How to know your herd
We saw that the good and bad qualities of the sire and dam are
passed to their offspring.
In modern animal husbandry we look for breeding animals of good
quality. But we also look for animals whose parents and grandparents were of
good quality. The family qualities are passed on to the young. This is what we
mean by selection.
Modern farmers keep a herd book. Give a number to each animal in
the herd. This number is the animal's name. Mark the number on the animal's rump
or ears. Use a double page of the book for each animal. Write in the book
everything you need to know about your animals.
A modern stock farmer has a good knowledge of his herd. He makes
a good choice of breeding animals. He makes his capital productive (see Booklet
No. 8, page 8). He earns more money.
RECORD OF A FEMALE
|
No. of animal |
Year of birth |
Feed |
Production |
|
No. of sire |
No. of dam |
|
|
SERVICE
1st No. of sire
..............................................................................
Date of service
.......................................................................
No.
of offspring
.....................................................................
No. of
deaths before weaning .............................................
2nd No. of sire
.............................................................................
Date of service
.....................................................................
Vaccinations
Remarks
3rd
and disease 4th
5th
Two pages of a herd book recording a female.
RECORD OF A MALE
|
No. of animal |
Year of birth |
|
No. of sire |
No. of dam |
SERVICE
No. of
femaleDate
...............................................................................
2nd.............................................
3rd............................................
4th............................................
5th............................................
6th............................................
7th............................................
First of two pages of herd book in which each male is
recorded.
The second page is the same as for females (see preceding page).
PRACTICAL ADVICE
· Selection is very important
especially of the male.
In one year the sire will produce a lot of offspring.
· The best way to improve your
stock raising is selection of male breeding
animals.
