OSU Report Shows Penning Heifers Delays Development

Research at Oregon State University has shown that heifers who are penned develop at a slower rate than those who are out in pasture.

Former OSU Professor, now with Texas A&M Reinaldo Cooke said it seems to come from heifers who start on pasture and then come to a feedlot.

“They are comfortable in areas where they have the opportunity to move around as they want. When you restrict that, animals are away from their comfort zone and they become stressed. Basically what happened was those heifers on the confined treatment, they experienced chronic stress throughout the experiment which we believe prevented them from reaching puberty at the right age.”

Research was done with 60 heifers in three 450-square foot dry-lot pens and three 60-acre pastures with 10 calves in each.

Cooke acknowledges that there is a lot more work that needs to be done to narrow down what could be the exact cause, but his advice, particularly if you bring heifers into the pen for the late fall, winter and early spring.

“Provide as much space as possible. If you have two or three pens, spread those heifers into all pens making sure they have as much space as possible to feel comfortable and exercise and do what they got to do to make sure they’re developing the way they’re supposed to be developing.”

The research also showed that the pasture heifers had lower cortisol concentrations and were better behaved.

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