Do you weigh your heifers?
Here’s the big question: Why don’t we normalise weighing our heifers?
Too often, the only target we focus on is age at first calving. But should that really be the only measure of success?
Research suggests that the real focus should be on body weight, not just age.
Most industry recommendations are for heifers to reach:
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55% of mature body weight at first service
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85–90% of mature body weight at calving
When these targets are achieved, heifers are far more likely to calve at 23–24 months while maintaining good health, fertility and first-lactation performance.
So, instead of relying solely on age, we should be tracking heifer weights at key stages of development:
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Birth
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Weaning
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Bulling (first service)
Regular weighing provides a much clearer picture of how heifers are growing and allows us to:
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Identify growth issues early.
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Make better nutritional and management decisions.
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Ensure heifers reach their genetic potential before entering the milking herd.
It’s also worth remembering that delaying breeding isn’t the answer.
Research has shown that:
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Waiting until heifers are much older does not improve health or fertility enough to offset the additional rearing costs.
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Older heifers are more likely to become over-conditioned, increasing the risk of calving difficulties and unnecessary expense.
If we want to improve heifer performance, we need to measure more than just age – after all, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.
If you are looking for advice on how to monitor heifer performance at key stages, get in touch with our Dairy Tech calf and heifer specialists today on 01501 820473.
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