Ranking cow fertility

​I’ll guarantee that the bulls and the environment will select better heifers than you will.

Why are we putting this South Poll bull back in with our two year old heifers immediately after they begin calving?  So we can rank the cows in their peer group for fertility.

According to renowned cattleman Johann Zietsman, the most fertile animal of this group of first-calf-heifers will be the one that breeds back the fastest after her first calf in relation to her herd mates in a given environment.  A cow that achieves two calves by the age of three (not twins) is designated as "2+3" and is given a fertility ranking.  Cows not achieving 2+3 are not given a ranking and their male offspring are not considered for retention.  The male offspring of the the cows who score highest, ranked by fertility of this peer group, will be considered herd sire prospects, and utilized appropriately to make genetic advancement in the herd.

Burke Teichert, in his article Ten Thoughts on Heifer Development , says "I’ll guarantee that the bulls and the environment will select better heifers than you will.  The main reason is that heifers that breed and calve late cannot live long enough to catch up with those that breed and calve early regardless of genetic superiority in non-fertility traits."

Pictured here is one of the cows from the video above that got bred, and is now with her 2nd calf.  Cow 1804 was born 03/25/18.  She was was the first to calve her 2nd calf (02/11/21) among a group of her peers.  She bred back the first cycle after her first calf with no supplements.  She qualifies as a "2+3" and gets a fertility ranking of #1.  And as long as something else doesn't disqualify her (bad udder, bad temperment, etc.), she will be a cow that we look to in the future for producing potential herd sires from her male offspring.

​Genetic change is only positive if it results in survival of the fittest as opposed to survival of the prettiest.

In my opinion Burke's article about heifer development is in agreement with Johann Zietsman when Johann states that, "Genetic change is only positive if it results in survival of the fittest as opposed to survival of the prettiest.  This will only occur if nature (environment) is the ultimate judge of what is desirable or undesirable.  It is imperative that we read nature correctly."