RFI Tested Hereford Bulls

[Brandonm22]

WOW....I don't believe it, but I hope it can be proven correct. We have been working on this a long time. But the numbers are almost not possible. I would like to know more....and I would breed some cows to that bull.

Heck IF the 1.8:1 is REAL and IF that kind of ridiculously strong conversion passed to his progeny by the time we got through AIing him and selling his sons 2/3s of the nation's cow herd would trace through him. By my math, it would only take 1200 lbs of feed too finish a 600 lb steer (adjusting it by ~9% for the Dry matter conversion) compared to ~4200 lbs now. I hope too God it is real, chicken would be relegated to some sort of expensive ethnic food if the nation's cow herd could ever perform that well.

 

[Chris H]

First off, whether the 1.8 feed conversion is entirely accurate or not, he still would most likely be an excellent converter of feed. I do have some questions, though.
First, was the weigh-in taken before the warm-up period, or before the actual 68 day test, or both times?
Second, did you have a long haul to get him to the test facility?
What I'm getting at is, what if he was shrunk due to hauling and stress of mixing with others? Would it be impossible to lose 75 lbs due to dehydration, then regain that weight as well as continue to gain due to growing? That could skew the numbers enough to put his feed conversion closer to what seems believable, although still excellent.

BTW, his combination of bloodlines would be useful in our breeding program, especially on some heifers we have out of one of our herdsires. PM me on the possiblity of buying semen.

 

[MikeC]

Heritability:

Feed Conversion = .36
Feed Efficiency = .42
Feed Intake = .41

Koch, 1994

 

[smnherf]

First off, whether the 1.8 feed conversion is entirely accurate or not, he still would most likely be an excellent converter of feed. I do have some questions, though.
First, was the weigh-in taken before the warm-up period, or before the actual 68 day test, or both times?
Second, did you have a long haul to get him to the test facility?
What I'm getting at is, what if he was shrunk due to hauling and stress of mixing with others? Would it be impossible to lose 75 lbs due to dehydration, then regain that weight as well as continue to gain due to growing? That could skew the numbers enough to put his feed conversion closer to what seems believable, although still excellent.

BTW, his combination of bloodlines would be useful in our breeding program, especially on some heifers we have out of one of our herdsires. PM me on the possiblity of buying semen.

Yes, the bulls did have a long haul. My bulls traveld almost 800 miles fro my place to Columbia MO, but the other bulls traveled on the same truck between 570 to 700 miles. The bulls were allowed a 4 day R & R before the test started. The starting weight was calculated by weighing the bulls on day 1 and then again on day two. With the starting weight being the average of the two days. Also, the final weight was the average of the weights taken the last 2 days on test. This should have provided a leveleing effect of any dehydration or shrinkage effects of the trip. His initial 2 weights were within 3 lbs and his final weight was within 9 lbs from one day to the other. Nothing abnormal at all there. In addition, the ADG for his first 36 days was 3.63 but the last 32 days was 4.59. The average on the test was 3.19 the first 36 days whereas the last 32 days the entire group was gaining 3.8. He was gaining much faster at the end than the rest of the bulls. I would expect it to be the opposite if fill, shrinkage or the haul affected his initial weight.

I still haven't found a hole in the data yet that makes me question it.

Brian

 

[Chris H]

Thanks Brian, that answer filled the only hole in the data that I could think of. I like that they used an average of two days weights for beginning and end. With those weights so close, that rules out tanking up on water just before weighout.

One more question, any idea on frame size of this boy?

 

[KNERSIE]

4 days adaption isn't nearly enough time.

 

[smnherf]

Thanks Brian, that answer filled the only hole in the data that I could think of. I like that they used an average of two days weights for beginning and end. With those weights so close, that rules out tanking up on water just before weighout.

One more question, any idea on frame size of this boy?

He is right at a frame 5. He certaily isn't the big outlined bull in the pen, but if you put him on a scale he outweighs most in the pen. He is very long for a small framed bull.

Keep in mind, this test wasn't set up for doing rate of gain tests, It was set up to do determine how efficiencly these animals converted feed to beef.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

4 days adaption isn't nearly enough time.

Regardless, all the bulls were treated the same. No matter how you slice it, this bull converted much better than his contemporaries. I believe he is for real. There is certainly a lot to like about him even if his conversion wasn't so spectacular.

 

[KNERSIE]

4 days adaption isn't nearly enough time.

Regardless, all the bulls were treated the same. No matter how you slice it, this bull converted much better than his contemporaries. I believe he is for real. There is certainly a lot to like about him even if his conversion wasn't so spectacular.

I like the bull, he may very well be a top converter, I just still question the accuracy of the test. When something is too good to be true....