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<blockquote data-quote="regolith" data-source="post: 634165" data-attributes="member: 9267"><p>Everyone is different...</p><p></p><p>I cross off the bulls I don't want to touch first - lethal recessive genes, high calving difficulty, large stature, poor temperament, poor udder scores, low fertility.</p><p>That gets rid of most of them.</p><p></p><p>From what's left, I'll look at protein first (it's the highest value component of our milk payment) then udders, capacity, farmer opinion (which includes temperament), fertility, low scc and high dairy type. High longevity score is a bonus, but I think by selecting for udders/fertility/low SCC the longevity should follow automatically.</p><p>I use about six bulls across the breeds (crossbreeding Holstein-Friesian and Jersey) and try to not have more than one bull in the team with any one weak area such as tipped-up rump angle or poor udder teamed with high production, lower capacity &c - so there's always a choice of bulls to 'correct' a cow with that fault.</p><p></p><p>We have very different system of reporting traits than the US - which is awkward when buying imported semen and can't interpret the proofs! I don't entirely trust the accuracy of the reported traits, but it's the best information I've got for choosing bulls.</p><p>I'm still new to this - the first heifers from bulls I selected will calve next spring (July).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="regolith, post: 634165, member: 9267"] Everyone is different... I cross off the bulls I don't want to touch first - lethal recessive genes, high calving difficulty, large stature, poor temperament, poor udder scores, low fertility. That gets rid of most of them. From what's left, I'll look at protein first (it's the highest value component of our milk payment) then udders, capacity, farmer opinion (which includes temperament), fertility, low scc and high dairy type. High longevity score is a bonus, but I think by selecting for udders/fertility/low SCC the longevity should follow automatically. I use about six bulls across the breeds (crossbreeding Holstein-Friesian and Jersey) and try to not have more than one bull in the team with any one weak area such as tipped-up rump angle or poor udder teamed with high production, lower capacity &c - so there's always a choice of bulls to 'correct' a cow with that fault. We have very different system of reporting traits than the US - which is awkward when buying imported semen and can't interpret the proofs! I don't entirely trust the accuracy of the reported traits, but it's the best information I've got for choosing bulls. I'm still new to this - the first heifers from bulls I selected will calve next spring (July). [/QUOTE]
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