Maiden heifers should be weighing about 265kg today or 48% of mature liveweight (550kg).

Now is a good time to weigh the maiden heifers to see how they are performing. Most have been housed for six weeks or more.

Depending on silage quality, they could be well above or below target weight. You only want them to be on target; above or below is a bad thing.

If they are above target, you can afford to take them off meal. Heifers behind target will need to be removed from the rest and given special treatment.

The preferred option is to take them to an out-farm or silage fields and turn them out to grass. Put four or five per field and let them graze away.

You won’t notice what grass they will eat or what marks they will leave, but it will turn them inside out in time for mating. Alternatively, they will need good-quality silage and about 3kg of high-protein meal.

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Dairy management notes: slurry spreading