Our objective was to investigate whether reproductive efficiency of nulliparous heifers is predictive of their reproductive performance during the first lactation. Pubertal heifers (n = 2,796) were categorized based on their pregnancy success as: 1) highly fertile - pregnant at the first breeding (HF; n = 1,327); 2) moderately fertile - pregnant at the second or third breeding (MF; n = 899); or 3) subfertile - pregnant at fourth or later breeding (SF; n = 529). Pregnancy diagnosis was performed 45d after breeding. Heifers that failed to become pregnant were excluded (n = 41). Heifers diagnosed pregnant were followed up to 305DIM in their first lactation, and all reproductive events were recorded. Data were analyzed using the PROC GLIMMIX of SAS fitting the adequate data distribution. Statistical models included the effects of heifer category, season of birth, and their interaction. Age at first breeding was similar between groups and averaged 397 ± 0.7d. However, as a result of our experimental design, HF became pregnant earlier than MF, which became pregnant earlier than SF (397 vs 435 vs 508d, respectively; P < 0.01). During first lactation, however, heifer category was not associated with the proportion of cows inseminated (HF = 93 vs MF = 92 vs SF = 90%; P = 0.15), time to first insemination (HF = 79 vs MF = 78 vs SF = 78d; P = 0.12), time to pregnancy (HF = 120 vs MF = 118 vs SF = 115d; P < 0.01), pregnancy per breeding (HF = 37 vs MF = 36 vs SF = 39%; P = 0.57), pregnancy loss (HF = 13 vs MF = 19 vs SF = 15%; P = 0.22) and calving per breeding for the first breeding postpartum (HF = 32 vs MF = 29 vs SF = 33%; P = 0.30), and hazard ratio for pregnancy up to 305DIM (HF = 1.0 vs MF = 0.99 [0.90–1.09] vs SF = 0.92 [0.82–1.04]; P = 0.39). The only difference observed was the proportion of cows diagnosed pregnant by 305DIM, which was greater for HF compared with MF and SF (HF = 91 vs. MF = 92 vs. SF = 87%; P = 0.04). In conclusion, the association between reproductive efficiency of dairy heifers and their reproductive efficiency as first lactation cows was weak and not predictive, which supports the idea that factors affecting fertility in dairy cattle are mostly distinct between heifers and cows.