# Keeping Heifers



## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I bought a bull from a fairly large outfit this past week. We are old friends, go back to school days.

He advised me to keep every heifer calf no matter how good she looked. He said to keep them until breeding age, then breed them. Once bred, keep 4 or 5 and sell the others as bred heifers.

I reminded him I was commercial and not registered like him. He said cross bred heifers would still sell well. (They will be black)

Does that make sense? Our prices are not quite as high as other parts of the country. I still get around $800 for a weaned heifer through the sale.

I am thinking I will only get $1200 - $1400 for a commercial bred heifer. The $800 is pretty much guaranteed.

Is it worth the cost and risk to keep and breed all heifers?


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

The market will hold or get better. Plan your strategy for maximum profit. Mel


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

Sell them at weaning age. That's a long Time to sit on a heifer for a few hundred bucks more. But It also depends on what type of heifer we are talking about here. If they are quality replacement heifers then it might be worth keeping a few back. But if they're just regular cross bred feeder type heifers I'd haul them off. But even like us we don't even sit on our braunbray, braford Simbrah and Brahman heifers when we get 1200 all day long straight off the cow for the F1's and you don't even wanna know what the registered Brahman heifers are bringing. But then you hold on to them and sell them heavy bred for 2500-4000. But you also got to factor in almost another 2 years time, feed and extra pasture.


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

sale barn sold some black first calf heifer pairs Monday that brought from 21-2500 dollars had 30 of em not registered either


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

It all depends on your local market. Around here a lot of the time i can buy bred heifers for less than what i can raise them for. Iam at a auction as i write this. 600 pound heifers that i sold today $1000. Bred heifers 1100-1400 dollars. That is not a whole lot more to kerp them for an extra 12-15 months. Plus keeping a heifer bull around.


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## CockrellHillFarms (Aug 30, 2011)

bluefarmer said:


> sale barn sold some black first calf heifer pairs Monday that brought from 21-2500 dollars had 30 of em not registered either


I apparently need to come south then! Not looking at them....dunno what they were or what they looked like but I would have bought all 30 at that price. That is cheap. Up here...3k-3100 all day long.


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## RanchersEdge (Mar 23, 2014)

The best most hardie heifers that will make the best mother cows are west. Wyoming Montana Colorado. Create connections with ranchers in these areas. Moderate framed - that will bred back every year. You can ship them anywhere in the US and they will do great. Reds or Black Angus. $2000 will buy a bunch of really great heifers.

If the drought continues to subside and there are no major market swings - the price of heifers will continue to go up.

Kit

www.Heifer.PRO


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