Your heifers’ first summer can set them up for a productive and healthy life.
After investing time and money into selecting and growing your calves, ensure you foster their development ahead of entering the herd.
Feed them
Key to a young heifer’s development is feeding and nutrition, including minerals and access to water. Her diet needs sufficient energy and protein for optimal growth for each nutritional stage.
- Weaning to 9 months: Take advantage of the young heifer’s feed efficiency from weaning to nine months and focus on muscle and skeletal growth. Lean growth increases the heifer’s frame size, which can mean fewer calving difficulties in the future (note: Pasture growth slows over winter, make sure they continue to be well-fed over this period).
- From 9-15 months: continue to grow the heifers to meet target weights so that puberty is achieved, and conception rates are improved.
- From 16-22 months: the goal is a target live weight of 90% of the mature weight and a body condition score of 5.5 pre-calving. This will help heifers meet their full potential, well-grown heifers will produce more milk and survive longer in the herd.
Weigh them
The only reliable way to measure heifer performance is through measuring growth by live weight.
By regularly weighing your individual heifers – ideally every six weeks – you will be able to ascertain if her nutritional requirements are being met, identity problems early, and adjust practices where needed.
At around four months’ old, heifers often move off-farm and transition from lush dairy pasture to beef farm pasture. This is a great time for a growth-check weigh-in and the transition should be well-managed.
Protect them
Heifers are more likely to move around farms in the first two years of their life, exposing them to more diseases. Consider a health plan for the heifers specific to their age and where they are. Consider:
- Where the property is, different regions have different concerns e.g. facial eczema, Theileria, parasites.
- Invest in a parasite management plan including rotations and treatments. Internal parasites reduce feed intake and efficiency of feed utilisation.
- Mineral requirements for growing young stock will vary by farm and region. Look at soil types, pasture fertilizer history, and types of crops or supplements being fed. Speak to your vet about developing a mineral supplementation plan.
- Proactively manage preventable disease – discuss a vaccination programme with your vet.
Touch base with your grazier
Communication is essential if you are grazing your heifers on another farm – you are partners, so take time to have a conversation. Be clear to the person raising your future herd about your expectations and requirements. These will vary depending on the age of the stock and length of time at graziers.
It is advisable to set up a contract between you and the grazier. This protects both parties and helps identify what is important, clarifying each party’s expectations.
Some topics to consider (but not limited to):
- Payment/invoicing
- Veterinarian/animal health plans/vaccinations/parasite management
- Dead/missing stock
- Mixing of stock
- Mating
- Feeding/nutrition/feed shortage
- Weighing/remedial actions
- Reporting/sharing data
- Reporting/sharing data.
Grazing agreements are available to buy on the Federated Farmers website.
Find out more about rearing heifers at DairyNZ.