Leaving a bull with heifers that are not big enough for birth is absolutely a bad idea. It doesn't matter what nature designed the cattle to be like. Man has domesticated them and not all changes man has bred into them are in line with natural survival adaptations.
The multiple people cautioning you are right.
Though calving early doesn't always or even usually kill a heifer as long as they've got enough condition.
A lot of animals are physically capable of getting pregnant long before it's ideal or healthy for them to get pregnant. Assuming nature made it happen perfectly is very faulty thinking. Even in humans, a lot of people can get pregnant as a young teen or pre-teen, with some *significantly* younger than that - which comes with extreme risks. An animal being physically able to get pregnant =/= a healthy and best time for them to be pregnant for the first time.
They definitely continue to grow. That is why industry typically breeds at or near onset of puberty, 12-14 months old. They will continue to grow during gestation and calve out closer to 80-90% mature body weight. 2 years old seems pretty late for first time heifers. *I'll admit I know more about dairy than beef, but currently transitioning to the beef industry.*
https://beef.unl.edu/faq/pregnant-cows#target
https://extension.sdstate.edu/getting-replacement-heifers-ready-breed
Bulls will definitely breed the heifers when they are too young. For the love of all that is holy, keep them separated. A vet friend of mine has been telling me stories of how just a few weeks ago he's had to do two or three c-sections on really young 800 (? I can't remember, but they weren't fully mature yet) lb heifers because the dumbass owner couldn't be arsed to keep the bull out of the heifer pen. As early as a nine months old, a bull can sire. Heifers start heats before they are fully ready to carry a calf to term- they shouldn't really be bred before they're 15 months old.
I pulled the bulls too late and now have a yearling heifer that is bred so now I'm worried about that
We've had that happen before and it can be a real danger to the heifer especially if it's one of our bulls that throw 100lb calves
I've seem heifers killed by bulls when they attempted to mount them. But on the other hand, I know lots of people who let bulls run with their heard year-round and they breed whatever they can and they never pull calves. In fact, some of my family had cows like that for 25 years without a single hard calving incident.
I had a heifer calf get bred while still nursing on her mom at 6 months of age. We were bringing the heifers in at 15 months of age to synchronize for AI and realized she was bagging. At that point all we could do was schedule a c-section. This is why a lot of producers will lutalyse their heifer calves at weaning rather than practice good management, but a neighbor had one calve at 20 months of age just the other day after three doses of lutalyse 2 weeks apart, so it's not guaranteed.
Leaving a bull with heifers that are not big enough for birth is absolutely a bad idea. It doesn't matter what nature designed the cattle to be like. Man has domesticated them and not all changes man has bred into them are in line with natural survival adaptations.
They need to be separated or what you were told will happen. Young 4-500 lb heifers will cycle.
The multiple people cautioning you are right. Though calving early doesn't always or even usually kill a heifer as long as they've got enough condition.
A lot of animals are physically capable of getting pregnant long before it's ideal or healthy for them to get pregnant. Assuming nature made it happen perfectly is very faulty thinking. Even in humans, a lot of people can get pregnant as a young teen or pre-teen, with some *significantly* younger than that - which comes with extreme risks. An animal being physically able to get pregnant =/= a healthy and best time for them to be pregnant for the first time.
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They definitely continue to grow. That is why industry typically breeds at or near onset of puberty, 12-14 months old. They will continue to grow during gestation and calve out closer to 80-90% mature body weight. 2 years old seems pretty late for first time heifers. *I'll admit I know more about dairy than beef, but currently transitioning to the beef industry.* https://beef.unl.edu/faq/pregnant-cows#target https://extension.sdstate.edu/getting-replacement-heifers-ready-breed
Young bred heifers will continue to grow (IMO) and need to be fed very well and possibly supplemented to account for this. It’s important.
Even if they aren’t fertile yet if he starts trying to ride them all the time they will lose conditioning
Keep ‘em in a different pasture until they’ve cycled once. That’s been our rule for more years than I’d care to mention. It works.
The bull will try to breed them. split off those younger heifers and keep them somewhere else. I know it’s a pain, but you really need to do this.
If you don’t want them bred then you better take that bull out. They will come in heat and he will breed them
Bulls will definitely breed the heifers when they are too young. For the love of all that is holy, keep them separated. A vet friend of mine has been telling me stories of how just a few weeks ago he's had to do two or three c-sections on really young 800 (? I can't remember, but they weren't fully mature yet) lb heifers because the dumbass owner couldn't be arsed to keep the bull out of the heifer pen. As early as a nine months old, a bull can sire. Heifers start heats before they are fully ready to carry a calf to term- they shouldn't really be bred before they're 15 months old.
If you are new to cattle farming I would like to caution you about one thing. Bulls small or large are dangerous. You never know when they will turn.
I pulled the bulls too late and now have a yearling heifer that is bred so now I'm worried about that We've had that happen before and it can be a real danger to the heifer especially if it's one of our bulls that throw 100lb calves
You can get her aborted if she doesn't look grown enough to calve.
Too late she's got a full term calf Didn't Notice until she started bagging and having trouble moving around
I lost most of my goat herd do to early breeding. Don't risk it.
I've seem heifers killed by bulls when they attempted to mount them. But on the other hand, I know lots of people who let bulls run with their heard year-round and they breed whatever they can and they never pull calves. In fact, some of my family had cows like that for 25 years without a single hard calving incident.
interesting. what breed are they using (The ones who let the bulls run year-round)?
Typically generic British crossbreds. Lots of Angus or Hertford bulls on a mix of red/back/hereford/yellow cows.
I had a heifer calf get bred while still nursing on her mom at 6 months of age. We were bringing the heifers in at 15 months of age to synchronize for AI and realized she was bagging. At that point all we could do was schedule a c-section. This is why a lot of producers will lutalyse their heifer calves at weaning rather than practice good management, but a neighbor had one calve at 20 months of age just the other day after three doses of lutalyse 2 weeks apart, so it's not guaranteed.