Bull EPD's? I got a few questions

[tripleS]

Alright here are my two bulls. I'm not real good with comparing epd's yet, and even worse when they are from two different breeds. They are both new bulls, which one would you put with your hiefers.

Angus Actual Birth wieght 70lbs
CED BW WW YW YH SC CEM Milk
+8 +0 +46 I +80 I +0 I +.15 +10 +23
.22 .35 .26 .15 .05 .05 .08 .09


Balancer (50%Angus 50%Gelbvieh) Actual Birth Wieght 72lbs
CE BW WW YW MK TM GL CED
105 -1.0 41 77 21 42 -.9 104
I I+ I I I I I

I don't understand how to compare CED when you have two different breeds and obviously two different ways of scoring it? I also don't know what the 'I' means on the balancer's ACC. level? He came from a very reputable breeder JBOB Farms and don't know why he wouldn't have any acc. at all since he comes from popular bloodlines. Anything ya'll can do to give me a better understanding would be appreciated.

 

[Frankie]

Alright here are my two bulls. I'm not real good with comparing epd's yet, and even worse when they are from two different breeds. They are both new bulls, which one would you put with your hiefers.

Angus Actual Birth wieght 70lbs
CED BW WW YW YH SC CEM Milk
+8 +0 +46 I +80 I +0 I +.15 +10 +23
.22 .35 .26 .15 .05 .05 .08 .09


Balancer (50%Angus 50%Gelbvieh) Actual Birth Wieght 72lbs
CE BW WW YW MK TM GL CED
105 -1.0 41 77 21 42 -.9 104
I I+ I I I I I

I don't understand how to compare CED when you have two different breeds and obviously two different ways of scoring it? I also don't know what the 'I' means on the balancer's ACC. level? He came from a very reputable breeder JBOB Farms and don't know why he wouldn't have any acc. at all since he comes from popular bloodlines. Anything ya'll can do to give me a better understanding would be appreciated.

My first suggestion is to call JBOB Farms and ask them this question. If they've been selling Balancer bulls to cow/calf producers, they should have some feed back on calving satisfaction. And any reputable breeder would be glad to take time to discuss a bull's EPDs.

You can't compre EPDs across breeds. (Though MARC has created a set of "across breed EPDs", but they only refer to registered animals within a breed, not a crossbred like the Balancer.)

Some Angus will have an "I" before the EPD. It stands for "Interim", meaning that there's not enough information on the Angus database for "real" EPDs to be computed at the time his papers were printed. Usually after the next NCE, the "I" will go away.

It will take years of data collection to get reliable EPDs on crossbred animals. Yes, both parents may have EPDs, but how the bull inherits genetic traits from the parents is always the question, plus you're throwing heterosis into the mix.

Look into the Angus bull's pedigree and if there aren't any animals with BW EPDs of more than 3 in his family tree, I'd say use him.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

Alright here are my two bulls. I'm not real good with comparing epd's yet, and even worse when they are from two different breeds. They are both new bulls, which one would you put with your hiefers.

Angus Actual Birth wieght 70lbs
CED BW WW YW YH SC CEM Milk
+8 +0 +46 I +80 I +0 I +.15 +10 +23
.22 .35 .26 .15 .05 .05 .08 .09


Balancer (50%Angus 50%Gelbvieh) Actual Birth Wieght 72lbs
CE BW WW YW MK TM GL CED
105 -1.0 41 77 21 42 -.9 104
I I+ I I I I I

I don't understand how to compare CED when you have two different breeds and obviously two different ways of scoring it? I also don't know what the 'I' means on the balancer's ACC. level? He came from a very reputable breeder JBOB Farms and don't know why he wouldn't have any acc. at all since he comes from popular bloodlines. Anything ya'll can do to give me a better understanding would be appreciated.

My first suggestion is to call JBOB Farms and ask them this question. If they've been selling Balancer bulls to cow/calf producers, they should have some feed back on calving satisfaction. And any reputable breeder would be glad to take time to discuss a bull's EPDs.

You can't compre EPDs across breeds. (Though MARC has created a set of "across breed EPDs", but they only refer to registered animals within a breed, not a crossbred like the Balancer.)

Some Angus will have an "I" before the EPD. It stands for "Interim", meaning that there's not enough information on the Angus database for "real" EPDs to be computed at the time his papers were printed. Usually after the next NCE, the "I" will go away.

It will take years of data collection to get reliable EPDs on crossbred animals. Yes, both parents may have EPDs, but how the bull inherits genetic traits from the parents is always the question, plus you're throwing heterosis into the mix.

Look into the Angus bull's pedigree and if there aren't any animals with BW EPDs of more than 3 in his family tree, I'd say use him.

Good answers to all questions! DOC HARRS

 

[G.Marc Renwick]

As usual , sound advice from Frankie. The Angus bull shows a BW of 0 which would make him an obvious choice over a bull that might provide some heterosis . Like Frankie said , check his pedigree top and bottom for BW EPD #'s.