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Growth Charts for Dairy Heifers

Comparing to a breed standard can indicate if heifer growth is progressing normally.

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Updated:

December 8, 2022

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Example of growth chart for Holsteins

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Introduction

Heifer growth is often compared to breed standards to determine 'normal' progress. We designed breed-specific, printable Growth Charts that may be used to plot heifer growth by hand. The charts are based on the results of measuring a large number of heifers of various breeds throughout the United States during 1991 and 1992. Most of the data was collected from herds in which the average age at first calving was slightly greater than 24 months. As a result, the heifers probably were smaller for any given age than those found on today's well-managed dairy farms that calve heifers at 22 to 24 months of age.

The Holstein heifer growth charts indicate several percentiles of the U.S. population, allowing a producer to compare an individual heifer to all others and to set growth goals. Keeping a majority of heifers near the 75th percentile and the entire herd between the median and the 95th percentile is an achievable goal.

For all other breeds, the recommended growth ranges shown are between the average and the top 67th percentile of the population. To achieve early calving (24 months or less) and high production potential, individual heifers should fall near the top of or slightly above the range shown.

Holstein Growth Chart

Holstein Heifer Growth

U.S. Holsteins Weight by Month of Age

U.S. Holsteins Withers Height by Month of Age

Table 1. Body weight [BW] (pounds) and withers height [WH] (inches) of U.S. Holstein heifers as measured in the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (1991-92). For each age, percentile data¹ are presented to show the range of performance observed. Recommended ranges are between the 75th and 95th percentiles.

Age (months)	BW 5^th	BW 25^th	BW 50^th	BW 75^th	BW 95^th	WH 5^th	WH 25^th	WH 50^th	WH 75^th	WH 95^th
1	82	102	119	136	143	29	30	31	33	33
2	113	149	161	189	238	30	32	33	34	37
3	149	182	211	234	284	31	34	35	36	38
4	189	234	258	284	339	33	35	36	38	40
5	218	275	311	339	411	34	37	38	39	42
6	266	320	369	422	480	36	38	40	41	44
7	301	369	422	468	542	37	40	41	43	45
8	330	422	468	530	603	38	41	43	44	47
9	379	468	530	596	705	39	42	43	45	47
10	422	517	575	653	776	41	43	45	46	49
11	445	556	638	712	776	42	44	46	47	49
12	504	596	682	760	843	43	45	47	48	51
13	504	660	728	809	913	43	46	47	49	51
14	542	697	776	878	1026	44	47	48	50	52
15	582	744	843	931	1067	43	47	49	51	53
16	653	826	913	988	1096	46	48	50	51	53
17	682	860	931	1026	1191	46	49	50	52	54
18	744	895	969	1066	1191	47	49	51	52	54
19	776	913	1007	1086	1279	48	50	51	52	54
20	776	950	1066	1170	1302	47	50	51	53	57
21	792	988	1086	1191	1372	48	50	52	54	56
22	843	1026	1148	1235	1420	49	51	52	54	57
23	809	1066	1148	1279	1420	49	51	53	54	57
24	776	1026	1170	1301	1545	48	52	53	55	57

Average age at first calving 25.9 ± 0.1.
¹Percentiles describe the percentage of observations that fall below that level; for example, 25% of the heifers at a given age weighed less than the value listed under the 25th column. The 50th percentile is the median; half of the observations fall below this value and half fall above it.

Table 2. Recommended range of hip height and width for Holstein heifers.

Age (months)	Hip Height (inches)	Hip Height (inches)	Hip Width (inches)	Hip Width (inches)
2	36.0	39.5	7.0	8.0
4	39.0	42.0	9.0	10.0
6	42.0	44.5	11.0	12.0
8	44.0	47.0	12.5	13.5
10	46.0	49.0	13.5	15.0
12	48.0	51.0	15.25	16.5
14	49.5	52.5	16.5	17.5
16	51.0	53.5	17.5	18.5
18	52.0	54.5	18.5	19.5
20	53.0	55.5	19.25	20.25
22	53.0	55.5	20.0	20.75

Data compiled from U.S. and Pennsylvania Holsteins.
Range represents the average and 1 standard deviation above the average.

Jersey Growth Chart

Jersey Heifer Growth

Table 1. Recommended range of body weight and withers height for Jersey heifers.

Age (months)	Body Weight (pounds)	Body Weight (pounds)	Withers Height (inches)	Withers Height (inches)
1	93	108	29	32
2	122	146	30	33
3	155	177	32	34
4	183	217	34	36
5	233	278	35	38
6	259	321	36	39
7	303	362	38	40
8	335	412	39	41
9	373	436	40	42
10	391	483	40	42
11	428	499	41	43
12	471	548	42	44
13	500	571	43	45
14	535	602	44	45
15	565	640	44	46
16	583	661	45	46
17	609	696	45	47
18	639	753	45	47
19	651	769	46	47
20	698	813	46	48
21	719	827	47	48
22	758	860	47	49
23	760	878	48	49
24	790	893	48	50

Data from the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (1991-92). Heifers in this survey had an average age at first calving of 24.9 ± 1.8 months.
Recommended ranges represent the 50th to 67th percentile. Percentiles describe the percentage of observations that fall below that level.

Brown Swiss Growth Chart

Brown Swiss Heifer Growth

Table 1. Recommended range of body weight and withers height for Brown Swiss heifers.

Age	Body Weight (pounds)	Body Weight (pounds)	Withers Height (inches)	Withers Height (inches)
1	134	163	32	34
2	187	223	34	36
3	240	283	36	38
4	293	343	37	40
5	345	403	39	42
6	396	462	40	44
7	447	521	42	45
8	498	580	43	46
9	548	637	44	48
10	597	694	45	49
11	645	750	46	50
12	693	805	47	51
13	739	859	48	52
14	785	912	49	52
15	829	963	49	53
16	872	1013	50	54
17	914	1061	50	54
18	955	1107	51	55
19	994	1152	51	55
20	1032	1194	52	56
21	1068	1235	52	56
22	1103	1273	52	56
23	1136	1309	53	57
24	1167	1343	53	57
25	1197	1374	53	57

from the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (1991-92). Heifers in this survey had an average age at first calving of 27.0 ± 1.7 months.
Recommended ranges represent the 50th to 67th percentile. Percentiles describe the percentage of observations that fall below that level.

Guernsey Growth Chart

Guernsey Heifer Growth

Table 1. Recommended range of body weight and withers height for Guernsey heifers.

Age (months)	Body Weight (pounds)	Body Weight (pounds)	Withers Height (inches)	Withers Height (inches)
1	122	143	31	33
2	166	193	33	35
3	203	233	35	37
4	255	299	37	38
5	299	354	38	41
6	366	434	40	42
7	384	448	41	43
8	433	503	42	44
9	482	568	43	47
10	511	588	44	46
11	574	662	45	47
12	576	674	46	48
13	643	756	46	48
14	696	803	47	49
15	740	866	48	50
16	779	899	49	51
17	830	950	50	52
18	864	1001	50	52
19	900	1015	51	52
20	914	1046	51	53
21	967	1112	51	53
22	996	1123	52	54
23	1025	1177	52	54
24	1026	1178	52	55

Data from the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (1991-92). Heifers in this survey had an average age at first calving of 26.2 ± 2.0 months.
Recommended ranges represent the 50th to 67th percentile. Percentiles describe the percentage of observations that fall below that level.

Ayrshire Growth Chart

Ayrshire Heifer Growth

Table 1. Recommended range of body weight and withers height for Ayrshire heifers.

Age (months)	Body Weight (pounds)	Body Weight (pounds)	Withers Height (inches)	Withers Height (inches)
1	131	154	31	32
2	177	205	32	34
3	223	256	34	36
4	269	307	36	38
5	315	357	37	39
6	360	407	39	41
7	405	457	40	42
8	450	506	41	43
9	494	554	42	44
10	538	602	43	45
11	581	650	44	46
12	624	697	45	47
13	666	743	46	48
14	707	789	46	48
15	748	834	47	49
16	787	878	48	49
17	826	922	48	50
18	864	965	48	50
19	901	1007	49	50
20	937	1049	49	51
21	972	1089	49	51
22	1006	1129	50	52
23	1039	1168	50	52
24	1070	1206	50	52
25	1101	1244	51	53

Data from the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (1991-92). Heifers in this survey had an average age at first calving of 27.6 ± 1.8 months.
Recommended ranges represent the 50th to 67th percentile. Percentiles describe the percentage of observations that fall below that level.

Milking Shorthorn Growth Chart

Milking Shorthorn Heifer Growth

Table 1. Recommended range of body weight and withers height for Milking Shorthorn heifers.

Age (months)	Body Weight (pounds)	Body Weight (pounds)	Withers Height (inches)	Withers Height (inches)
1	128	160	31	32
2	175	210	33	34
3	223	262	34	36
4	272	315	36	38
5	320	370	37	39
6	369	425	37	41
7	418	482	40	42
8	467	539	41	43
9	515	596	42	44
10	564	653	43	45
11	611	709	44	46
12	658	765	45	47
13	705	820	46	47
14	750	874	46	48
15	794	926	47	49
16	838	977	47	49
17	880	1025	48	50
18	920	1071	48	50
19	959	1115	49	50
20	997	1155	49	51
21	1033	1192	49	51
22	1066	1226	50	51
23	1098	1256	50	52
24	1128	1281	50	52
25	1155	1303	51	52

Data from the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (1991-92). Heifers in this survey had an average age at first calving of 26.5 ± 1.6 months.
Recommended ranges represent the 50th to 67th percentile. Percentiles describe the percentage of observations that fall below that level.

Agenda

Authors

Coleen M. Jones

Former Research Associate, Dairy

Pennsylvania State University

Jud Heinrichs

Professor Emeritus of Dairy Nutrition