We are planning on retaining all of our heifer calves this year and was wondering about implanting them once in the spring. If any of you do this and if so what implant do you use. My man cub is 16 this year and has aspiration's of ranching after high school and I'll do my part to help him. He has his sheep flock plus a dozen cows and relief milks for two dairy farms so he know's what work is.
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Implanting Heifers ?
- Thread starter Denny
- Start date
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gcreekrch
Well-known member
If you are going to breed them, I would avoid any implant whatsoever. You can call if you like Denny.
Soapweed
Well-known member
Are you planning to breed these heifers, or sell them as feeders? If you are breeding them, there would be no point in implanting them. If fact you probably shouldn't implant them at this stage of their life, as it could prevent them from getting bred. For feeders, Synovex H would be a good way to go. https://www.zoetisus.com/products/beef/synovex-h.aspx
We implant all of our calves, steers and heifers, at branding time each spring. We have used Synovex C for at least the past 30 years, and it doesn't hurt breeding heifers at all. Of course, our heifers are only a couple months old when receiving it, and Synovex C is made for very young calves.
We implant all of our calves, steers and heifers, at branding time each spring. We have used Synovex C for at least the past 30 years, and it doesn't hurt breeding heifers at all. Of course, our heifers are only a couple months old when receiving it, and Synovex C is made for very young calves.
WB
Well-known member
Not to be smart but my question is why? Under no circumstances would I consider implanting any potential breeding female at any stage of their life. Potential train wreck is all I see coming. Everything from early bred heifer calves to vaginal prolapses to open yearling heifers. Nature has its way let nature take care of your cows.
I was pretty sure Soapweed did this and having seen those cattle it didn't hurt them. Myself I want to get them grown out larger by the time the halve their first calves so they are not trying to grow, feed and breed all at the same time if they were closer to their mature weight maybe the open rate wouldn't be such a big cut.
WB
Well-known member
The research I found online showed Synovex C had a negative relationship towards pregnancy by 2 to 5 percent on the first cycle so I would say its not worth the bother. The article went on to say they are to only be implanted if they are over 45 days old. Less than 45 days and big problems result. If the heifers wont get big enough to have a calf and rebreed they probably should be culled before the bull is turned out.
Soapweed
Well-known member
WB said:The research I found online showed Synovex C had a negative relationship towards pregnancy by 2 to 5 percent on the first cycle so I would say its not worth the bother. The article went on to say they are to only be implanted if they are over 45 days old. Less than 45 days and big problems result. If the heifers wont get big enough to have a calf and rebreed they probably should be culled before the bull is turned out.
Interesting. I might have to reconsider implanting the heifer calves this spring for this reason, but I still think it pays to implant steers unless they go into some special program that pays big premiums.
Soapweed
Well-known member
I guess my thoughts through the past 30 or so years that we have done this is that there might possibly be a few extra open heifers, but that the rest of the heifers get a smidgeon bigger and have less calving problems. There probably is some kind of trade off.
Brad S
Well-known member
Doc Randolph from Sterling Ks was a particularly sharp vet (he passeduch too young), and he had some thoughts on this matter. He asked if I'd ever seen the much retarded scrotal development of an implanted intact bull calf. Noting the volume is reduced 30% or 40%. He said that some suspect implants increase prolapse issues, but said his experiences didn't necessarily indicate that to be true. He said there was the thought that the implanted heifer could be 15 - 20 pounds growthier. Del's bottom line, don't implant a heifer you know you want to save due to delay in reproductive tract development, but if you decide you want to save a heifer that was implanted - the implant is not a deal killer. Del really believed in a prebreeding pelvic exam (it wasn't to get the 3$ exam fee) to test maturity and DQ odd and irregular pelvic canals.
iwannabeacowboy
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Most believe it makes very little difference if you don't know which ones you plan to retain to implant once around 2 months of age. We do that, right or wrong. Economical advantage with the amount of heifers sold vs retained and any small possible settling issue. I've not seen any heifer not settle in the past 5 years.
Brad, I think I'd expect the bull calf's testical size to be reduced when receiving female hormones- feminizing him.
I may be wrong, but I've not seen anything stating the female reproductive tract would be reduced in size, but maybe their is some type of negative feed back loop inhibiting maturation I'm not aware of?
Most believe it makes very little difference if you don't know which ones you plan to retain to implant once around 2 months of age. We do that, right or wrong. Economical advantage with the amount of heifers sold vs retained and any small possible settling issue. I've not seen any heifer not settle in the past 5 years.
Brad, I think I'd expect the bull calf's testical size to be reduced when receiving female hormones- feminizing him.
I may be wrong, but I've not seen anything stating the female reproductive tract would be reduced in size, but maybe their is some type of negative feed back loop inhibiting maturation I'm not aware of?
Traveler said:http://www.cattlebusinessweekly.com/Content/Headlines/-Cattle-Management/Article/-Are-you-leaving-money-on-the-table-/1/456/7985
That's kind of interesting. We don't implant because we get a premium not to. But, a calf implanted at two month, I wonder if most of the effects would be gone by the time they are breeding age if you didn't re-implant at weaning.
Soapweed said:Are you planning to breed these heifers, or sell them as feeders? If you are breeding them, there would be no point in implanting them. If fact you probably shouldn't implant them at this stage of their life, as it could prevent them from getting bred. For feeders, Synovex H would be a good way to go. https://www.zoetisus.com/products/beef/synovex-h.aspx
We implant all of our calves, steers and heifers, at branding time each spring. We have used Synovex C for at least the past 30 years, and it doesn't hurt breeding heifers at all. Of course, our heifers are only a couple months old when receiving it, and Synovex C is made for very young calves.
LOL, it took over a month for that to sink in and stick with me. I was just reading another post you made elsewhere and thinking, "You know, I always pay extra attention to what Soapweed says"
See my above comment. Thanks for answering my question!
