How many heifer calves should I keep or consider purchasing? It’s a question that comes up often. While the answer certainly varies by producer, there are several factors you can consider.
Glenn Selk with Oklahoma State University says a few include average age of the herd, predicting the number of females that will become pregnant and understanding typical heifer growing patterns can all be helpful in answering this question.
Even in the very best scenarios, some heifers will be difficult or impossible to breed. Most extension specialists and researchers write about the need to always expose at least 10% more heifers than you need even when they are grown properly and all weigh at least 65% of the expected mature weight.
Read the article “How Many Heifers to Keep”
The CattleMax software includes several graphs and reports that can help you with making these kinds of decisions – see the Reports & Graphs options in action.
How do you determine how many heifers to keep? Click on the Comments link below and share your experience!
Subscribe by Email
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Heifer selection shouldn’t be any less important than bull selection. I worked a place where I was supposed to keep 80 heifers out of one herd. I happened to have a Vet and a cowboy I trusted on hand that day. We worked those heifers and kept 12. I was in big trouble with the boss, but I made a much needed improvement in the herd that day. If the 17% or what ever number you have set as a goal isn’t there then your goal is arbitrary. If your heifers aren’t going to improve your herd, don’t select them. I want heifers that will make breeding weight on their own and that have obvious sexual maturity. I don’t want to guess, if she can’t show me what I need to see she’ll make better beef. We all would be very selective if we were buying heifers, why not be just as selective raising our own. It may take longer to get the numbers we want, but we will get there better and cheaper. The genetics will improve because we are eliminating problems instead of rushing a number to an artificial weight and folding those week genetics into our herd year after year trying to achieve the wrong goals. No one needs to add more cows if they aren’t adding better cows.