.

 

[milkmaid]

Since I don't have a set time of year to calve heifers out (just running dairy heifers over here), I breed as soon as I have them reaching 800-850lbs. I try to get a 1.8+ ADG throughout gestation, bringing them to 1300lb+ springers. Most of the time they'll average 12 months at the time of breeding and have had one cycle; lately I've been breeding 2nd and sometimes 3rd cycle with the exception of a couple early maturers. I've got a group (born last February) that gets preg checked probably end of next week, (they'll be 35-40 days), and they're about 850-900lbs, some maybe a touch over.

 

[hillsdown]

Since I don't have a set time of year to calve heifers out (just running dairy heifers over here), I breed as soon as I have them reaching 800-850lbs. I try to get a 1.8+ ADG throughout gestation, bringing them to 1300lb+ springers. Most of the time they'll average 12 months at the time of breeding and have had one cycle; lately I've been breeding 2nd and sometimes 3rd cycle with the exception of a couple early maturers. I've got a group (born last February) that gets preg checked probably end of next week, (they'll be 35-40 days), and they're about 850-900lbs, some maybe a touch over.

DO you D.H.I. and classifiy your heifers or are they just grade heifers?

 

[msscamp]

13-16 months of age, with the heifers beginning roughly 2 weeks before the rest of the herd.

 

[Billdevaul]

My lil heffer is 13 months and about 880 pounds.....
vet said at 750 and up is fine ... is age a issue at all or just weight???

 

[milkmaid]

Since I don't have a set time of year to calve heifers out (just running dairy heifers over here), I breed as soon as I have them reaching 800-850lbs. I try to get a 1.8+ ADG throughout gestation, bringing them to 1300lb+ springers. Most of the time they'll average 12 months at the time of breeding and have had one cycle; lately I've been breeding 2nd and sometimes 3rd cycle with the exception of a couple early maturers. I've got a group (born last February) that gets preg checked probably end of next week, (they'll be 35-40 days), and they're about 850-900lbs, some maybe a touch over.

DO you D.H.I. and classifiy your heifers or are they just grade heifers?

Just grade heifers. Purchased where ever I can find some young heifers and then resold as springers.

 

[milkmaid]

My lil heffer is 13 months and about 880 pounds.....
vet said at 750 and up is fine ... is age a issue at all or just weight???

IMO age isn't a big issue -- I can't see the point in waiting until a heifer is 15 months old, when it means she'll be 1,000lbs when bred for the first time. You're liable to end up with a huge, possibly overweight, first-calver and a ginormous mature cow. I've seen enough 18-20 month old dairy springers calving without problems that I'm not worried about breeding yearlings; and that's holstein heifers bred to a holstein bull, too.

If she's cycling and a January calf is OK with you, I'd go ahead and breed her. JMO.

 

[hillsdown]

My lil heffer is 13 months and about 880 pounds.....
vet said at 750 and up is fine ... is age a issue at all or just weight???

Age is an issue ;if a calf has her first heat at six months do you breed it?NO.The rule of thumb is that they should calve right around that 24 month age as their frame and body are still growing and once they get in calf all that extra nutrition they need will be put into the calf and the cow will stop growing in frame.The reason I asked about the Holsteins is that the younger they calve (before their second birthday )the higher the BCA's are when DHI herds are scored.So at 13 months if she is cycling regularily and has been health checked by your Vet to make sure her reproduction system is normal and functioning I would breed next heat.