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Adrian MI | We currently charge $1.75/day per head for dairy heifers. We get them at 3-4 months of age and keep them till 30-60 days from calving. If you get them while they are still on milk, $1.75 would not be enough.
A few questions are who provides what? We provide everything except semen for breeding and clean-up bulls, this includes feed, bedding, medicine, vaccinations, daily care of animals, vet work, breeding work, and we provide trucking for 2 dairies that are within 15 miles from us, while 3 other dairies farther away, provide their own trucking.
Death loss- with our contracts we get a 2% or 3% death loss, and if a heifer dies within 14 days of us receiving it, the dairy assumes the death loss, not us.
Target average daily gain- we try for a 1.8-2 lbs. average daily gain.
Have a contract signed that states what the grower will provide and what the dairy will provide. Also include the daily price and when the dairy will be billed for raising the heifers and what day of the month payment is due. We bill each dairy on the last day of each month and payment is due on the 15th or 20th of the next month, depending on what each dairy wants.
Each dairy has a different vaccination protocol, depending on their needs and what age they want their heifers bred at. Some things would only apply if you ended up keeping them over 500 lbs.
Raising heifers takes more work than bulls, especially when you get to breeding age.
I'll probably think of some more things, but that will get you started.
Jason
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raising heifer calves
