The Gene Ireland Progeny test centre at Tully, Co. Kildare recently slaughtered 81 steers at Slaney Foods International, Bunclody, Co. Wexford. The progeny were sired by 22 different sires across 7 different breeds.
The group consisted of 81 February, March, April 2017 born steers. The average carcass weight for the group was 344 kilos. They average daily gain for the group during their 82-day performance test period was 1.70 kilos per head per day. Average growth rate within the group ranged from 1.1 kilos to 2.2 kilos per head per day. The average kill-out for the group was 55%, with kill-out ranging from 50% to 60%. Overall the animals graded extremely well, 30 of the steers being of U grade conformation and 49 grading in the R grade class and 2 O-grades. 100% of the 81 steers met the carcass fat specifications of 2+ or higher.
The average dry matter intake (DMI) per day for the group was 12.17 kilos, with steers consuming from 8.93 to 15.15 kilos per head per day on a DMI basis. The steers were fed hay and concentrates over their 82-day finishing period. Overall the steers performed exceptionally well for their age and were gaining .94 kilos of carcass for each day they were on test at Tully. The data demonstrates the large variation in performance between progeny in a steer finishing system.
See below photos of some of the progeny slaughtered.
All individual data on animals slaughtered recently can be found 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.
Key points
| Age of Steers | 17 – 20 months old |
| Number of Steers | 81 |
| Number of Breeds | 7 |
| Number of Sires | 22 |
| Average DMI | 12.17 |
| Highest ADG | 2.2 |
| Avg. Carcase weight | 344 |
| No. of steers met carcass fat spec | 100% |
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