Regarding a recipient dam's influence, her influence on weaning weight and yearling weight is without question. Judging how much influence you should "allow for" when a recipient dam is a particularly good or particularly bad mother would require a good working knowledge of the cattle involved, how they were managed in relation to each other, and the application of common sense. This is where "trust" of the breeder comes into play, as they and/or their herdsmen are probably the best ones to make that judgment. I see posts all the time in catalogues where the breeder says an ET calf is behind the others because his recipient dam didn't milk very well, etc.
However, in terms of actual BW, if the recipients are managed the same as the rest of the herd, I'm not at all sure the recipients will have that much influence on the calves actual BW, especially when being compared to other recipient dams of same breed and type. Certainly if a recipient is particularly easy fleshing or hard doing, in comparison to the others, they could have some effect. Or perhaps if they were another breed or completely different body type from the rest, that might make a difference. But again, this is where the knowledge of the cattle involved comes into play – and the application of common sense.
If I was serious in buying a bull like 994, I would sure be asking the breeder all those questions regarding his recipient dam – as well as seeking his own opinion why his BW was 10% higher than his 2 ET full brothers and higher than the rest of his ET peers. 32 of the 80 bulls selling in Cooper's sale were ET calves. I don't know what Cooper uses for recips, but IF the recipient cows were all of the same breed and general type, and managed the same, I'd say you'd have a pretty good basis for comparing the actual BW of their calves within the peer group.
George
