While sixty percent of what you see in a calf is dependent on the environment we are also in the genetics business and like most Angus breeders work hard to ensure we get the forty percent genetics right to facilitate an easy calving.  To this end we diligently weigh calves and have strict performance standards to ensure calves grow on so that the heifer portions are big enough to calve out themselves.

Birth Weight EBV’s are a great tool, but on younger bulls (yearlings and two year olds) in particular they can be low on accuracy.  So we have combined four other factors that we feel are also important and give the buyer more information and confidence in selecting a bull for use over heifers.

To qualify as a Ben Nevis Heifer Bull the animal must satisfy the following 5 Star Checklist

• Be born unassisted out of a heifer (or cow with a low birth weight history)
• Weight below the contemporary group average for actual birth weight
• Have a birth weight (BW) EBV of 4.5 or lower
• Have the correct shape for calving ease
• Have met our growth criteria at weaning

For more information on calving ease, please call Stuart Halliday on 0417 674 412.