This study examines a national survey of professional custom heifer growers. Sixty-five respondents from 23 states provided information on operation size and characteristics, management practices, and contract terms. Responding operation current heifer inventories ranged from 30 to 20,000 heifers and the average operation had more than 1200 heifers on-farm. The regional pattern of operation siz...

The overall object of this research was to characterize US Holstein (virgin) heifer fertility. This included investigation of factors influencing heifer fertility and estimation of heritability, as well as correlations with cow fertility and first-lactation milk yield. A secondary objective was to compare linear and logistic model estimates of fixed effects and linear and threshold model estima...

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium var. Copenhagen isolates from a heifer-raising operation and from 11 dairy herds that had their calves contracted to the heifer-raising operation were examined for their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. Results of the study showed that the heifer-raising operation could serve as a clearinghouse for Salmonella serovar Typhimurium v...

Studies were conducted to evaluate effects of weaning and subsequent heifer development treatments within two herds located in the Northern Great Plains, USA. Heifer calves from predominantly Angus Hereford dams were stratified within dam age and calving date (Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory (LARRL), Miles City, MT, USA; n1⁄4328) and randomly assigned within study and strata ...

A 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was used to evaluate effects of dam winter grazing system and supplementation in the last third of gestation on subsequent BW gain, feed efficiency, and reproduction in heifer progeny. Crossbred cows (yr 1, n = 109; yr 2, n = 114; yr 3, n = 116) grazed range (WR) or corn residue (CR) during winter and within grazing treatment received 0.40 kg/d of 31%...

Sub-optimal heifer growth is associated with higher disease rates and reduced future performance and longevity in the dairy herd. This report describes a system for measuring heifer growth from birth to first calving that was used on commercial dairy farms in South West England, in order to gather benchmarking data to feed back to farmers. Weights (n = 8443) were collected from 20 farms. There ...

A case study of renal tubular dysfunction consistent with idiopathic Fanconi syndrome is reported in an 18-month-old Holstein heifer. The clinical, biochemical, and histopathological features are described. The heifer had clinical signs of growth retardation, wasting, and persistent diarrhea. Biochemical blood analysis identified hypokalemia, hyponatremia, and hypochloremia. Urinalysis identifi...

Sustainable cowherds require replacement of cull cows either internally via raised heifers or externally with purchased females. Managing raised replacements begins with a weaned heifer calf and continues on through her second pregnancy and calving. Replacement costs were estimated from research conducted in Nebraska for spring-calving cowherds and included the opportunity cost of the heifer ca...

The objectives of this study were to determine incidence of stillbirths and heifer-calf morbidity and mortality, and their association with dystocia on 3 Colorado dairies. A total of 7,380 calvings produced 7,788 calves on 3 Colorado dairy operations between October 1, 2001, and November 5, 2002. Dystocia score and calf status (alive vs. dead) were recorded at calving. Calves that were born ali...

The present study was conducted on the Murrah buffaloes maintained at Livestock Research Centre of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal. The animals were classified into heifer, primipara and pluripara. For this experiment a total of 50 Murrah buffaloes were followed, out of which 8 were heifers, 12 were primipara and 30 were pluripara. Daytime was considered to be from 6.00 am...