Q&A for How to Read, Understand, and Use Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) in Cattle

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What does MGS stand for?

Karin

Top Answerer

MGS = Maternal Grandsire.

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Is 3.7 bw good for an Angus bull for calving ease?

Karin

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It's high, and it depends on what that bull's EPDs have been compared to. Usually when they get closer to 0 or in the negatives that's a better and smaller birthweight value to go by.

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If we send in only the top half calves weaning weight and their indexes compared to the wean group. But we do not send in the bottom half, will this make the individual sire's EPDs look different?

Karin

Top Answerer

Yes, it can skew the sire's EPDs in favor of the best-half calves, and not for all calves he's sired. That in itself doesn't make it fair for other producers who may be interested in using that bull's semen for their cows.

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Is there a simple way to understand this?

Community Answer

No. EPDs take a bit of reading and understanding to get.

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Where do I find the breed average for Angus?

Karin

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Your country's Angus associations should have those current numbers for you.

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How do you get an CED number for a yearling bull?

Community Answer

A CED number will need to be calculated from the bull's sire and dam to create an average estimate for that bull. Essentially, it's just a prediction. The calculations are a bit complex and involve a bell-curve and probability mathematics. The American Angus Association explains it in detail.

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What do the abbreviations API, TI, HB, PH and FS stand for?

Community Answer

API = All Purpose Index (proportion of females selected for replacement while remaining females not suited for breeding and steers are sold for feeding for meat). TI = Terminal Index (all offspring of bull goes to feedlot). HB = Herd Builder (bulls used for producing replacement heifers for a cowherd). PH = Pelvic Height. PW = Pelvic Width. FS = Frame Score.

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If you use a bull with birth weight EPD of -0.5 on a cow with EPD bw of -1.0, why does the calf end up with bw EPD of +3.8?

Karin

Top Answerer

If the bull is not proven, or he has some genetic potential to throw large birthweight calves, this could affect the EPD BW of the calf. The calf itself may have a higher EPD value if it needed assistance to be born. EPD values indicating a low birthweight bull do not guarantee that all his progeny will be born with also low BW or CE (calving ease) values. Just remember that the bull used was compared with another bull with the same genetic potential only has 0.5 lb lower birth-weights than that other genetically-similar bull.

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What does AOD on Charolais EPDs mean?

Karin

Top Answerer

AOD = Age of Dam.

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What does "bw 95" mean?

Karin

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Birth weight was 95 pounds.

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What does DS stand for?

Karin

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DS = Digital Subluxation. It's a genetic abnormality in Shorthorn cattle that breeders need to watch out for.

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What does BBC stand for?

Karin

Top Answerer

In EPDs, BCC is the name of the animal in question, like the Angus bull BCC Bushwacker 41-93, not an EPD abbreviation. BCC is usually the acronym for the name of the farm or ranch the bull or heifer came from. The description of the animal itself usually tells what farm the acronym refers to.

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Question

What number is good in each category?

Community Answer

The only "good" number is what is compared to the breed average. "Good" is subjective in this context because it depends on what number you would say is "good" for a terminal sire versus a maternal sire. For instance, high weaning weights on one bull (terminal) is not so good for another (maternal).

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