milk EPD

[A&Mfarms]

If you are going to keep heifers out of a bull how high do you want his MA to be? In our case we had a red Limi with +5. Now we have a Black Limi with +28. Thanks for the help.

 

[dun]

If only it was that simple. The forage base to support that 28 lbs, genetics to take advantage of that much milk all are part of the picture.

dun

 

[Aero]

If you are going to keep heifers out of a bull how high do you want his MA to be? In our case we had a red Limi with +5. Now we have a Black Limi with +28. Thanks for the help.

do you have any other cows that have worked well for you that you know the milk EPD of?

 

[cypressfarms]

If only it was that simple. The forage base to support that 28 lbs, genetics to take advantage of that much milk all are part of the picture.

dun

IMHO, I believe the genetic milking ability of many cows now has out-paced the feed efficiency - and forage based needed to get to that milking ability. I'd hate to see the beef breeds wind up with holstein bags to the detriment of other aspects.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

I'm no expert on the subject but heavy milking is one of the last things I look for. I think too many times we are chasing extreme epd's when we should just stick to basics and look more closely at bloodlines.
You gotta consider what it takes to feed a high milker too.

 

[Dap]

I always thought the milk EPD's were the least accurate things I've ever seen. I don't fool with many registered cows anymore, so maybe they've got it nailed down a little better in the last few years.

 

[lakading]

I always thought the milk EPD's were the least accurate things I've ever seen. I don't fool with many registered cows anymore, so maybe they've got it nailed down a little better in the last few years.

I'd put Birth Weight EPDs on that list as well.

 

[redfornow]

I always go for just right around breed average.
You can get to much of a good thing.
To low and the cow cant keep a goat alive, to much and they will not breed back.
Good luck at times it seems like a guessing game to me anyways.

MD

 

[MikeC]

The amount of Milk Epd's in a herd depends on the amount of "Available Feed" in each and every different situation.

If you've got an abundance of feed..............then you can deal with higher milk numbers.

Personally I had rather have a little higher numbers than I need and have to scrap for feed than to have too little and raise scrawny calves and have to creep them.

Just my opinion.

 

[A&Mfarms]

Thanks for the replies. I just asked b/c we had kept some heifers out of our previous bull and a couple that have come in don't seem to be milking well at all (small sac and calf is not growing well). I didn't know now how much the MA of the bull affected this. The cows we have are mostly limi cross not reg. so I don't know the other epd's. Should these heifers be culled or given another chance?

 

[dun]

Thanks for the replies. I just asked b/c we had kept some heifers out of our previous bull and a couple that have come in don't seem to be milking well at all (small sac and calf is not growing well). I didn't know now how much the MA of the bull affected this. The cows we have are mostly limi cross not reg. so I don't know the other epd's. Should these heifers be culled or given another chance?

Sometimes they'll do better the second time around, not very often, but occasioanlly they will.
I'ld ship them

dun