Calving at 2 years old - stunt growth

pakalasa

I was wondering this recently. I heard it more than once, that calving down at 2 years or thereabouts stunts the growth of the cow. What do ye think?
I've calved a few down at 2 years now and they seem to grow away fine after.

5live

In some cases it would want to stunt them. I was in a mart last spring and saw a 3 yo suckler springer close to 800kg. Now she was a smasher but first shower of rain and wont she plough some ground:(

Grecco

I`d say it does for sure with regards to purebreds. I had a purebred charlie who had her first calf at a 4 year old!!
She`s a massive cow that doesn't fit into the cattle crush!!. I also own two of here sisters that calved down at 24 months and shes easily A foot higher than them.

Muckit

Grecco wrote: »

I had a purebred charlie who had her first calf at a 4 year old!!
She`s a massive cow that doesn't fit into the cattle crush!!. .

God that's smoe cow! Is your crush tighter than 26"? We've a PB 05 blakestown cow that I'd regard as a big frame of a cow but she'I still get up a crush.

What breeding was/is yours?

towzer2010

In my experience it does. Calved four heifers this year and two calved at 2yrs and the others were 3yrs.

Both the two year olds have not improved since calving where as the 3 year olds are huge. They are LMx and CHx and are all on the same land.

Dad always said that at two years they are putting up teeth and that wouldnt help.

jeff greene

This old chestnut again;)

Not suckler but I'd believe dairy would be more demanding anyway, I have rarely had a stunted 2yo, just don't breed them until they're big enough.

Grecco

Muckit wrote: »

God that's smoe cow! Is your crush tighter than 26"? We've a PB 05 blakestown cow that I'd regard as a big frame of a cow but she'I still get up a crush.

What breeding was/is yours?

I`d say its easily 26" but i`ll check.
She has no known breeding other than Cf52 as a Great grandfather. Also She hasn't got a very high SBV which is very strange

I reckon she was nearly a tonne weight at the time of calving.
Her calf is a nice one but not any better or worst than her sisters calves

I`ll put a pic as soon as this storm stops blowing!!

flatout11

pakalasa wrote: »

I was wondering this recently. I heard it more than once, that calving down at 2 years or thereabouts stunts the growth of the cow. What do ye think?
I've calved a few down at 2 years now and they seem to grow away fine after.

it depends on how heavy they were when you bulled them you manage them.....
personally i would like them 400 kg up ideally over 450
give them a good run up to 2 to 3 months pre calving calving
2kg conc post calving for 4 to 6 wks

tbh the ones we ran empty ended up no bigger by their 3rd calving

Bizzum

Over the years it's something we have done occasionally, I like to run them on to 28 or 30 mths now.
I think several posters raised valid points, weight at going to bull is important and feeding pre and post calving, The younger cow heifers need to be well looked after to be got back in calf and to continue development. Any setback can be seen in them too.
I would think there is a breed factor at play too, some breeds develop earlier than others.

essgee268

flatout11 wrote: »

it depends on how heavy they were when you bulled them you manage them.....
personally i would like them 400 kg up ideally over 450
give them a good run up to 2 to 3 months pre calving calving
2kg conc post calving for 4 to 6 wks

tbh the ones we ran empty ended up no bigger by their 3rd calving

depending on heifer, if she is is 390-420kgs at 15-16months she is plenty big enough to bull, if she is managed as above with mineral mixture and maybe 60 ml of apple cider vinegar aswell, She may also need a few extra TLC after calving to make sure she comes in heat quickly. Bulled a 14 month old Sim/AA heifer June 10 to LSC AA bull from Dovea, Had to turn down 1400 for her and Bull Calf she held first time to KFY and currently wouldnt part with her for world and calf worth 700

Dunedin

pakalasa wrote: »

I was wondering this recently. I heard it more than once, that calving down at 2 years or thereabouts stunts the growth of the cow. What do ye think?
I've calved a few down at 2 years now and they seem to grow away fine after.

I think there is little doubt that it does stun the growth but I still don't think that it affects the cow's ability to breed good cattle in later life assuming the cow is made of the right stuff to begin with.

as other posters said, they should be spot on bulling at 400kgs (calving 600kgs approx) adn then plenty of TLC for first couple of months after calving and you should have nae bother with gettign them back in calf.

Bodacious

essgee268 wrote: »

depending on heifer, if she is is 390-420kgs at 15-16months she is plenty big enough to bull, if she is managed as above with mineral mixture and maybe 60 ml of apple cider vinegar aswell, She may also need a few extra TLC after calving to make sure she comes in heat quickly. Bulled a 14 month old Sim/AA heifer June 10 to LSC AA bull from Dovea, Had to turn down 1400 for her and Bull Calf she held first time to KFY and currently wouldnt part with her for world and calf worth 700

Ive a similar heifer calved her down at 25 months.. she was a 380kg weanling out of a large pb AA cow and a lim bull, first time she came bulling at 16 months i ai'd her and she kept first straw.... same again this year First straw CF61 Alex CH ..... now i wouldnt recommend calving them so young as a rule and this lady needed meal at grass to get her back in calf etc but a lovely heifer and grew with her calf this Summer but other heifers calving down at three weren't such a worry

flatout11

tbh the 2yo heifers gave less hassle calving over the years they tended to get on with it better than the 3 yo ones

Muckit

essgee268 wrote: »

if she is managed as above with mineral mixture and maybe 60 ml of apple cider vinegar aswell

What is this about? Very interested to know:rolleyes:

Bizzum

flatout11 wrote: »

tbh the 2yo heifers gave less hassle calving over the years they tended to get on with it better than the 3 yo ones

I have noticed something similar to this. I think the mature heifers can put more into their calf than the heifers yet to mature, a younger immature heifer has a greater draw on her resources and I think this may hold back the calf in her.
I'd be interested to see if anyone else noted this?

blue5000

Heard somewhere that 27 months is the ideal age to calve a heifer at. Not easy to achieve though in a spring calving suckler herd. The heifers would have to born 3-4 months before the main herd is calving. Heifers tend to slip a month between having their first calf and the second calf, ie a calving interval of about 400 days.
I wonder would it be worth it to calve them after the main bunch of cows, when they are 27 months old, then not calve them at all as three year olds? Put them in calf then to calve just before the main herd of cows as 4 year olds. That way then they are set up (hopefully) to calve compactly for the rest of their lives. Any thoughts?

flatout11

blue5000 wrote: »

Heard somewhere that 27 months is the ideal age to calve a heifer at. Not easy to achieve though in a spring calving suckler herd. The heifers would have to born 3-4 months before the main herd is calving. Heifers tend to slip a month between having their first calf and the second calf, ie a calving interval of about 400 days.
I wonder would it be worth it to calve them after the main bunch of cows, when they are 27 months old, then not calve them at all as three year olds? Put them in calf then to calve just before the main herd of cows as 4 year olds. That way then they are set up (hopefully) to calve compactly for the rest of their lives. Any thoughts?

your right its not easy to achieve
i never sat down to work out the cost/benifit of feeding the replacements more during the winter period to ensure the all achieved the target weight at 14 to 15 months

Kovu

In cases like this it tends to be each to their own. I do as my father did and aim to calve down at 25/28 months. Never had any problems. Actually last year, two got served by a 10month weanling and we only found out when it was too late to about. They calved down at 23 months or something close to that, was a lovely hassle with the dept But those same calves did better in both thrive and price at time of sale! So I reckon it depends on past breeding/quality of land/what was done by your father :P