SIRE SURVEY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21194, 17 August 1940, Page 19 (Supplement)

SIRE SURVEY

INFORMATION ON STRAIN IDENTIFICATION OF CALVES At the annual meeting of the Auckland Herd Improvement Association last week, the manager, Mr S. J. Sheaf, drew the attention of members to the free sire survey scheme provided by the association. He stressed that even although members themselves might not be interested in the survey pf a particular bull, the association was desirous of checking up on as many herd sires as possible, irrespective of whether they were good, bad, or indifferent, or whether they were still in use in. the herds or not. The position was that it was possible, through the surveying of a large number of bulls, to build up information on the strains of dairy cattle breeding relatively true for high production, and to select as many as possible of herd sires from such strains. All members were urged, therefore, to co-operate fully with the association in connection with the surveying of herd sires. Tattooing: of Heifer Calves

“The total number of ‘S’ calves registered or identified was 7905 compared with 6228 ‘R’ calves for the previous year,” said Mr Sheaf. “II is disappointing to find that even las. season only 40 per cei?t of our members availed themselves of the free service provided by the association for the permanent identification of heifer calves. I wish to again stress, therefore, the advantages of having calves permanently identified by means of tattooing. It is desirable that members should take advantage of this scheme even although only one of the parents of the stock is known, as a result of two or more bulls running with the herd.”