Posted by Kathleen on March 02, 2004 at 22:35:17:
In Reply to: Re: Does this tell us something.....weather posted by Peter O'Brien on March 02, 2004 at 18:12:04:
HI Sylvia and Peter,
*laughing while I type*
I think I know which ones come under the 'commercial' catagory... I THINK~!
But Peter your suggestion just gave me a head ache!
Cattle production is always affected/effected (I can never remember which one is which I do not mean the one 'with airs and graces' *smile*) by the temperature... its a scientific fact!
BUT while I think your Idea is wonderfull _here is the reason for my headache_ you would need to make sure you have all three types of cattle and then you would need a control =????
And how would you know which type is which particularly when you get into the 'longlegs' _shorties are EASY ... do the test! But if you are going to use 'height' to determine which is which is the longlegs ... then the test will have to be done over 5+ years _ or else only use calves from cows (& bull) over that age so you can estimate the adult growth they will reach.
On a personal note have just done up my recient figures and have been trying to work out growth rates (I am interested in the beef side as well as the dairy = _dual purpose_ is why I went into Dexters) I have now 4 seasons worth of detailed calf data from the one sire... and I have found some interesting correlations. BUT I have no perfect measuring system and people could argue lots of things because of that _let alone that my cattle are all graded cattle _ so are they indicative of the 'Dexter breed'?
I can tell you the differences between my grade animals and ther original foundation of Jersey or Angus BUT how accurate is that when we consider that some 'Pedigree' bloodlines have a substantial amount of those breeds in them _ substantial enough so that the blood groups of modern Dexter are closer to Angus cattle than Kerry cattle!
So do we not only have 3 types of cattle in this test but do we do pedigree analysis to split them into 'pure' and 'not-so-pure'? Because to be fair I know which of the previous would rate the better in a commercial analysis!
I would love to hear your thoughts
Kathleen.