Twin Hereford Heifer...finishing weight?

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RefugeRanch

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Good morning,

I have a twin hereford heifer that is 19 months old. I understand from other posts that twin heifers mostly likely will not calf so we would like to finish her to eat. My question is will she finish out like any other heifer or because she is a twin will she be on the light side? She is purely grass/legume feed and probably is between 700 lbs to 750lbs..

Thanks for your help.

Paul
 
RefugeRanch":uiiox5jb said:
Good morning,

I have a twin hereford heifer that is 19 months old. I understand from other posts that twin heifers mostly likely will not calf so we would like to finish her to eat. My question is will she finish out like any other heifer or because she is a twin will she be on the light side? She is purely grass/legume feed and probably is between 700 lbs to 750lbs..

Thanks for your help.

Paul

Twin to what - a bull or a heifer?
 
In the past twins have sometimes finished at lighter weights, but even worse are first calf steers and heifers. They always finish at lighter weights.
 
Where are you located? and what breed? was it a bottle calf?
Extremely light for her age if a normal british or continental breed. Not necessarily because she is a twin - more management or genetics (or both) I would think.
Are you going to "finish" her out on legume/grass/hay?
 
She is a hereford. I am guessing at her weight as I am new at eyeing cattle. It was my goal to finish her on legume/grass. We are located in Central Michigan. We bought her at three months of age.

Thanks for your comments.
 
Dixieangus":301hlp24 said:
19 months old and 700 to 750lbs sounds LIGHT

I was thinking the same thing. Pretty light for that age.

At this point it doesn't sound like she gains very fast or well. You may want to start tossing some feed/grains in her direction in order to 'finish' her. She can stay on the grass and hay, but I'd add some grain/corn/etc at this point. Start with a small amount, about a pound or so twice a day and slowly increase from there.

No reason why she can't be butchered and eaten.

katherine
 
Yes, she is very light for her age based on your estimate. 10-12 month old Hereford heifers (twins or not) would weigh that much. This is management, nutrition, and/or genetics. Have you dewormed her? I would start there, with a good dewormer. If she has not been dewormed with a grub control this year, you need to check with your local extension or a vet as to the latest date you can use a degrub wormer. Michigan should be about the same as it is here in Central NY. Nov 5 is our last date to use a grubicide dewormer.
Not to crticize, but as info for your next livestock project. At 3 months of age, she needed a high protein diet to replace the super high protein milk she was not getting from her dam. There are special grain rations designed for young calves. As they grow (size and weight) their protein requirements reduce. Most beef calves stay on their dam until around the age of 6-8 months old, Herefords would weigh 450 - 650(?) at that age. Their protein requirement would be less than a 3 month old, but it would still be high (about 15%). A "normal" Hereford heifer (twin or not) at 19 months of age should/could weigh about 900-1100# and normally would have been bred at the age of 14-16 months old. Being a freemartin (female twin to a bull), she is/would be treated as a steer & fed out for harvest. If you want to only feed grass/legume/hay, that is find, and an animal can be finished out on that sort of diet, but it requires really GOOD QUALITY feed and free choice minerals, and a good health program which inludes deworming.
In all reality, a 19 month heifer should be ready to harvest ( or, with a roughage diet, should be getting close). With a good grain diet from weaning on, cattle are able to be harvested at 1100-1300# at 14-16 months of age.
Being a twin, generally only affects their growth when both calves are left on their single mom to raise without suppliment. In that case, the dam only has so much milk to raise both calves, and a lot of cows don't have enought to do a good job on two calves. But, after weaning, they should gain the same daily rate as their contemporaries.
 
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