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Rearing[edit | edit source]

Our calf is now living in a covered barn and fed a mixture of concentrates and forage. From 3 months old we should be seeing a 0.8kg/day growth rate and at 4 months she is ready to go out and graze. While grazing she will continue to be fed concentrates in order to maintain our growth rate target.

Puberty[edit | edit source]

We want our heifer to mature quickly enough that we can get her in calf at 15 months old. In order to be on track to do this she needs to be cycling at 12 to 13 months and out with a bull at 14 months. At 12 months old she needs to weigh 50% of her expected full body weight, and put on 10% each month over the next 3 months.

Growth Rate[edit | edit source]

Our pregnant heifer will grow to 90% of her expected full body weight before calving at 24 months. As a rule we will continue to look for 0.8kg/day growth, for more detail see the graph below:

Growth-rate.jpeg

Source: https://extension.psu.edu/growth-charts-for-dairy-heifers#section-2

Calving[edit | edit source]

2 months before our heifer's due date she will be moved back to the "dry cow" barn where she can be monitored.

Once she calves, she will be moved to a box for a 4 days while colostrum is collected and then she will be moved into the heifers group in the dairy (https://afs.ca.uky.edu/dairy/merits-having-first-lactation-dairy-cows-separate-management-group).


Next: Lactation