Driftless SW Wisconsin | Angus8335 - 3/26/2026 08:34
You don’t pelvic measure? Our vet uses a birthdate and the pelvic measurement to determine if they get to stay or go to the feed yard. Sure makes life a lot easier on the animal and the owner if there’s enough room for that baby calf to come out…. Dennis
No, I don't pelvic measure. These heifers come from several generations of high calving ease (CED) bulls.
Two primary epds I look for in a bull are calving ease and marbling. If you take a high CED bull, save heifers from him, then put another high CED bull on the heifer (and cows) and repeat this through several generations, there is really no reason to pelvic measure. I do also pay attention to growth epds but calving ease is more important. Dead calves don't grow real fast. I also don't want to run an obstetrics ward at calving time.
A high CED epd bull will usually also have a good calving ease maternal epd. His daughters will usually also be high CED.
Marbling is similar. After several generations of high marbling epd bulls on their heifers, you develop a herd that can marble fairly well on mostly grass. On good grass.
Edited by Jim 3/26/2026 09:51
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Worked the yearling heifers today