Q&A for How to Know when a Heifer or Cow Is Ready to Be Bred

It would be a good idea to do so. That way you will be able to spend quality time watching the heifers calve out; once you have most of the heifers calved out, the cows will start calving. Arrange it so that your heifers are bred one to two weeks ahead of your cows so that the heifers are calving out a week or two before the cows.

If your heifer continues to come into estrus (stands to be mounted by the bull), then she is not actually becoming pregnant. There are rare instances of heifers continuing to stand even though they are pregnant, but it is uncommon. It would be best to call your vet to determine if the bull is infertile, or the cow has something going on causing her to not catch a calf.

Their average gestation rate is 285 days.

Bulls can be fertile as young as two months old, and while they usually don't have the height to do the job, they may have the will to do it. Because of this, it is best to separate little bulls and heifers at or before two months old, that way there is no unintended breeding.

75 percent of her anticipated adult weight. This increases the likelihood that she will be large enough at calving to birth the calf successfully.

Approximately every 21 days, give or take, based on the cow's individual cycle.

Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours.

Ideally, you shouldn't. If you don't know the genetic history of either the sire or the dams of the daughters, there's increased risk of birthing calves that have genetic abnormalities. Inbreeding should only be done if you know enough about the genetic history of your cattle to be able to do so.

Once the heifer turns about seven years old, the time between calves increases and the chance of an unhealthy calf increases. That said, if the heifer is in good condition and not worked hard, she can continue calving into her teens.

A little blood is nothing to worry about. That's completely normal, and just a sign that the corpus luteum has ruptured allowing the ovum to flow free into the fallopian tube. It may also not be semen flowing out but vaginal mucous as well, which is also normal. But if there's lots of blood and she's actually BLEEDING from the vagina, then there most definitely would be a problem that requires veterinary attention. But if it's a small amount, like only a couple of milliliters, there's nothing to worry about.

A calf should be anywhere from 6 to 10 months old at weaning. But what age you wish to wean depends on when you want to sell him, and, most importantly, if his mother does not have the capacity or ability to continue to nurse him, especially if she has another calf on the way.

In estrus.

All three breeds (as well as a cross between them) will remain productive into their teens. Teeth, udder condition, body conformation, and fertility will be the limiting factors to a cow's productivity.

Rectal palpation, blood test, or ultrasound -- your choice!

If the cow is already pregnant, the best time to stop milking her is 2 months prior to the predicted time that she will be giving birth.

The average is around 24 hours.

Breed matters little in terms of calving ease; what matters most is just how calving ease any bull is with regard to sire and dam history. You can have good and bad luck with either cross, because either can have the potential of using a bull with poor calving ease EPD values without realizing it. However, probably (and arguably) the best cross is Angus over Hereford heifers, because Hereford heifers tend to have a larger pelvic size and larger birth-weights than Angus. Angus will decrease birthweights, making it easier for the heifers, as research done by the MARC via the USDA.

I can list more than three reasons: 1) She will be too young and immature to be pregnant with a calf. 2) Her reproductive system is still immature and reproductive hormones out of balance, so that she may not be cycling an average of 21 days as expected with bovine estrous. 3) Her pelvic size may be still too small to push a calf through. 4) A fetus will require nutrients and energy that a young heifer will need to grow herself, and if these are not supplied, this could stunt the young dam's own growth. 5) Her first heat is a sign she has entered puberty, but not yet completed sexual maturity.

At 15 months of age.

She should come into puberty by about December 2015. So she should be more than ready to breed by this month (December 2016).

A cow can mount a human the same way she would mount another cow, except a human cannot carry the weight of an estrogen-hyped, in-heat, 1400 lb cow without causing significant injury. But you're probably wondering why would she even mount a human? The most likely reason is that she's been raised as a bottle calf and sees humans as other two-legged bovines, not as humans. Other reasons could be she's just so far in heat she doesn't care who or what she mounts. But mainly when cattle are too imprinted to humans they will tend to do bovine things that normally they wouldn't.

No. If you have no history of the genetics and deformities associated with inbreeding with either the bull or the heifer's dam, then it's definitely not okay to allow such breeding to occur. If, though, you do have that history and know what kind of risks are associated with such breeding, then you can risk it and hope the bull's daughter has a live, healthy calf and not one with a genetic deformity that will limit its lifespan.

Separate the weaned heifer if there's a bull in with the cows. Also, make sure you separate the heifers from the young bulls to avoid any potential whoopsie-pregnancies.

Yes! Milking or lactation has no effect on her ability to come in to heat. Cows post-calving will start showing signs of estrus a couple weeks after calving typically, but will need to be not bred until 60 to 90 days post-calving just to allow her cycles and uterus size to get back to normal. All of this will occur during her lactation period which occurs right after calving. She can be bred, while still in lactation, by the time that 60 or 90-day break is done.

No, it's an indication that they're going through puberty. They're still much too young to be bred. You must wait another 8 months before they can actually be bred. Reasons are because they need to be bigger and more mature to be able to have a calf. And even then that doesn't guarantee all those heifers are going to be good long-term breeding stock in the end, either.

Yes. As long as she's healthy, in good condition and still fertile, she certainly can have another calf again.

A Brangus heifer should be ready to breed at around 15 months of age.

No. It's more of a problem of being too OLD to breed. If a heifer does not get bred past the age of two or three years old, it makes it more difficult for her to have a calf. Calving problems are more likely to develop than if she were bred at the industry-recommended 15 months of age.

Actually a heifer is a heifer until she's had her first calf; and a heifer may remain as a "heifer" or heiferette if she's never given birth to a calf before, but the term "cow" is really ambiguous, colloquial, and up to discussion on what it technically means. But really, what you're hearing is wrong (the reasons why you're hearing this is unknown to me) and to not be taken for granted. So many producers wouldn't actually say such a thing, they also consider a cow as a cow after she's had her first or, for others, her second calf.

Give her a shot of either Lutalyse or Estrumate. You can only obtain these with a prescription from the vet.