Pick heifers that look feminine rather than blocky, coarse and masculine. You don’t want a heifer that looks like a steer; her endocrine balance may be off, and there’s more chance she’ll come up open. You also don’t want a heifer that’s extremely long-necked or too short-necked, which makes her look like a male.
What traits are most important when selecting breeding heifers?
Heifers should be selected on structural soundness, be in good health and have good growth potential. Generally, evaluating your production records are helpful in determining growth potential and identifying the calves that are from above average producing cows.
How do you pick a good heifer?
Heifer Highlights
The heifer needs to have long-tying muscle shape and dimension, and not be just one-dimensional or flat. The next selection criteria for a show heifer is balance and eye appeal – you want her to look like a lady. “She should have a feminine shape to her head and neck and be clean through her throat.
What makes a good show heifer?
Show cattle should be long-bodied, clean-front, up-headed and possesses a lot of balance and style. Look for correct muscling. Beef cattle should be thicker through the lower part of the round when viewed from the rear. The muscle should be long – not rounded.
What are the three main criteria when evaluating beef breeding heifers?
The terms used for breeding stock are similar to those used for market animals. Soundness, correctness and breed character are most important in conformation of beef breeding stock.
What to look for when judging breeding heifers?
- Smooth. shoulder. Natural. thickness down. back & loin. Long bodied. Well balanced. Deep, wide. chest floor. Correct set of. feet and legs.
- Long, clean neck. Refined. head, narrow. muzzle. Clean, angular. shoulder. Good blending. of shoulder to. forerib.
- Too much. shoulder. Excess. hide in. dewlap. Too thick. thru neck. & shoulder. Coarse. head.
What are the five breeding ideal traits?
Selection criteria for the productive potential of breeding animals include: reproductive soundness, structural conformation, adaptive traits, growth rate and carcass characteristics.
At what age heifers are best to breed?
Whether you are raising or buying replacement heifers, the goal is to start breeding heifers near 12 – 14 months of age. By this time, heifers should have reached or be close to reaching puberty. Heifers must be pubertal in order to become bred.
What color calves sell best?
Among heifers, Red Angus-sired calves had the greatest (P
What weight should heifers be to breed?
Normally, it is a good idea to breed heifers one month ahead of the main cow herd; so, we need to get heifers that have a mature weight of 1,200 pounds to weigh 780 pounds by the time they are 12-14 months old.
What is the best bull to put on heifers?
A true heifer bull will have calving ease EPDs well above breed average. However, in most cases, bulls within maternal-based breeds such as Angus, with only moderately high calving ease EPDs are suitable to use on well-developed heifers within continental breeds such as Simmental.
How can I improve my cow breeding?
Management Practices to Improve Breeding Efficiency
Keep accurate breeding records of dates of heat, service and parturition. Use records in predicting the dates of heat and observe the females carefully for heat. Breed cows during near the end of mid heat or heat period.
What do cattle judges look for?
Beef steers are judged on their degree of muscling, degree of finish (fat cover), growth capacity, structural correctness, balance, and frame size in that order.
How do you prepare a heifer for breeding?
Getting first-calf heifers ready for the breeding
- Take care of her health needs.
- Breed her right.
- Feed her correctly.
- Make sure she’s gained enough weight.
- Keep heifers separated from the mature herd.
What is the most important factor to be considered when breeding a heifer for the first time?
Weight is the major factor. The age at which puberty occurs is breed dependant with larger, later maturing breeds coming into puberty later than smaller, earlier maturing breeds. Table 1. Weight (lbs) at which 14 – 15 month old heifers of different breeds reaches puberty.
What are the factors to consider in a breeding?
Health of the animal, Age, Temperament, Foraging ability, Fertility, Level of performance-milk, meat, fur and transport. Mass selection- Animals with superior characteristics (highly heritable breeds) are selected from a herd and then allowed to mate among each other at random.
What shots to give heifers before breeding?
Heifers prior to first breeding: Heifers should be vaccinated with PregGuard FP10 30-60 days prior to breeding. Vaccinating with PregGuard FP10 less than 30 days prior to breeding will cause enough inflammation in the ovaries to prevent conception in the first cycle for some of the heifers.
How often should you check heifers?
every 3 hours
How Often Should You Check In? A common rule of thumb is that cows and heifers should be checked every 3 hours.
What should I look for in a breeding sow?
Gilts should be long bodied, structurally correct, and feminine. Avoid extremely heavily muscled, short or fat gilts. Don’t select gilts with immature vulvas, less than 12 evenly spaced teats, or teats that are too coarse, blunt, or inverted.
What is choosing particular traits for breeding?
Selective breeding involves choosing parents with particular characteristics to breed together and produce offspring with more desirable characteristics. Humans have selectively bred plants and animals for thousands of years including: crop plants with better yields.
What is a good breeding?
Good breeding may refer to: Purebred, “cultivated varieties” of a species. Etiquette, the socially reinforced standards of conduct which show the actor to be cultured, polite, and refined. Eugenics, a social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary traits through various forms of intervention.