Is it ok forr 8month old heifer to be at cows side while in with

nathan104 · #1 05/30/13, 10:34 AM

Ive got a bull in to rebreed two of my cows. They both have 8 month old heifer calves that are not weaned. I am putting the bull and the two cows in a seperate side pasture for two months so they can be bred. Would it be ok to have the 8 month old heifer ccalves in with theem or would it be better to seperate and wean the calves at the same time?

I'm keeping the calves so was just planning on letting the moms wean when they wanted to as their body conditioning hasnt dropped at all. But, I dont want the little heifer to end up getting bred thiss young either.

haypoint · #2 05/30/13, 10:53 AM

Get the heifers out of there. Time to wean anyway. You don't want a too early breeding.

o&itw · #3 05/30/13, 10:53 AM

I don't think I would leave an 8 month old heifer in the same field as a bull.

We bred our cattle purposefully to calve in September or October. The feeder heifers and steers were sold off about a year later, so there were never any older heifers with the cows when we brought the bull in around the first of December.

Perhaps some of those who keep heifers could answer this better.

nathan104 · #4 05/30/13, 10:57 AM

Ok, thanks for the reply. I diddnt put the heifers in with their moms when I brought in the bull yesterday. They are seperated by a fence. They just havent stopped bellowing all night and this morning so figured Id check and if it was ok, Id let them in. Guess Ill keep them seperated then.

Thanks for the replies!

o&itw · #5 05/30/13, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nathan104

Ok, thanks for the reply. I diddnt put the heifers in with their moms when I brought in the bull yesterday. They are seperated by a fence. They just havent stopped bellowing all night and this morning so figured Id check and if it was ok, Id let them in. Guess Ill keep them seperated then.

Thanks for the replies!

Heh, normal for weaning, cows and calves bellowing for a while.

Oakshire_Farm · #6 05/30/13, 11:34 AM

I had a calf bred at 8 months....... I would get them moved far away...... If they do come into heat I grunted that a fence will not stop them form being bred! A bull WILL go over or through a fence to breed your heifers. For their safety get them way farther away than on the other side of a fence!

opportunity · #7 05/30/13, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakshire_Farm

I had a calf bred at 8 months....... I would get them moved far away...... If they do come into heat I grunted that a fence will not stop them form being bred! A bull WILL go over or through a fence to breed your heifers. For their safety get them way farther away than on the other side of a fence!

I second this the bull will be trying hard to breed those heifers and odds are they are going to be in heat before he is done with the mamas.

GaryS61 · #8 05/30/13, 01:12 PM

I have seen 8 month old heifers start to cycle.

nathan104 · #9 05/30/13, 01:24 PM

Unfortunately, the only seperate pasture I have is the one the bull is in, the rest is open to the whole farm. I can move them to our goat pasture across the street but that would just be a fence, a one lane road, and another fence away from the bull.

CJBegins · #10 05/30/13, 02:19 PM

Nathan, I would move them. My heifers started their heat cycles at 5 months and one of them went thru a 4 strand barbwire fence to visit the bull. Fortunately I saw her there soon enough.

FarmerDavid · #11 05/30/13, 02:41 PM

Two fences and a road might be enough to deture him. One fence won't normally work.

G. Seddon · #12 05/30/13, 02:44 PM

They are probably mooing a lot because you just separated them from their mothers.

Two fences and a road are better than keeping them in with the bull.

If you should discover, at some point after you have separated the heifers, that the bull has gotten in with them or vice versa, most likely the heifer(s) will have been bred by the bull. Rather than let young heifer carry a calf at too young an age, give your vet a call to see if you can get a shot of Lutalyse to abort the pregnancy (wait 8 days after exposure).

nathan104 · #13 05/30/13, 03:03 PM

Thanks for the info on the shot. I will see about moving them across the road for the two months.

Thanks guys!

GaryS61 · #14 05/30/13, 03:35 PM

on the other hand. It is not a bad time of year............ a good rule of thumb is if the heifer is 60% of her adult expected weight let her get bred.

mozarkian · #15 06/06/13, 09:47 PM

I bought a Jersey heifer back in December that calved in April at just a few days past 14 months of age. It all worked out fine, but it was scary and not something I would let happen if I had a choice.

Oxankle · #16 06/09/13, 07:03 PM

If a heifer is 600 pounds or more and is cycling she'll probably be ok to breed. It is pretty much indisputable that cows that calve early make better lifetime records. Best to use a low-birthweight bull tho.

ycanchu2 · #17 06/09/13, 07:13 PM

Put you an electric fence onto your main fence between the bull and heifers