Page 10 - Turihaua 2021 Bull Catalogue

FERTILITY AND MATING POTENTIAL

The fertility test consists of a physical examination and a serving capacity test,
carried out by Eastland Veterinary Services. With this test we can identify poorly
fertile and structurally unsound bulls. From the fertility test flows information
on the bulls structure and such fertility data as serving capacity and scrotal
circumference. This information is available to you in an easily readable table
throughout the catalogue.
An example table:

FERTILITY
Serving Capacity Scrotum
VH 40cm

SERVING CAPACITY:
This will range from (M) medium to (VH) very high.
Medium Servers: 30 - 40 cows
High Servers: 40 - 55 cows
Very High Servers: 55 - 70 cows
This is a guide only and every care should be taken to ensure bulls are given
every opportunity to reach this potential.
SCROTUM:
This is the actual measurement taken between 400 and 600 days of age.

GROUP BREEDPLAN EBVs
Breeders using the new BREEDPLAN system of performance recording use an
Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) to rank animals on different traits.
An EBV is based on the animals own performance plus the performance of all known
relatives, as well as adjusting for many environmental factors which also contribute
to an animal’s actual growth rate.
EBVs are shown as + or - kg liveweight. This means that an animal is ranked in
comparison to the breed average.
ACCURACIES:
As a general rule animals can be compared on EBV’s regardless of accuracies;
however, where two animals have similar EBV’s the one with the higher accuracy
could be the better choice. Animals with higher accuracies will tend to breed more
predictably to their genetic potential.
HOW TO USE EBVs:
The first step is to decide what characters are important in your breeding
programme, then select the EBV’s which fits that production system best.

8