Heifer to breed cow timeline question

[WI Dan]

beef cattle question: how long before a heifer calf will be breedable?
Reason I ask is: we are building a small herd of Aueroch. The bull stays with the herd year-round. They are wild animals - living in the woods.
Two heifer calves were born this March.
I want to keep genetic diversity so this bull isn't breeding his own daughters. I'm trying to plan when to swap the bull out for a different one. Should I do that next summer before breeding season? Or can I wait two years and swap the bull in 2028?

In other words: When will this spring's heifer calves be breedable? maybe next year-Fall of 2027 (calf 1.5years old)? Or the following year-fall of 2028 ? (calf is 2.5 years old)

 

[rrlund]

beef cattle question: how long before a heifer calf will be breedable?
Reason I ask is: we are building a small herd of Aueroch. The bull stays with the herd year-round. They are wild animals - living in the woods.
Two heifer calves were born this March.
I want to keep genetic diversity so this bull isn't breeding his own daughters. I'm trying to plan when to swap the bull out for a different one. Should I do that next summer before breeding season? Or can I wait two years and swap the bull in 2028?

In other words: When will this spring's heifer calves be breedable? maybe next year-Fall of 2027 (calf 1.5years old)? Or the following year-fall of 2028 ? (calf is 2.5 years old)

Way sooner than you think. The vet told me one time to give heifer calves a shot of Lutalyse if they were getting bigger at weaning. I had an April born, November weaned heifer throw a calf about the size of a kitten one time after I gave her a shot. She was the only one I've had it happen with, but it did happen. He said he pulled a calf out of a 13 months old heifer. He said he didn't believe it, but it was a registered heifer and the woman went in the house and got the papers with the date of birth on it.

Another thing they've found, the larger the scrotal circumference of the bull that sired the heifer, the sooner that heifer will start to cycle.

 

[WI Dan]

beef cattle question: how long before a heifer calf will be breedable?
Reason I ask is: we are building a small herd of Aueroch. The bull stays with the herd year-round. They are wild animals - living in the woods.
Two heifer calves were born this March.
I want to keep genetic diversity so this bull isn't breeding his own daughters. I'm trying to plan when to swap the bull out for a different one. Should I do that next summer before breeding season? Or can I wait two years and swap the bull in 2028?

In other words: When will this spring's heifer calves be breedable? maybe next year-Fall of 2027 (calf 1.5years old)? Or the following year-fall of 2028 ? (calf is 2.5 years old)

Aw nuts...I posted this in the wrong forum category. Sorry guys! I meant to put it in the Tractor & Farm section.

 

[WI Dan]

Way sooner than you think. The vet told me one time to give heifer calves a shot of Lutalyse if they were getting bigger at weaning. I had an April born, November weaned heifer throw a calf about the size of a kitten one time after I gave her a shot. She was the only one I've had it happen with, but it did happen. He said he pulled a calf out of a 13 months old heifer. He said he didn't believe it, but it was a registered heifer and the woman went in the house and got the papers with the date of birth on it.

Another thing they've found, the larger the scrotal circumference of the bull that sired the heifer, the sooner that heifer will start to cycle.

Thanks Randy. That's interesting, albeit discouraging. I was hoping to get two more years with this bull.
These Aueroch are ancient breed, not domesticated and not genetically selected. They are pretty wild. I'm hoping that slows down their maturing.
The bull is decent size, but not anything I would call HUGE. We don't have many Aueroch bulls to choose from in North America, so he is more lucky than he is endowed.

 

[deere4040]

beef cattle question: how long before a heifer calf will be breedable?
Reason I ask is: we are building a small herd of Aueroch. The bull stays with the herd year-round. They are wild animals - living in the woods.
Two heifer calves were born this March.
I want to keep genetic diversity so this bull isn't breeding his own daughters. I'm trying to plan when to swap the bull out for a different one. Should I do that next summer before breeding season? Or can I wait two years and swap the bull in 2028?

In other words: When will this spring's heifer calves be breedable? maybe next year-Fall of 2027 (calf 1.5years old)? Or the following year-fall of 2028 ? (calf is 2.5 years old)

We have Dexters, Dex/Jersey crosses and Jersey. We time all of our calving for May-June. If we pull a heifer to keep we are breeding her the following Aug. So we are 1 year 3-4 months old at breeding. We are AI. That being said I have seen our 4-6 month old Jersey calves cycling. That's a scary thought if we bull bred. Haven't seen any of the Dexters that early.

 

[Dusty MI]

I grew up milking cows. We liked for our heifers to be 2 years old when they freshened.
Dusty

 

[Rich'sToys]

Aw nuts...I posted this in the wrong forum category. Sorry guys! I meant to put it in the Tractor & Farm section.

Try contacting the moderator. Maybe he can move it for you.

 

[Ray,IN]

Since they are officially extinct throughout the world, you might contact these organizations mentioned in this article for advise and assistance with a different bull. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/aurochs-rewilding
This sounds like a huge undertaking, best of luck!

 

[WI Dan]

We have Dexters, Dex/Jersey crosses and Jersey. We time all of our calving for May-June. If we pull a heifer to keep we are breeding her the following Aug. So we are 1 year 3-4 months old at breeding. We are AI. That being said I have seen our 4-6 month old Jersey calves cycling. That's a scary thought if we bull bred. Haven't seen any of the Dexters that early.

Thanks for chiming in. Are you pulling the heifers at weaning? What age are you weaning?

 

[WI Dan]

Since they are officially extinct throughout the world, you might contact these organizations mentioned in this article for advise and assistance with a different bull. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/aurochs-rewilding
This sounds like a huge undertaking, best of luck!

Thanks! I'm familiar with the Tauros project. Our animals have peripheral ties to it. More closely to the Heck Cattle from what I gather. This herd is owned by another, while I am the caretaker.

It is an interesting project! I'm glad to be a part of it, but just a side hobby. The Aueroch are strange - they don't know how to be "cattle" and act more like Deer. They either stare at us, or run from us. Thankfully they have lots of space available, so I haven't seen their aggressive nature too much.

 

[deere4040]

Thanks for chiming in. Are you pulling the heifers at weaning? What age are you weaning?

Weaned calves really late this year. They had access to cows almost 9 months due to a late pen build. Going forward now that the pen is built the calves will get weaned at 5-6 months.

 

[Ray,IN]

WI Dan, what got me is their size, 6' high, as big as a bison with long horns..

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Pretty much one year is a minimum. 12 to 14 months I looked it up and that is for sure the answer I guess I never knew for certain we just always do it after last springs calves are separated for a bit to be weaned, once everything else is in the pasture. Then you add the heifers. you want to make sure the heifers don’t try to milk the cows and give the heifers a couple months on the yard before being released with the rest so they aren’t super early.

The best thing is a small new bull if you keep a round of heifers that were born last spring let him in with them while they are still at the farm. But if you don’t it will still likely be fine.

 

[cjunrau]

They will cycle and come in heat at almost any age after 6 months. To limit chance of getting bred put the bull in with the cows for 6-7 weeks and pull him until calves are weaned. Keep calves away from bull till they are 15 months old so they calve at 2 years old.

 

[Texasmark]

They will cycle and come in heat at almost any age after 6 months. To limit chance of getting bred put the bull in with the cows for 6-7 weeks and pull him until calves are weaned. Keep calves away from bull till they are 15 months old so they calve at 2 years old.

I liked 2 years too and I always used an Angus or Brangus Bull....small tapered head as a result of lack of horns. Heifer can deliver 1st time on her own. I preferred the B breed over the A only breed due to the size of the offspring and hot summers here in Texas....they spend more time out in the sun grazing rather than lying around under a shade tree sleeping.

The other thing about having Angus in the mix is the marbling of the meat and the smaller bones. Used to be most of what you saw around here was Beefmaster. Any more its the black breeds......and grocery stores recognized their attributes and sell specialty meats of theirs.

 

[kencombs]

I liked 2 years too and I always used an Angus or Brangus Bull....small tapered head as a result of lack of horns. Heifer can deliver 1st time on her own. I preferred the B breed over the A only breed due to the size of the offspring and hot summers here in Texas....they spend more time out in the sun grazing rather than lying around under a shade tree sleeping.

The other thing about having Angus in the mix is the marbling of the meat and the smaller bones. Used to be most of what you saw around here was Beefmaster. Any more its the black breeds......and grocery stores recognized their attributes and sell specialty meats of theirs.

My Granddad had cow/calve operation, along with a retail meat/custom butcher store for years. He also kept an Angus bull exclusively to breed first calf heifers. Mature cows were bred to a Hereford bull. He claimed the same reason, calves heads were smaller from the Angus.

This was many years ago and my memory of the Angus breed back then is different from what I see today. They were smaller with almost curly dense hair, not short and slick like today's version.

 

[ole fred]

This is kinda fascinating to me. I'm not a cattle guy, but graduated from Purdue in 1965 with an animal science bs. I don't remember if it was Purdue or some farmer that said that if you breed a heifer to calve at 3 years old, you lose a year on the front, but gain two on at the end. That doesn't seem to be what guys are thinking here.