It is crucial that farmers keep a close eye on the growth of heifers from weaning up to the first breeding age of 13 months. The ability to meet body weight checkpoints along the way can have a significant impact on the farm’s cost structure. Our own LifeStart research clarifies the impact to help farmers manage it.
Most farmers feed according to a well-designed plan from the first days of a heifer’s life up to the first few weeks after weaning and carefully monitor the results. However, once the calf reaches five months of age and successfully transitions to a diet including forage, there is a tendency to feed them what is readily available, sometimes without a clear view of the calf’s needs, and stop monitoring growth and development in a systematic way. But maintaining a balanced diet – particularly containing enough crude protein – after reaching the age of 9-10 months is essential to ensuring sufficient growth without excessive fat deposition.
In the period from weaning to breeding, there is often not enough attention paid to setting and checking growth targets for calves. Each goal for age at first calving (AFC) has its own measures. See the table on the left for an overview of checkpoints for a cowherd with mature body weight (MBW) of 700 kg, normal body weight for Holstein Frisian cows.
The table shows the checkpoints for an Age at First Calving at 23 months, for other breeds of cows with different mature bodyweights.
Exercise is important to develop leg and joint strength, so pasture is a good solution. Take a good look at the availability of grass over time, which the heifers need to reach the correct bodyweight for the first insemination at 13 months.
First, check the availability of water. Calves need four to five litres of water per kilogram of dry feed. So, if the supply of water is limited or failing, consumption of calf starter will be low. Our advice: good quality water should be freely available.
LifeStart science has proved that intensive feeding in its early life makes a heifer ready for breeding – at a good weight and fertility – at 13 months of age.
