Dairy calf-to-beef farmers will know that their dairy-beef Angus and Hereford heifers tend to come fit at lighter weights and at an earlier date than the male breed counterparts finished as steers.
While dairy-beef heifers come fit earlier than steers, the heifers tend to have a lighter carcass weight than the steers.
One of the questions put to Teagasc’s Dairy Beef 500 programme coordinator, Alan Dillon, on the Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Winter Herd Management webinar which took place in conjunction with Agriland, last week was – ‘what weight should I be starting to finish Angus and Hereford Heifers at?’
Responding to the question, Alan Dillon said: “For Angus and Hereford heifers, you’re probably limited enough in terms of where they’re going to go” in relation to their carcass weight.
“If you can get them up to around the 250-260kg carcass weight mark, it’s probably a lot of what they’re capable of in terms of the genetics.
“You typically see on some of these Angus bulls that are used on dairy herds, they’re probably the ones with maybe lower carcass potential so often the 250-260kg carcass, that’s around the 500kg lightweight.”
He outlined the finishing period that is generally necessary for these type of heifers and said: “40 to 50 days [finishing period] will do a lot of those heifers to put a bit of flesh on them and get them up to a fat score of three.
“Once you’re you’re hitting near 440kg or 450kg live weight, you can start feeding them maybe 3-4kg/day of a high-energy ration with silage and they will be gone within less than two months anyway guaranteed.”
The online dairy beef event addressed animal health at housing as well as feed and non-feed factors to consider during the winter housing period.
The speakers on the panel were as follows:
- Aidan Maguire, DairyBeef 500 programme farmer;
- Cara Sheridan, MSD Animal Health Ireland technical vet;
- Alan Dillon, Teagasc DairyBeef 500 programme manager.
The presentations were followed by a live panel discussion, chaired by Agriland.