3 Bred Heifers

randiliana · #1 12/11/08, 07:37 PM

Here are 3 of our bred heifers. The black one we raised. The reds we bought from a friend as open heifers. The 3 red cows in the background are all rising 3 year olds.

3 Bred Heifers - Cattle

francismilker · #2 12/12/08, 10:14 AM

Good looking beefer with good winter coats. Have these critters ever seen a tree?!!! In the first picture where the rolling hills are shown in the background, you can't see a tree for miles!!!! Kind of reminds me of a description of Siberia!

randiliana · #3 12/12/08, 03:06 PM

Oh, there are a few trees around. They actually are wintering in a yard which is surrounded by trees, but there aren't too many trees in our country. I get claustrophobic when I get into areas where you cannot see for miles :~>

NWMO · #4 12/13/08, 06:51 PM

I always enjoy your picture posts! Great looking cows and calves to look at! So when do anticipate them calving?

randiliana · #5 12/13/08, 07:33 PM

Thank you. We syncronized them to start calving about Feb 20. So, that is no longer that far away. We will have 28 heifers to calve out this year, and I expect most will calve by Mar 15.

NWMO · #6 12/16/08, 05:05 PM

So, when sychronized, what kind of "spread" do you usually see with the calving schedule? I saw 90 head of synchronized red angus sell at auction during the fall and all were scheduled to calve within a very tight window.....if all were bred and took, just wondered how "intense" a few days you might have.

cathleenc · #7 12/16/08, 05:51 PM

they are lovely!

Question - does 'rising' three year olds have significance? I'm new to bovines and have no clue what that means. Can you help me?

thanks
Cathy

randiliana · #8 12/16/08, 05:53 PM

The first time we syncronized we used MGA and a shot of Estrumate. The first one calved 12 days early, and the last calved the day after the due date. So there was a 13 day window there.

This time we syncronized with 1 shot of Estrumate about 15 days before we turned the bulls out. We decided to try this, for a couple of reasons. One was that we wouldn't have to run them down the chute again. We vaccinated at the same time. And two was that it would allow us to use fewer bulls because it would spread them out over about 2 weeks.

We gave them a shot on May 2 and then turned the bulls out on May 16. I saw over 1/2 of them in heat. I expect that the first of the heifers would have cycled around May 16, and that most of them should have been finished about June 1 so that is about a 15 day breeding window. We could end up with the odd calf hitting the ground around Feb 10, but most will be done by Mar 10. I did the pregchecking, and I did it early enough that I am fairly confident that the heifers should mostly calve by Mar 10.

Give me about 2 1/2 - 3 months, and I can tell you how well it worked ;~>

randiliana · #9 12/16/08, 05:54 PM

Cathy, it just means that they have had 1 calf, and that they will be 3 years old in the spring.

Thanks for the compliments.

NWMO · #10 12/17/08, 02:38 PM

The heifers that I saw sell at auction were all sychronized and AI'ed. Is it realisitic for them to calve in just a window of a few days? Can't imagine what that would be like in a pasture!

randiliana · #11 12/17/08, 04:22 PM

Yes it is reasonable to expect them within a few days. You have about a one month window, 2 weeks ahead of the due date, and 2 weeks after, but the vast majority will calve within a 10 day window, maybe even less. If you had a bunch of heifers syncronized, you would most likely calve them on a small pasture. That way you can keep a close eye on them. Having them syncronized can be really nice when it comes to the labour load, rather than having to watch heifers for 6-8 weeks (or whatever your calving season is) you only have to watch them for a short time. You would make sure that they were bred to a calving ease bull, however.