Heifer breeding age

[mhlippert]

We have a 10 month old heifer (Francine) and do not know when we should expect her to go into heat and/or be ready to breed. We have a small herd with one young bull, two steer, one cow and the heifer. We don't want the bull to attempt to breed before she is mature enough but know she may go into heat before then, so we are keeping them separated. Two questions -- When might she go into heat? When is the right time to breed her? Thanks much.

[theburrowfarm]

She can go in to heat as early as 4 months .You should wait till she is 14 months to breed her .

[Dahdo]

We just had our 8.5 month old heifer have her first heat. We had three similar aged bull calves in with her so I was a little worried. She had a second heat 17 days later which was a bit early, but it was a relief. You are right to keep them separated until she is at least 14 months. If you have an accident, you can give lutalyse to abort the calf.

[janmar]

Do cows go in heat or come in heat? Just asking.

[marion]

Dec 31, 2012 17:06:20 GMT -5 janmar said:

Do cows go in heat or come in heat? Just asking.

Is this a trick question for New Years ;D

If the bull is following them, likely they will be coming. If the AI tech is involved they will probably be going.. I guess it doesn't matter a lot, as long as they are 15 months or older.

[Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk]

Dec 31, 2012 17:06:20 GMT -5 janmar said:

Do cows go in heat or come in heat? Just asking.

I think it's a matter of grammar based on time perspective (with some overlap of word choices).

Examples:

1. The cow is just now COMING into heat.
2. The cow was GOING into heat two days ago.
3. The cow WAS in heat yesterday.
4. The cow WENT into heat three weeks ago.
5. The cow IS IN heat right now.
6. The cow SHOULD BE IN heat next week.
7. The cow MAY BE in heat right now.

[Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk]

Dec 30, 2012 18:44:29 GMT -5 mhlippert said:

We have a 10 month old heifer (Francine) and do not know when we should expect her to go into heat and/or be ready to breed. We have a small herd with one young bull, two steer, one cow and the heifer. We don't want the bull to attempt to breed before she is mature enough but know she may go into heat before then, so we are keeping them separated. Two questions -- When might she go into heat? When is the right time to breed her? Thanks much.

In nature, most females start cycling when their bodies start to have enough resources to share with a fetus. A well-fed and well-grown female typically starts cycling earlier than a scrawnier female. Many will have several "practice" cycles before settling. I've found that 90% of the time, females start cycling at about 10-11 months and reliably settle at about 13-15 months. But there's always those exceptions.

It's interesting to note that in humans, cycling usually starts at about 115 pounds. One of the reasons human girls are cycling earlier and earlier is because of the overwhelming amount of easy calories in our (mostly crappy) modern diets. Many overweight girls are now hitting 115 pounds in the 3rd grade and starting to cycle, where 70 years ago, they often didn't hit 115 pounds until the 7th or 8th grade. That's a good reason to keep the junk food away from your children and grandchildren and to watch their weight and make them get lots of exercise.

Heifers that are on a natural diet of forage-only (no grain) and that get plenty of exercise are going to tend to start cycling later than those supplemented with grain and other fattening treats (gaining fat helps trigger early cycling).

Keep in mind that the first 4 or 5 months of gestation aren't very hard on a mother because the new fetus is so very tiny and uses very few resources in those early months. So if you have an accident and a heifer is impregnated early and you don't want to abort, then you can put her on such a premium diet that the new mom grows quickly before the latter phases of pregnancy.

On our farm we like to time calves to arrive a month after the grass starts growing (so the calf is getting premium nutrition in that critical last month of gestation and the first month after calving). For us, we calve (and lamb) in April.


Here's how our year goes:

June - Put chosen bull in with cows (excess bulls are kept separate with regular fence + electric fence)

Sept - Put entire herd back together after no signs of heat are seen for a month.

Dec - Separate 7+ month-old heifers from the herd (halter break)

Feb - Required Brucellosis shots for heifers

Late March - Separate all bulls from the herd, halter break the young bulls. Put the heifers back in with moms.

April - Calving

June - Put chosen bull back in with all cows including the 14 month old heifers


We love this cycle with all calves born in April every year so new calves get plenty of natural vitamin A and vitamin D and it mimics the natural cycle of most animals.

[creayonfarm]

Kirk,

I am trying to figure out how in the world you manage to halter break a year-old bull calf. I start mine at three days, same as I do with the colts, and it is still physically challenging. Of course, I am 60 years old and pretty crippled up (caused by horses not cattle). Any hints would be appreciated.

[Deleted]

First onto the breeding age of a Dexter
And all that has been said, is great advice.
The only other consideration I would ask from you is to know your type of Dexter.
We ended up purchasing a shortie (tests confirmed) and what is now a pot-belly girl.
She is 17 months and we have absolutely no intention of joining her yet due to her body structure and the fact that everything is already squeezed into her stomach cavity that asking for a calf to grow in there as well would just be cruel.
Our young heifers have had their first cycle at 8.5 mths and two others didn¡¦t start cycling until they were closer to 13 months ¡V so I think as with us humans, it varies from bloodline to bloodline. But the general rule of thumb is watch and/or separate from 6 months.
Here in Australia we have gradeups from Jersey and Angus bloodlines in some generations of now registered purebred Dexters, and its their descendants I am thinking who may be the earlier cyclers ¡V but this is only an assumption from my point of view and not a definite. So we all watch for those early signs of a heifer possibly starting their heat cycle.
Second on the halter training ¡V
We encourage young ones to approach for a handful of treats from day two. We also purchased soft halters which we put onto our one month olds to wear while walking around the paddock with mum. We also take them off, and wait a day or two and then put them back on for several more days, doing this over and over again so they become use to it all.
When they begin to eat from our hands and allow us to pat/scratch them for a few weeks, then we start applying a little pressure on the halter asking the babies to move left or right ¡V gently at first working our way up to adding a rope.
Some are quick to learn without shying, others take a little more encouragement before accepting.
Its not until weaning that we will encourage the leading, tying up etc.
There is caution though with this method ¡V you must be able to watch the little ones when their halters are left on. We have never had an incident where they became caught up in anything, but common sense tells us there is always the possibility.
Its time consuming but it¡¦s softer on my shoulders and back ƒº