Breeding a heifer. Help!!

[glw]

My son has a simbrah heifer that we are planning on breeding next month, she will be a year old. We have spent tons of time looking to find a bull to match her, and we think we have found the one. This bull we found is called "Warman". The question is do you think she will be able to handle having a calf from him!?  The first 2 pics are of the heifer and the 3rd one is the bull

 

[cowman 52]

First question, is there a need for her to be bred right now? Calving a heifer before she is 2 may be the rage in the commercial world but in the registered business, quality is way far ahead of quanity.
  You wait till she is 16 to 18 months to breed, yes you lose 6 months of productivity, but on the other end the cow will probably last 2to 3 calves longer.
Now back to the breeding part, the simbra epd may not be the most reliable, as far as birth wts. You can bring the calf about 3 weeks early if birth wt looks to be a problem, but being able to do that in a reliable manner is suspect.
So now you need to weigh a few things before you start deciding bull.

 

[glw]

We are wanting to breed her for a fall calf next year. And she's a registered simbrah heifer

 

[cowman 52]

What you want to do and what you need to do could very well be 2 different things.  The Brahman part of the lineage could very well slow down puberty, and even if she is cycling, there may not be a viable egg.
Second part,she needs to be able to raise the calf, not a lot of 20 month old heifers do a good job of raising a calf, with out a lot of feed, and the feed part is only going to kick up the birth wt.  A hungry calf on a hungry heifer aint a good deal, regardless of what you want.
Just my opinion, and like some things, every one has one.

 

[glw]

Yeah. She barely has any Brahman in her. But I don't know what we will do. We would like to breed her next month but if we can't do it then we can't, we'll just have to wait

 

[glw]

And you're very well right- a hungry calf on a hungry heifer isn't good. She is eating 24 lbs a day and weighs almost 900lbs. She is on full hay also

 

[cowman 52]

Before the drought hit, we bred a lot of cattle all breeds, all sizes, went to breed 40 simbra heifers, all long yearlings, nutrition was adequate, frame size 5to 6, weights around 800 give or take,  of the 40, 20'never cycled, and the 20 we bred, we hit on 12.   Reproductive tracts were poor in tone, or no tone at all. The 12 calves had a tough time, just not enough maturity to raise the calf and themselves.
 Went bac 2 years later, heifers closing in on 18 to 22 months, bred 33 out of 42, internally a lot better, and calves made it easier and with out any more feed. Those 42 are the best set of cows the guy has,  they breed back quick, and haven't missed a calf yet.

 

[glw]

Oh yikes. Yea it may be a better decision to wait. I don't know yet

 

[Mark H]

What is her breeding? In Simbrah it is hard to get around bulls with the word Smith in their name.  If she does not have any Smith Nu Wave II or Smith Nu Approach then I would consider those two bulls.
Do not try and get her bred before she is cycling regularly  and fully developed.  Taylor the breeding program to the animal not the other way around.

 

[glw]

She is 3/4 Simmental and 1/4 Brahman. The bull is "lmc pr amigo u167". And the dam is "lmc bp muneca 5w/109". She is going into heat about every 3 weeks for the past 2 or 3 months

 

[AAOK]

First question, is there a need for her to be bred right now? Calving a heifer before she is 2 may be the rage in the commercial world but in the registered business, quality is way far ahead of quanity.
  You wait till she is 16 to 18 months to breed, yes you lose 6 months of productivity, but on the other end the cow will probably last 2to 3 calves longer.
Now back to the breeding part, the simbra epd may not be the most reliable, as far as birth wts. You can bring the calf about 3 weeks early if birth wt looks to be a problem, but being able to do that in a reliable manner is suspect.
So now you need to weigh a few things before you start deciding bull.

Great advice!  Don't be concerned with the calving date. The concern should be for the cow & calf.

 

[glw]

Okay. So should I do it and see what happens or no??

 

[CJC]

Okay. So should I do it and see what happens or no??

The answer would be (NO)! When you are ready to bred her to Warman you need to call Robert Fuchs 979-203-9868. He's the man that owns the bull

 

[SlickTxMaine]

We have always bred at 15 mos. to calve at 24 mos..  It's always worked for us running charolais and char cross cattle. 

About 3 yrs. ago we purchased a Brahman heifer for my daughter to show.  The breeder instructed us not to breed her until 24 mos..  My husband - knowing better  :  opted to breed her at 15 mos. like our others.  She calved fine - no problems, but she had no milk!  We supplemented at first by tubing the calf and eventually the calf found another cow in the pasture that would allow her to steal milk.  That is probably the only way the calf survived.  And my husband says "I don't know what's wrong with that cow, if she doesn't have more milk next year, she has to go!"  I reminded him of what the Brahman breeder told us.  She is bred back now, so we will see how she does this go around, but it may take her another season to catch up and recover. 

Short answer to your question - if she is an American breed - wait!