Need expert help please !

[hillsdown]

Just exactly what does heiferette mean in your area ,local auction house or feeder operation ?

I have heard the term being used a few times but still do not know exactly what it means in layman's terms, ie the actual cattle operator that is buying them or selling them .

Your insight is very much appreciated .
Thank you .. :tiphat:

 

[Silver]

Heiferette in our area is generally a 2 yr old that has a youthful appearance, as in looks like a heifer but isn't. Generally they sell for between cow and yrlg prices (but closer to the cow price). The heiferettes I sold this year fetched 77 cents, rather than the 66 cents we got for our cows.
On poorer years the heiferette class seems to disappear, and on better years it seems to crop up again.

 

[Kato]

She's had a calf, even if she's lost it, or looks like she may have had one.

I guess it's another name for a really young cow that may or may not grade like a fat. She'll bring more than a cow, but less than a fat heifer. At least that's what they are around here.

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks Silver and Kato ..


Does anyone else have heiferette used differently in their area ?

 

[Faster horses]

Not only heiferette here, but cowette, too. :???:

 

[hillsdown]

Not only heiferette here, but cowette, too. :???:

Well,,, now that is just comepletly screwed up ! :lol: :lol2:

 

[Sir Loin]

HD,
My :tiphat: to you for at least trying to find the answer.
But my definition still stands.

Historically "heiferette could mean many things. It has morphed from way back in the 30s.
But in today's cattle industry "heiferette" means " a spayed heifer"
That is what sellers are selling and that is what buyers are buying.
Watch RFD TV and you will see them being sold.
SL

 

[Anonymous]

She's had a calf, even if she's lost it, or looks like she may have had one.

I guess it's another name for a really young cow that may or may not grade like a fat. She'll bring more than a cow, but less than a fat heifer. At least that's what they are around here.

Yep- a first calver- that probably lost her calf and is under 36 months old- that will match up to the packers teeth/bone inspection qualifications.....

 

[hillsdown]

She's had a calf, even if she's lost it, or looks like she may have had one.

I guess it's another name for a really young cow that may or may not grade like a fat. She'll bring more than a cow, but less than a fat heifer. At least that's what they are around here.

Yep- a first calver- that probably lost her calf and is under 36 months old- that will match up to the packers teeth/bone inspection qualifications.....

That is where I saw it listed in the auction reports sales as well. She is worth more than a cow cull but less than an actual heifer cull .

I will ask Jack when I see him next week .

 

[Silver]

We've been selling "heiferettes" (whenever the market decides there is such a class, as I said before seems like only on up markets) for at least 25 years and never was one of them spayed. I've only seen spayed heifers sold as exactly that. I wonder if the spayed definition is a southern US term?

 

[Anonymous]

We've been selling "heiferettes" (whenever the market decides there is such a class, as I said before seems like only on up markets) for at least 25 years and never was one of them spayed. I've only seen spayed heifers sold as exactly that. I wonder if the spayed definition is a southern US term?

Yep- same here...Spayed heifers sell as just that- "spayed heifers"....Total different class from heiferettes-- and sell higher than heiferettes- close to the same price as steers...

 

[gcreekrch]

We've been selling "heiferettes" (whenever the market decides there is such a class, as I said before seems like only on up markets) for at least 25 years and never was one of them spayed. I've only seen spayed heifers sold as exactly that. I wonder if the spayed definition is a southern US term?

What he said.


By the title of this thread I thought I was being left out. :wink: :lol:

 

[Sir Loin]

Silver,
Re:

I've only seen spayed heifers sold as exactly that. I wonder if the spayed definition is a southern US term?

Well I heard them use it on the RFD TV action.
I can't imagine a rancher having a lot of 50 or more under any of the historical definitions and what I was looking at were 800lb heifers.
So I called 3 feed lots in the mid west I have done business with and asked a cattle auctioneer and my county agent here in TN and with out hesitation they all said it was a spayed heifer.
So my best guess is heiferette has now morphed to include a spayed heifer.
I know ranchers who have spayed they heifers for years just to protect their blood line from commercial breeders.
Plus spayed heifers have a lot of good points when they hit the feed lots, so they bring bigger bucks.
See: http://purduephil.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/spaying-heifers-as-a-management-tool/
SL
BTW nice to meet ya'll!

 

[High Plains]

Heiferettes are not spayed heifers as far as any definition I've ever run into, Sir Loin. Not trying to be argumentative, here. Heiferettes are typically cows that have had one calf. Before the days of dentition work in the packing plants, and certainly before age and source verification was important to export eligibility, heiferettes were fed to finish in feedlots under the disguise as being younger cattle that never had calved. The feeders attempted to pass them off as young A and B maturity cattle. I've been told by fed cattle buyers and feedlot guys that they could spot them due to what their hip looked like. I could never see it for myself, buy maybe I'm just not that observant. :lol: My wife would sure agree to that point.

Good question and maybe it is an evolving definition.

 

[Sir Loin]

High Plains,

Re:

Sir Loin. Not trying to be argumentative, here.

No problem here. I love a good discussion/debate, even heated ones, as long as they don't turn into a personal attack.
The way I look at it is that the worst that can happen is that we agree to disagree and I will buy the

Heiferettes are not spayed heifers as far as any definition I've ever run into
Snip
maybe it is an evolving definition.

That is how I see it also . I never found " a spayed heifer" as part of the definition on the web.
IMO it is a new cattle industry standard being set and not put on paper as yet, that is why I check with professionals in the industry for their expertise..

Her is the oldest written definition I found:
Definition 1.
Union Stock Yard and Transit Company of Chicago. History of the yards, 1865-1953

HEIFERETTE — Actually a young cow that has had one or more
calves, but which, because of straight underlines, smoothness and small
udder, can at times be substituted for heavy heifers.

Source: http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/union-stock-yard-and-transit-company-of-chicago/history-of-the-yards-1865-1953-oin/page-2-history-of-the-yards-1865-1953-oin.shtml

Definition 2.
Here is the newest written definition:
Merriam-Webster

Definition of HEIFERETTE
: a large heavy heifer having nearly the size and development of a mature cow

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heiferette


Re:

Heiferettes are typically cows that have had one calf.

True under definition 1 but not under definition 2.

IMO: A freemartin falls under Def. 2 but not under Def. 1.
A spayed heifer could fall under def. 2, but not under def.1.

SL