Jersey heifer

[bja105]

How old will a Jersey heifer be when she starts cycling?

How old SHOULD a Jersey be before she is bred?

I have an 8 month old heifer that my neighbor is raising with his bottle steers. He just turned them out in the pasture, and I think he still has a Jersey bull. I need to get her into my pasture, soon.

[kycrawler]

She could be cycling at 8 months

[bja105]

Uh oh.

[sammyd]

Neighbor bought a batch of feeders, bull calves and a free martin heifer.
He didn't castrate till they were older with his management system.
At 16 months the "free martin" had a nice little calf.
That's a bit young. I like to have them freshen at 24 months if they have been growing nicely.

[G. Seddon]

Contact your vet and ask for a shot of Lutalyse; it can be given 8-60 days after exposure to a bull. It will bring the heifer into heat and she will no longer be pregnant. I would not wait the full 60 days. Better than having a heifer calve too young.

[billinwv]

My jersey heifer started cycling at 4 months! and continued every 21 days. She jumped a tall board fence at 9 months to get in with the bull. At that time she was 3/4 the size of her mother(really grew well). I figured with 9 more months to grow she will be fine. She has 5 months to go now and is 7/8 as big as her dam. The old jersey farmer I bought my bull from said to breed by size not age. I normally don't breed to calve before 24 months.

[bja105]

At what age do you want a dairy heifer to have her first calf? I have heard 24 months for beef breeds, is it the same for dairy? The dairy where we got this one indicated they wait longer, but I didn't ask how much longer, or why.

[bja105]

And we have the heifer separated from the bull, now. Doesn't an AI tech typically carry Lute? Can they do this rather than a vet? I need to make some plans with the tech regarding two other animals,

[G. Seddon]

Call and find out?