Summer Feed Efficiency Test – 2024 Forms
4 2024 Animal Health Certification
The Maritime Beef Test Society is offering the following 2024 Summer Evaluations to be hosted in Nappan, Nova Scotia:
- Ram Evaluation: 2 Groups: (1) born Mar.-Apr. 2024, (2) born Jan.-Feb. 2024
- Ewe Evaluation: born Mar.-Apr. 2024
- Heifer Evaluation: born Dec. 2022-Mar. 2023
These Tests are designed to provide Canadian purebred and commercial producers with the necessary tools to evaluate the genetic potential of their performance-tested animal(s) as breeding stock, while offering important information used to evaluate their own herd/flock’s genetic improvement program. The information generated can improve the marketability of livestock and provide valuable information used as selection tools to increase productivity and profitability.
Traits to be evaluated during the 50-day spanning test period would include:
- Residual Feed Intake (RFI) – Feed intake and feed efficiency can vary over 20% in a flock/herd posing as a significant cost in production systems. Daily feed intake will be recorded to measure how efficiently each animal converts feed to product (e.g. kg gain). Feed efficiency will be calculated using a method (Residual Feed Intake) that assures that performance (daily weight gain and carcass merit) is not impacted, ensuring that breeders can select for animals that are both productive and efficient
- Average Daily Gain
- Carcass Ultrasound
- On-test Weight, 50-day weight, Adjusted 50-day weight and weight per day of age
- Breeding soundness (for rams in Group 2: born Jan.-Feb. 2024)