NEED OPINIONS FROM STEER PLANET EXPERTS

[ROMAX]

Ok guys here is my problem, I raised a market heifer to show at a fair in my areanot known for real big money but if you win usually can do pretty decent 1.40-1.50/lb So i showed my calf and won champion heifer out of 13 head.Awesome.Come auction time 1.00/lb long story short she came back home.Ithought i have too much time and effort into her to just give her away,so i'm thinking of keeping her for a cow.The problem is she is not bred, and we calve in the spring,she is due to come in heat in 2 weeks.should i breed her now or wait and breed her in april for an early calf in2010 ? she is now on a diet of hay for a couple of days,then she is out with the cows and bred heifers. She weighed 1200 at the show and is a july 07 calf.She is out of a shorthorn cow by an angusx chi x maine bull.If i hold off breeding her till she is older could i get away with breeding her to Sin City as i heard his calves are a bit bigger.thanx guys all responses are respected and appreciated.

 

[OH Breeder]

Ok guys here is my problem, I raised a market heifer to show at a fair in my areanot known for real big money but if you win usually can do pretty decent 1.40-1.50/lb So i showed my calf and won champion heifer out of 13 head.Awesome.Come auction time 1.00/lb long story short she came back home.Ithought i have too much time and effort into her to just give her away,so i'm thinking of keeping her for a cow.The problem is she is not bred, and we calve in the spring,she is due to come in heat in 2 weeks.should i breed her now or wait and breed her in april for an early calf in2010 ? she is now on a diet of hay for a couple of days,then she is out with the cows and bred heifers. She weighed 1200 at the show and is a july 07 calf.She is out of a shorthorn cow by an angusx chi x maine bull.If i hold off breeding her till she is older could i get away with breeding her to Sin City as i heard his calves are a bit bigger.thanx guys all responses are respected and appreciated.

I am by no means an expert. We had one of our best cows spontaneous abort in August. We too breed for spring calves. We going to breed her in late march or early april as well. With this heifer being a July 07 in my mind it won't hurt to let her go til then. If you are like us. We dont' have a market for summer and fall borns. As far as bulls, stick with calving ease first go around. Her hips and pelvis have not had the experience of an older cow. Just because he is physicially older doesn't always mean you can use any bull. I would stick with calving ease first go around.

 

[dori36]

Ok guys here is my problem, I raised a market heifer to show at a fair in my areanot known for real big money but if you win usually can do pretty decent 1.40-1.50/lb So i showed my calf and won champion heifer out of 13 head.Awesome.Come auction time 1.00/lb long story short she came back home.Ithought i have too much time and effort into her to just give her away,so i'm thinking of keeping her for a cow.The problem is she is not bred, and we calve in the spring,she is due to come in heat in 2 weeks.should i breed her now or wait and breed her in april for an early calf in2010 ? she is now on a diet of hay for a couple of days,then she is out with the cows and bred heifers. She weighed 1200 at the show and is a july 07 calf.She is out of a shorthorn cow by an angusx chi x maine bull.If i hold off breeding her till she is older could i get away with breeding her to Sin City as i heard his calves are a bit bigger.thanx guys all responses are respected and appreciated.

I've got a couple of thoughts/questions:  Since you raised her as a market heifer, did you implant her?  If you did, she may take some time to cycle normally so she may solve the problem for you if she takes some more time to get regulated.  Personally, I'm "allergic" to carrying over empty cows, even if they're just yearlings.  Otoh, if you don't have a market at all for later calves, I guess it might work out better for your program to leave her open for the winter.  Do you breed exclusively for club calves?  Or, do you have a market for a June/July calf?  I guess that'll play a part in the decision. 

 

[ROMAX]

She is not implanted, and was out of a late calving cow that i finally got her back to normal and will be calving late march.

 

[ROMAX]

By the way she cycles every 3 weeks on the dot.

 

[ROMAX]

Thanks for the comments guys,i have decided to hold her over til next spring and breed her.Still not sure who'll she'll be bred too still deciding.

 

[Davis Shorthorns]

Thanks for the comments guys,i have decided to hold her over til next spring and breed her.Still not sure who'll she'll be bred too still deciding.

I would just make sure not to breed her to anything with a high bw.  Personally I would go back on her with a angus bull of some kind or something like Jakes Proud Jazz, Ar Su Lu osage, Double Duty, etc... remember the only goal for a first calf heifer is a live calf and cow after.

 

[afhm]

breed her, the longer you wait the harder it will be.  The calf can always go to the south or to Denver if it is good enough.

 

[Cattledog]

Thanks for the comments guys,i have decided to hold her over til next spring and breed her.Still not sure who'll she'll be bred too still deciding.

I would just make sure not to breed her to anything with a high bw.  Personally I would go back on her with a angus bull of some kind or something like Jakes Proud Jazz, Ar Su Lu osage, Double Duty, etc... remember the only goal for a first calf heifer is a live calf and cow after.

I completely agree with you on the Angus bull.  They always seem to pop right out when they calve.  Northern Improvement has made my life super easy.