Calving Ease Direct, or CED, is the most effective tool when deciding which bulls to mate to first-calf heifers. Expressed as a probability percentage, CED aims to predict the percentage of unassisted births a bull will produce when mated to heifers.
What does calving ease mean?
Calving ease (DTRS) EBVs are estimates of genetic differences between animals in the ability of their 2-year-old daughters to calve without assistance. The EBVs are also reported as differences in the percentage of unassisted calvings.
What is considered a calving ease bull?
Calving Ease Direct (CED), is expressed as a difference in percentage of unassisted births, with a higher value indicating greater calving ease in first-calf heifers. It predicts the average difference in ease with which a sire’s calves will be born when he is bred to first-calf heifers. Example: Bull A has CED of 5.
How is calving ease measured?
Calving score is a threshold trait — it is measured by a numerical score from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating no assistance, 2 indicating some assistance, 3 indicating mechanical assistance, 4 indicating a cesarean section (C-section) and 5 indicating an abnormal delivery (which is excluded from calculations).
Which calving ease score is the most desirable?
Most farms will have far more births that receive scores of 1 or 2 than births that receive scores of 3, 4, or 5. If a heifer or cow calves normally without anyone noticing (or assisting), the birth should typically be scored as 1. If a Caesarean section is needed, the birth should be scored as 5.
What EPD number is good?
A ratio above 100 indicates greater than average performance. Nursing Ratio (NR) or Weaning Ratio (WR) is an indication of the animal’s performance at weaning compared to their contemporary group. Yearling Ratio (YR) is an indication of the animal’s performance at one year of age compared to their contemporary group.
What is a good EPD for a heifer bull?
If the bulls used on first-calf heifers have averaged a +6 for the CED EPD for several years and you have yet to pull a calf, then a +6 CED bull is a safe option.
What do EPD numbers mean?
Expected Progeny Difference
Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) , is the prediction of how future progeny of each animal are expected to perform relative to the progeny of other animals listed in the database. EPDs are expressed in units of measure for the trait, plus or minus.
What is a good calving ease number Angus?
Calving ease is scored on a scale from 1 to 5. A score of 1 represents an unassisted calving, 2 is some assistance, 3 is mechanical assistance, 4 is a C-section, and 5 is an abnormal presentation.
How do you read EPD cattle?
EPDs are measured in units of traits, such as pounds. For example, a bull with a +70 weaning weight (WW) EPD compared to a bull with a +60 WW EPD is expected to produce calves 10 pounds heavier if mated to the same group of cows and managed under the same conditions.
How do you read EPD gelbvieh?
EPDs are measured in the units of the trait, and show the differences in performance between animals. For example, if Bull A has a weaning weight EPD of 80, and Bull B in the same herd has a weaning weight EPD of 70, then bull A’s calves would be expected to be 10 pounds heavier at weaning than those of bull B.
What is an EPD in livestock?
Expected progeny differences (EPDs) have been applied to improve the genetics of beef cattle for almost four decades. Expected progeny differences are predictions of the genetic transmitting ability of a parent to its offspring and are used to make selection decisions for traits desired in the herd.
How do you calculate ease?
To calculate the amount of ease, you subtract the body measurements from the finished garment measurements. So, 40 minus 37 equals 3 inches of ease in the bust on a size 8.
What is the target 6 week calving rate?
90%
Farms with a 90% six-week calving rate expect half the herd to calve in 16 to 18 days. For a 100-cow herd, this is about three calvings per day; for 300 cows it’s an average of 10 births/day. The number of calvings can spike in any day. It won’t be spread evenly over the period, so you must be prepared for this too.
What is the average calving interval for a cow?
An expert in cow fertility says an average calving interval of less than 400 days is achievable in all dairy herds.
What is the ideal calving season?
Choosing a time of the year to calve is the first major decision. Early spring (February-March) is the most popular time of year to calve in the Foundation’s service area. February-born calves are typically older and heavier when weaned in October than calves born later in the spring.
Which cattle EPD is most important?
MATERNAL TRAITS
The two important maternal EPD traits I look at are 1) Maternal Calving Ease and 2) Milk.
What is a high milk EPD?
These results indicate that High Milk EPD bulls sire cows that produce more milk and wean heavier calves than cows sired by Low Milk EPD bulls, but may do so at the expense of body condition and reproductive efficiency. Dr.
How accurate is an EPD?
EPDs have been estimated to be over seven times more reliable than adjusted weight records, ratios, and visual appraisal. Even on young bulls with relatively low accuracy values, EPDs are our most objective indicator of the animal’s genetic merit.
What is a Type 3 EPD?
Product Specific Type III EPD (Third-Party Reviewed)
This is the most thorough type of EPD, which covers a single product from a manufacturer and is reviewed by a third-party entity. It also conforms to ISO 14025 and either EN 15804 or ISO 21930.
Can a bull be to big for heifers?
Bulls of any larger cattle breeds, including Brahmans and European beef breeds, throw heavy calves and may cause high levels of calving difficulty. They should not be mated with heifers of smaller breeds.