wbvs58":ac3xrdhv said:gcreekrch":ac3xrdhv said:wbvs58":ac3xrdhv said:My aim is to use 3 or 4 AI bulls with the attributes I am after and if their calves are shaping up OK I will aim to use that bull for 3 years and then move on. I see your point, you are not after over the top performance more reliability in the traits you are after.
Ken
Why not breed them all to one sire and then take those daughters to another single sire. Makes for far more consistancy. I think it's mostly the purebred breeders seeking the "over the top" sires, hoping they can reproduce for bigger dollars.
If that single sire doesn't produce what I am after I have all my eggs in the one basket. Might be worth considering just doing one round of AI and then using a home grown bull to blend my cow families along with a bit of in breeding. Might be something I have overlooked with aiming to get 100% AI bred, would make life a lot simpler.
The reason I have tried to get 100 % AI bred come to think of it was that calves born to unproven homebred sires did not get numbers against them for many traits until they were measured and recorded and even then there would be gaps in their figures in sale catalogues. With changes in calculating EBV's and the use of genomics those gaps are now all filled in. My reasoning might be a bit shallow however when selling in a multivendor sale you are competing against the next breeder for the available money so physical appearance and the appearance of the catalogue do count. I now sell in partnerships with another local breeder who has very similar views to me and we work together very well and don't compete.
Ken
I guess that is why you would really do intensive research before breeding. If you have 25 cows or less, I see no reason to breed them to multiple sires. Bigger herds, yes.
Eggs in several baskets can fall and break too.
Interesting the response considering the title of the thread........