CRIANZA DE VAQUILLAS: POSIBILIDAD DE LOGRAR UN PESO DE CUBIERTA A EDAD TEMPRANA (15 MESES)

Abstract

Two heifers raising treals were carried out from 1966 to 1968 at Punahue Experiment Station, Austral University in Valdivia Chile, to study the possibility to obtain mature cows from heifers weigh at 320 Kg. This weigh could be getting at 15 month old under common management heifers practices. 
Each trial was splitted in two period: winter and spring-summer. During winter the heifers grazing season long native pasture plus grass silage or grass silage and hay or concentrate in addition to the hay.
In spring-summer the heifers only grazing and artificial pasture under a rotational grazing sistem.
It was concluded that is posible to obtain mature heifers to breed at 15 month old and 320 Kg when live weight in winter are over 400 g/day. This live weight could be feeding the heifers with a good forage or rape seed meal and dried palp winter grazing with heifers seaonlong nature pasture plus silage or silage and hay did not give the line weight needed to obtain a good mature heifers to breed. In such a case is better to replace the hay with rape seed meal.