When to breed heifer angusxholstine

[myheaven]

My heifer is 13 months and is just over 4 feet tall. According to weight tape is about 629 lbs. I have read about heifers having their first calf at 16 months. That just seems so young. My front Amish neighbor dosent breed his girls till they are 2. What is a good guideline? I think we will breed her to either jersey or British white park. I'm thinking on breeding her come September. I need advice. Her condition is perfect. She is very healthy. Any advice would be great.

[goodhors]

Calves take about 9 months to arrive, so your heifer would be almost 2yrs old. Waiting until Sept for breeding would have her right on the 2yr old mark. Her breeding is not for a small cow at a finished age. Bigger finish should mean letting them get a bit bigger before breeding and 2yrs is a pretty good age to calve the first time.

Are you going to use a bull or AI her? You should get the numbers on a quality bull, especially birth sizes, easy calving qualities for a first time calving. Jersey is good for small calves, but often don't "stretch" a big heifer much, so she is can have a bit more trouble with her second, larger bred calf.

I am going to say NOT to use the British White Park as a first time bull, they are a larger breed. He will throw LARGER calves, might be real hard on the heifer as a first calf.

I would recommend using AI on her if possible, you have a LOT bigger selection of bulls with quality. The catalog information is EXTENSIVE in all areas the bull influences so you can strengthen the weak areas of the heifer side. The very best bull semen AI is not very expensive. Cost of getting her inseminated if you don't do your own, will add to the cost of getting a calf on her.

If you only have the two bulls to choose from, Jersey and British, I would go with the Jersey for easy calving her first time. She should add meaty quality and more size to the calf, as a market animal when finished.

[myheaven]

I use to have British park. I have a pretty large selection of bulls and ai I can select from for her. The ai here is pretty cheap 25 a shot. Bulls free. The wide choices makes I hard for me. I have angus, herford, white park, jersey, and guernsey to choose from (bulls). White park are a smaller cattle. Calf is smaller then herford or angus. I want to make sure if it is a boy he will producE enough for the feed. She has an angus body with Holsteins hiPs. Lol.
Thank you so much for your input.