{"id":60400,"date":"2021-08-17T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=60400"},"modified":"2021-07-28T15:38:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T20:38:24","slug":"%ef%bb%bfthe-ultimate-struggle-first-calf-heifer-breed-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=60400","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffThe ultimate struggle: first calf heifer breed back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Spencer VanMeter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special to Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raising your own replacement heifers is costly and time-consuming. Most cows do not actually become profitable until they have had at least three calves. So how do you get them to rebreed after their first calf so that they can remain in the herd and not be a financial drain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big factor in rebreeding success\nstarts months before the first calf hits the ground. Adequately feeding heifers\nand monitoring their condition can help to speed the healing process once the\ncalf is born and get heifers cycling again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandy Johnson, Kansas State University\nResearch and Extension beef cattle specialist, recommends heifers weigh 80%-85%\nof their mature body weight at calving, and have a body condition score of 6.\nIf a heifer\u2019s body condition score is increased to the level recommended by\nJohnson by the time calving starts, the likelihood of calving difficulty\ndecreases. Calving difficulties cause unwanted strain and stress that may delay\nthe healing of the reproductive tract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time period following calving is one of the more crucial periods for a cow, in this case, a first-calf heifer. Heifers that are able to begin cycling earlier and sooner after they calve tend to have better conception rates. For producers who have shorter breeding seasons, it is all the more important that their heifer\u2019s cycle sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calving heifers ahead of the rest of the\ncowherd is another way a producer can give their first-calf heifers more time\nto get caught up before the breeding season. For every 10 days after calving, there\nis a 7.5% increase in cycling among cows before the breeding season begins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calving 3-4 weeks ahead of the main\ncowherd allows for the producer to spend plenty of time monitoring heifers and\nintervening when a calving issue arises. \u201cA 20% lower rate of cycling at the\nstart of the breeding season was observed when heifers were in labor for a time\nperiod of over one hour\u201d, said Glen Selk, professor of animal science at\nOklahoma State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of calving-ease and or low-birthweight\nbulls can also help to mitigate calving difficulties. Calving difficulties due\nto large calves, poor nutrition, or not being mature enough harm the chances\nthat a heifer will heal and cycle before the bull is turned out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When calving difficulties are\nexperienced there can be a decrease in conception rates during the following\nbreeding season that can be as high as 16%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early weaning can be beneficial in getting heifers to breed back that have a lower body condition score. Pulling the calves off early not only helps take stress away from the heifer, but also shortens the time to her first estrus cycle. In certain cases where females have a body condition score of 4 or fewer pregnancy rates could increase by more than 45% when calves are weaned early. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many different ways to go\nabout feeding your first-calf heifers, but be cognizant that you can wrap up a\nlot of money in feed and still be shorting them exactly what they need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrition is an important building block\nto get heifers to rebreed. Nutrition goes a long way towards helping that\nheifer heal her reproductive tract, produce milk for her calf, and meet her own\nminimum daily energy requirements, and still have enough left over to continue\ngrowing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is recommended first-calf heifers are sorted off from the rest of the cow herd to not only keep a more watchful eye but also feed them better. A first-calf heifer has higher nutritional needs than a mature cow as a heifer does not finish growing until after reaching three years of age. Producers put a lot of strain on first-calf heifers by wanting them to raise a calf, breed back and grow a calf inside them, and continue growing and maturing all at the same time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not possible if they are not on\na high plain of nutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At peak lactation, which occurs about\none month after calving, her nutritional requirements will also be peaking.\nTypically a first-calf heifer in this situation will need at a minimum 58%\ntotal digestible nutrients (TDN) and just under 9.5% crude protein (CP) to\nmaintain her condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are wanting your first-calf\nheifers to gain weight moving forward into the breeding season their daily\nrequirements are going to increase to 65% TDN and at least 12% CP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-calf heifers require a higher level of management than the rest of the cow herd in order to maximize their chances of breeding back early and remaining in the cow herd. It is important to keep in mind the costs associated with getting them to this point in their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-calf heifers are pushed hard, and a lot is expected of them in order to earn a place in the cow herd. An equal part of that rides on the producer to be timely when managing them and getting them what they need when they need it if they want them to be profitable in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spencer VanMeter, a 2017 Pawnee Heights\nHigh School graduate, is a senior majoring in agricultural business at Fort\nHays State University. He is the son of Justin VanMeter, Rozel.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Spencer VanMeter Special to Tiger Media Network Raising your own replacement heifers is costly and time-consuming. Most cows do not actually become profitable until… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,3398,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-campus-news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Vanmeter-Spencer.jpg?fit=3119%2C4679&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60402,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60400\/revisions\/60402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}