CALF MARKING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 23 December 1927, Page 7

CALF MARKING

PROGENY OF HIGH=TEST COWS.

SAVING CALVES FOR USE. GROUP HERD TESTING ASSOCIATION’S SCHEME. Gaff marking and registering is one of tlie side issues of the herd testing movement that in itself can become, and indeed is becoming, of almost equal importance to the main objective, that of finding the individual produe,..oll of members of a herd.

Once the production of individuals is found by systematic testing over two, three, or more seasons it would seem that the benefit to be derived from the •.vities of tiie Testing Association was exhausted, Not so, for all group associations lia've as their aim >a 3001 b butter-fat, or more, average, and to merelv maintain an average i« not ■nough, it must be increased. The increase or even the maintenance, of the average can only be brought .about by the addition to the herd of high producing heifers, and it is to supply these heifers that the system of calf marking has been inaugurated- A common argument against testing is the Question “How can I replace, my culls? I may get a. worse cow in replacement? This is certainly true to some extent under present conditions, hut when we have the majority of our dairymen marking the good heifer caffs ‘•bat might otherwise be slaughtered, then we can point to a quarter from which replacement of quality at a reasonable price may be obtained.

Unfortunately for the dairying lndus-t-y as a whole we have many individuals and sometimes also localities that have a superabundance of heifer calves that should develop into high producing cows. Because of that superabundance it is the experience of testing associations to find many good heifer calves annually slaughtered. Cai.tmarking should prevent this _ and givethe superabundance to the. individual or locality with all under supply—to the financial benefit of both. CO-OPERATION REQUIRED. Co-operation is necessary. On the one hand we havrr the individual strugn ,ng under adverse conditions to mciease production trom a herd that requires the addition of more heifers than the herd itself can supply—heifers or a sort perhaps., but not ones with the backing that will tend to higher prouction'. Binding these two cases, we find the testing association’s calfmarking .scheme. The one gets much, better than skin or works price and the. other a heifer calif that should be more than worth its cost together with a good rearing, for when all is sand and done rearing counts for as much, if not more, than butter;fat backing. '' hey never reared a champion. Inaugurated some five seasons ago in the Waikato by the N.Z. Co-op. Herd Testing Association, the system has now been taken up and brought as near to perfection as possible .by the Dominion Group Herd Testing _Ee deration The method of supplying particulars as to calf’s pedigree and records is as perfect as can be made., the declaration giving these particulars must be sworn by the farmer before! a. jp or other authority- Only heifer calves from dams that. have, been previously tested by a federated association will be eligible for registration. The dams must be credited m the records of that association as having produced in one lactation period the following amount of butter-fat, or over, u -cording- to the age at commencement of test. viz., as a two-year-old, ioOlo tac-. as a tliree-year-old. 2751 b fat; as a fonr-year-old 2751b5, or older animal ‘tOOlb fat. The above standards must be reached in 305 day® or less. By qualifying once the heifer calves from any animal will be eligible for registration, subject to. any rules which may be in force in regard to association membership. No •atf will be eligible for registration unless the sire is a. registered pedigree. vet no stipulation is being made as to the butter-fat hacking of the , S ire, but it* is hoped to undertake this*, restriction in tile near future. No notice of breed is taken whatever, so long as the sire is a registered pedigree and the dam has produced the required amount of butter-fat. All "uture heifer calves' out of the. same dam under similar conditions will also he. eligible for registration. THE REGISTERED M4RK. The marking of the calves, is done Dy means of a tattoo in the rignt ear. inis is a perfect mark and wilt stand, even in a black-eared calf, hirst comes the registered mark of the federation —T in a .shield next the letter indicating the .season of birth. C denoting 1927-28, and finally the individual number of the heifer. These latter numbers are consecutive throughout the Dominion, and the whole system is carefuly administered and confined to only those associations who are members of the Dominion Federation: this so that the system may always be kept clean-and free from confusion. A calf register is kept by all associations, together with all particulars, so that any future date full particulars can be supplied. A certificate of i-egistration. is issued to the calf at time of marking. In the Waikato this last season well over 2000 calves will have been marked. The prices realised by thesejnarkcd calves are naturally greatly *m excess of ordinary prices. A marked calf sale is held annually, and at the sale in January last the highest price- realised was £9 5s per head for a lot of six calves that were ju.st ordinary grades The highest record of their dams was 3931 b fat and the lowest 2521 b fat. Without a doubt the marking of calves is' going to mean the saving annually of thousands- of good calves which would othenvi.se have been slaughtered, and these, calves in our herds must increase the average yield. The usual prices realised for ordinary marked calves, dams, say, 3001 b fat, range from 30s to 50s within a week of birth. Some owners, of course, prefer to rear the calves themselves and sell at a later date.

The Dominion Federation, which has undertaken the administration, is composed of all the large testing associations in the Dominion, with one exception. Enquiries made among the members of the South Taranaki Association show that a verv keen interest is being manifested in this movement, and already many calves have been promised for next season. In North Taranaki, the Taranaki Association marked calves this season, and will continue to do so in future in larger quantities now that the importance of the movement is being appreciated. It- will he noted that only members of the Dominion Testing Federation are empowered to mark and register calves. Being a newly-formed association. the South Taranaki is not as yet federated, but steps will be taken so that it will he able to mark any of next season’s l batch.