• Post category:News

The first suckler bred heifers were slaughtered recently at Slaney Foods International, Bunclody, Co. Wexford. The progeny were sired by 32 different AI sires across 7 different breeds. It consisted of sixty Jan/Feb/March 2016 born heifers.

The average carcass weight for the group was 346 kilos. The average daily gain for the group during their 90 day performance test period was 1.31 kilos per head per day. Average growth rate within the group ranged from 0.98 kilos to 1.86 kilos per head per day. The average kill-out for the group was 56%, with kill-out ranging from 51% to 61%. Overall the animals graded extremely well with 36 of the heifers being of U grade conformation, and the remaining 24 were R grade for conformation. 52 of the 60 heifers met the carcass fat specifications of 2+ or higher with the majority of heifers grading 3+ or more for fat. The average dry matter intake (DMI) per day for the group was 11.19 kilos, with heifers consuming from 7.19 to 14.4 kilos per head per day on a DMI basis. The heifers were fed hay and concentrates. Overall the heifers performed exceptionally well and were gaining 0.73 kilos of carcass for each day they were on test at Tully. The data demonstrates the large variation in performance between progeny in a heifers finishing system. It is important to note that all animals are purchased directly from farms which helps in minimising stress and allows the animals to acclimatise quicker to their new diet and environment.

[smartslider3 slider=3]

See above photos of some of the progeny slaughtered. All individual data on animals slaughtered recently can be found here under the G€N€ IR€LAND section of the ICBF website. You can access the G€N€ IR€LAND section by clicking on the “services” tab which is located at the top of the homepage.