Focus on the Nutrition of Your Developing Heifers

You have written: "and weight is the factor most easily controlled by the producer". But do not forget, please, about the shoulder height. The body weight informs you only about the growing rate, but the shoulder height gives more info about the development status of the heifers. I used to see a lot of heifers, to be 400 kilos of BW or more, but the shoulder height was below 120 cm. These heifers were overfatted, many problems in the time of AI and at calving.

Hi This means that they need to be dissolved in liquid (water) in order for them to be available to the body. Mineral deficiencies are generally due to a nutrient poor diet or an inability to absorb ingested minerals. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. Instead of first respecting the natural alchemy of minerals and health,and restoring the optimal mineral nutrition of the body it employs powerful but inappropriate drugs to treat disease. Thanks...

Growth rate of heifers of dairy breeds determines not only age of first calving, but also the milk production potential. Holstein heifers perform better if growth rate up to puberty is around 800 gm/d. Too high growth rate affects the udder development adversely. Most crucial period for milk secretory cell proliferation is from 3 months to 12 months, and last 3 months of pregnancy.