Spayed heifers on grass

[LCP]

Is it possible (or advisable) to run spayed heifers along with replacement heifers on grass? I would rather not have another herd to manage. This way they could all get out together rather than separately.

 

[gcreekrch]

Why not just leave the bulls in for 21 days and let natural selection pick the heifers you calve.

Not sure the guys that spayed heifers in this country got paid for the operation last fall.

 

[LCP]

I'm not ready for that yet. I try to select the ones to breed based on their type and the type of their mother, as well as which group of bulls they were sired by. Someday I hope the herd is consistent enough to allow for less of my involvement in the sorting.

 

[gcreekrch]

Not trying to run your show but you would be surprised how fast the type that fits your place start showing up.

 

[Kato]

I don't see a problem. If the open heifers didn't have a bull with them, then it could be a problem with them coming in heat and slowing down gains, but if there's a bull in there, it shouldn't make any difference, especially if he gets the job done early.

 

[Faster horses]

This is a FWIW, but I agree with gcreek. Research shows that the longer you can keep a heifer, the better selection you can make. A neighbor to us raised Herefords and kept all the heifer calves. He bred them, calved them out and sold the calves in the fall before he picked which ones to keep. He said it was surprising that some that made the best cows, he would never have kept had he picked them as heifer calves. I realize not everyone can do that, but it's pretty interesting when you can.

We have neighbors who run spayed heifers with their open heifers and get along fine.

Good luck!

 

[rem_243]

I've done it for several years. Haven't had any issues.