what age to breed heifers

[dac1]

my father in law has some good looking heifers this time that are about 5 or 6 months old i mentioned i would like to raise me some heifers but he keeps saying i need to just buy me some good cows that will have calves instead of spending money raising heifers he will sell me any of his cows i want to buy or if i want to buy from others he don't say a thing when i put them in the pasture he says the heifers need to be about 22 months before you breed them and he said to ask what one of his buddies thought whitch is the biggiest cattle man in our town he said the same thing but another guy whitch i have known for many years has some heifers he said he is gonna breed at 15 months whitch is what i said and the two guys i asked are brothers :roll: any opions ?

 

[randiliana]

We breed ours at 14-15 months to calve at 23-24 months of age. That may be what the confusion is, breeding vs calving ages.

 

[llcupit]

Breed at 15 to calve at 24.

 

[Wewild]

When they reach 70% of their projected mature weight.

 

[warpaint]

As already said, depends on their weight.

A good framed heifer, should be able to breed and carry a calf at 15 to 16 months.

We watch them for weght and breed accordingly.

 

[cypressfarms]

Dac,

What breed?

British would mature earlier, but I breed at 15~16 months as well. If you don't know the age, you will have to rely solely on projected weight (As Wewild said).

 

[Anonymous]

depending on the animal, i usually breed at about 20-22 months so they calve at ~30 months... gives them the chance to grow out and mature a bit. jmo.

 

[glover36]

we usually breedd when they are around 1050 pounds down care how old just size

 

[msscamp]

my father in law has some good looking heifers this time that are about 5 or 6 months old i mentioned i would like to raise me some heifers but he keeps saying i need to just buy me some good cows that will have calves instead of spending money raising heifers he will sell me any of his cows i want to buy or if i want to buy from others he don't say a thing when i put them in the pasture he says the heifers need to be about 22 months before you breed them and he said to ask what one of his buddies thought whitch is the biggiest cattle man in our town he said the same thing but another guy whitch i have known for many years has some heifers he said he is gonna breed at 15 months whitch is what i said and the two guys i asked are brothers :roll: any opions ?

First calf heifers tend to be a pain to calve out, because they require watching at all hours of the day and night. They tend to be prone to calving problems because of their age and inexperience at calving. Generally speaking - if an animal is going to reject her calf, it will be a first calf heifer. Cows do not require that kind of watching, do not reject their calves as often, and have fewer calving problems. I suspect this is where your father in law is coming from.

 

[Limomike]

yes, there seems to be quite a difference of opinion as to when to breed heifers. I have heard many on here breed at 14-15 months, but also have been told by a few "old timers" to wait until they are at least 18 months. I believe it depends on the breed, and the size of the heifer.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

usually b/w 15-18 months depends on theheifer.

 

[jcarkie]

it is alot of expense to get a heifer from 5-6 months to calving. it is cheaper to buy grown cows and get a calf quicker. but you have a heifer for alot longer than a grown cow.
ie... weaned heifer $600 - $700. thru one winter till next spring before you breed at 15 months then another winter till the calf comes then another 7 months till you sell the calf.
buy a grown cow bred, next spring till calf comes, then 7 months to sell calf.

 

[dac1]

the cows are black angus or red limos already crossed bull is limo but some good looking heifers in the bunch i call them heinz 57

 

[Wewild]

the cows are black angus or red limos already crossed bull is limo but some good looking heifers in the bunch i call them heinz 57

I don't understand.

 

[Dusty Britches]

When they reach 70% of their projected mature weight.

As already said, depends on their weight.

A good framed heifer, should be able to breed and carry a calf at 15 to 16 months.

We watch them for weght and breed accordingly.

Ding, ding, ding!! I agree wholeheartedly! The ability to handle calving depends upon weight and frames.

 

[randiliana]

When they reach 70% of their projected mature weight.

As already said, depends on their weight.

A good framed heifer, should be able to breed and carry a calf at 15 to 16 months.

We watch them for weght and breed accordingly.

Ding, ding, ding!! I agree wholeheartedly! The ability to handle calving depends upon weight and frames.

Yes, I agree, but eventually most animals will hit that "magic" weight. What people need to think about is performance. And if a heifer needs to be 18+ months or older to be at that weight she probably isn't that great of a performer, or maybe the feed ration needs to be looked at....

 

[Victoria]

We breed at 14-15 months. If a heifer isn't ready to breed at that age she isn't kept.

 

[Engler]

Something else to consider is how long do you want your calving season to be? If you breed at 14 months in theory the heifers should be calving on the front end of the whole herd. This gives them a litter longer to breed back and roll into the herd as a productive member of socioty.

On the other hand if you wait to she's 18 months old to breed then she is 27 months old when she calves. Assuming that your cows all calve in mar-april, she would be calving in July or so.

Now let's say that you have 30 of these heifers and there are 8 really good heifer calves that need to be kept and bred. You wait until these heifers are 18 months old and then breed, now you have the main herd calving in the spring, the 30 original heifers (now cows) calving in July and these 8 new heifers calving in September. Eventually you are going to have a 365 day calving window vs a 45-60 day that most people shoot for.

But hey on the plus side, you can really reduce the number of bulls that you need on the place.

Long story short in my opinion breed (and feed to have them big enough to do so) at 13-14 months to calve at 22-23 months and roll on.

 

[Wewild]

Yes, I agree, but eventually most animals will hit that "magic" weight. What people need to think about is performance. And if a heifer needs to be 18+ months or older to be at that weight she probably isn't that great of a performer, or maybe the feed ration needs to be looked at....

I agree. Just didn't think about folks keeping bad stock. We let them do it on grass.

 

[milkmaid]

I usually breed my dairy heifers between 12-13 months at 800lbs or better; just isn't economical to wait to 18 months for me, and I'll get them calving at 1300lbs minimum.

This one's 20 1/2 months old. Due date about 3 weeks from the picture.