How young do calves go in heat?

Answer 1

CALVES SHOULD NOT GET BRED. Ever!! A calf is a young bovine that has not reached maturity, and is not weaned or has just been weaned from her mother. A calf becomes a heifer after she has been weaned (or is no longer dependent on her dam), and that heifer will be bred when she is 15 months of age. By the time she is of that age, she is no longer a calf.

However, there are always an exception to every rule!! A calf can indeed get bred, but as mentioned above, that doesn't mean it should get bred. Big difference! Calves that come from a highly fertile herd that are often run with the herd bull or other bull calves that are also reaching puberty, can reach puberty one to two, occasionally three, months before they are weaned (assuming that most calves are weaned at around 6 months of age). If that's the case, then there's a likely chance that the heifer calves will get bred by the bull or other bull calves and even carry a calf to full term. This doesn't happen all the time, it's more occasional or rare than common, but it does happen. Sometimes a heifer calf will carry a calf to full term and birth it without any assistance, much to the surprise of the producer. Other times though, a heifer's pelvic opening may be too small and a calving heifer will need assistance calving, either by pulling or by caesarean section.

Answer 2

Calves shouldn't go into heat, especially those younger than 5 months of age. And if the calf's male, then that's even a bigger problem.

Heifer calves, if they are very fertile may start puberty at around 5 to 6 months age, though this isn't that common. You are more likely to get heifers starting puberty by the time they are between 7 and 12 months old, at a time when they are no longer considered as "calves."

Answer 3

Don't go breeding calves. Calves are not to be bred, not at weaning, not before nor after. You don't breed your calves until they're at least a year (bulls) or 15 months (heifers) of age.

Please see the related question below for more.

Answer 4

When a calf is no longer a calf, but a sexually mature heifer. See the related question below.

Answer 5

The average age that a heifer will have her first calf is around 24 months of age, if she's been bred at 15 months of age.

Answer 6

It depends on the breed. Heifer calves may start to go into heat when they are around 8 to 9 months of age. Some will start going into heat much younger, like at around 3 to 4 months of age.