ousoonerfan22
Well-known member
Probably a dumb question but to come up with the birthweight do you combine the birthweights of the dam/sire then divide by two?
birthweight question?
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ousoonerfan22
Well-known member
Yes,forgot to type in epd.
So for heifers or 1100-1200 cows you would choose a bull with a 3 or less bw epd?
A friend bought a +3 bw angus bull and had to pull calves on his heifers and even some of the cows so he got rid of him and said he'll never buy another bull with a +3 again.
So for heifers or 1100-1200 cows you would choose a bull with a 3 or less bw epd?
A friend bought a +3 bw angus bull and had to pull calves on his heifers and even some of the cows so he got rid of him and said he'll never buy another bull with a +3 again.
ousoonerfan22
Well-known member
Would you want 6+ calving ease epd for heifers?
blacksnake
Well-known member
Don't forget that the cow/heifer contributes to the calving ease. There are some cows that will have difficulty calving even on a negative birth weight EPD or a high positive CED.
ousoonerfan22
Well-known member
I have a ba cow that I was going to have ai'ed but her bw epd is +4.1 and the ced is +0 so I would need to look at bulls with a negative bw epd?
Another ba cow I considered ai'ing has a +2.2 bw epd and +4 ced.
Another ba cow I considered ai'ing has a +2.2 bw epd and +4 ced.
Old_man_emu
Well-known member
I used a bull on heifers one year and he was great used him again on the same heifers as 1st calvers and the next group of heifers and he gave me problems. The 1st calvers had larger calves the second time around, fortunately they calved without assistance but the heifers had all kinds of trouble, particularly the slightly smaller individuals.
Looking back the biggest difference i could see, we had a better season the second time around meaning bigger calves.They weren't a great deal heavier but they seemed to be a little more open in the shoulders, which brings me to my next point.
A lot of people with more experience than I are telling me that calf shape is as important or more than birthweight i.e shoulders and hips etc. So i think the calves being a little larger making their shoulders a little bigger made them difficult to pass.
Looking back the biggest difference i could see, we had a better season the second time around meaning bigger calves.They weren't a great deal heavier but they seemed to be a little more open in the shoulders, which brings me to my next point.
A lot of people with more experience than I are telling me that calf shape is as important or more than birthweight i.e shoulders and hips etc. So i think the calves being a little larger making their shoulders a little bigger made them difficult to pass.
