polk_farmer
Member
- Location
- South West (Gods Country)
I have often thought, when merrily putting in cull tags of lactating ewes with mastitis. But is there any reason why progeny of rams/ different bloodlines/ own breeding flock cannot be milk recorded to find out the SCC of the milk (also I'm sure the protein and butterfat levels would influence lamb growth rates too). It would be no more hassle than scanning for eye muscle and such.
And with figures about of 20% of the national flock being culled for mastitis, surely it would speed up progress? As with milking cows all in the same environment, hereditary high cell count cows are always the ones needing treatment. It does seem a tad silly that there is so much emphasis on muscle in ebvs, when in reality its only a few £ difference between a R grade and a E grade. Yet having a functional ewe with good locomotion and good udder ( plus prolificacy) is a lot more profitable if costing time and replacements. If you have ever looked through a dairy semen book a lot could be learnt.
And with figures about of 20% of the national flock being culled for mastitis, surely it would speed up progress? As with milking cows all in the same environment, hereditary high cell count cows are always the ones needing treatment. It does seem a tad silly that there is so much emphasis on muscle in ebvs, when in reality its only a few £ difference between a R grade and a E grade. Yet having a functional ewe with good locomotion and good udder ( plus prolificacy) is a lot more profitable if costing time and replacements. If you have ever looked through a dairy semen book a lot could be learnt.