On October 16, the doors of the performance test of beef cattle breed bulls were opened once again in the Animal Breeders´ Association of Estonia (ETKÜ) in Rapla County test barn in Keava! This season, as many as 63 young bulls from the 27 member companies of the Estonian Beef Breeders Association are coming together to measure themselves and prove their qualities in the same environment, under conditions of scientific feeding and expert husbandry.
We are slowly getting to know these stars better and the first 2 weeks of adaptation in the performance test of young Estonian beef cattle in Keava have passed unnoticed, and we have to admit that our eyes have not yet seen such a pace of increase in live weight during the adaptation period. 🙂 We can only conclude from this that our beef cattle breeders have made very good choices in the selection of young bulls targeted for the performance test, both in terms of growth potential and character. In addition, the previous homework, i.e. the weaning process, has also been well done, so that the animal is as free as possible from at least one possible stress factor when it arrives in a new environment.
Yesterday, 01.11, half of the experimental group moved to another farm, where their feed consumption will be monitored and recorded by a special system from the Canadian company Vytelle, which is used today in many leading cattle-breeding countries. This system has been in use in Estonia since this year.
After about 2 months, it is clear which young bulls from this group have the most efficient use of feed and thus the smallest environmental footprint.🍀
You can get acquainted with the data of the bulls participating in the performance test, which are updated on an ongoing basis, from the link below, as well as on the website of the Animal Breeders´ Association of Estonia (ETKÜ) https://etky.ee/en/beef/performance-testing/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_FteNAJRb7XAirzYhKaaEOy-YNY_Qu_mYs_l15u9ZrM/edit#gid=0
