USING THE SIRE AND DAM SUMMARY TABLES

Individual breeders are likely to have different objectives depending on their target market and the current merit of their herd. The first step in using the Sire Summary to select potential bulls of interest is to decide which traits are of importance. It may be that a number of traits are important, but the fewer the traits considered, the more progress will be made in each of them. On the other hand, if excessive selection is made for just one trait, without regard for others, penalties might arise. For example, selecting bulls with high EBVs for 400-day growth without taking account of the EBVs for calving ease may give rise to increased levels of calving difficulty.

When selecting a sire, due account must also be taken of other features such as fertility and locomotion, as well as shape, colour and inbreeding.

How to read the Sire and Dam Summary (see Figure 1)

1. Official registered name of bull and name of its sire and dam.
   
   
2. Name of bull's current owner.
   
   
3. Official ear identification.
   
   
4. Animal's date of birth (day/month/year).
   
   
5. Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) and accuracies (%) for all traits.

Download Page