Good management of replacement heifers at housing is vital to ensure that they continue to develop and that growth targets are met.
These heifers will be put in calf next April or May, so if they fall behind it will be difficult for them to catch up.
Yearling heifers need to gain between 0.5kg/day and 0.7kg/day over the housed period to achieve their target weights.
Replacement heifers
As replacement heifers enter the shed they should be weighed. Ideally, they would then be grouped.
They should continue to be weighed during the housed period to ensure that targets are being achieved and to detect heifers that aren’t achieving their targets.
Any heifers that are below target should be separated to allow them to have access to priority feeding.
Farmers should also ensure that there is enough feeding space in the shed; for yearling heifers 0.3m will suffice, but below this may lead to reduced performance.
Feeding a high-quality silage is going to be vital for heifers to achieve their growth targets. Poorer quality feed will mean that concentrates will be required.
Feeding heifers a 72% dry matter digestibility (DMD) silage compared to a 67% DMD silage will mean that their concentrate feeding can be reduced by 1kg/head for heifers that are on target.
Housing management
Shortly after housing farmers should check their heifers to determine if treatment for parasites is required.
The four major parasites farmers need to be conscious of at housing are:
- Gutworms, (particularly Ostertagia);
- Lungworm;
- Fluke; and
- Lice.
Failure to control parasites in heifers at housing could result in significant production losses from reduced weight gain, fertility issues, irreversible lung damage, increased susceptibility to disease and even death.
Once the heifers are housed it can be difficult to spot animals that are underpreforming, unless regular weighing is taking place.