
2021 Candidate List
Below is the details of the candidates we are presenting for selection to buyers that are on our ram buying list for 2021. We provide photos, EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values) and raw data to assist with the selection process.
Photos
EBV Data
Below is a table of EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values) for the candidates. EBVs remove any environmental differences (year, dam age, birth type, rear type etc.) which allow for much better comparisons of animals. EBVs also takes the animals own performance, that of its sibling and related animals into account (including sire, dam and other predecessors).
EBVs are expressed as a value relative to a baseline value, so the EBV indicates how much higher or lower the genetic potential is relative to this baseline.
Weight related EBVs are expressed in kilograms (1 kilogram = 2.2 Pounds). A higher number is heavier:
BWT - Birth Weight
WWT - Weaning Weight (60 day weight)
PWWT - Post Weaning Weight (120 day weight)
MWWT - Maternal Weaning Weight (Milk production or other contribution from the dam other than growth genetics)
Parasite resistance EBVs are expressed in % above or below the baseline that the fecal egg count is expected to be. A lower (more negative) value is better and indicates more parasite resistance:
WFEC - Weaning Fecal Egg Count (First exposure to parasites)
PFEC - Post Weaning Fecal Egg Count (Subsequent exposure to parasites)
NSIP also has a percentile report that helps put EBVs in context. The % columns below indicate where the animals ranks for the specific EBV:
%WWT - Ranking for Weaning Weight
%PWWT - Ranking for Post Weaning Weight
%WFEC - Ranking for Weaning Fecal Egg Count
%PFEC - Ranking for Post Weaning Fecal Egg Count
%MWWT - Ranking for Maternal Weaning Weight
Phenotype Data
The table below shows some of the raw data.
When reviewing the raw data you need take environmental factors into consideration such as:
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Birth weight and growth varies by year and farm based on available nutrition and management system
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Birth weight and growth is impacted by birth type and rear type
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Birth weight and growth is impacted by dam age, adult ewes (3 years and older) have more milk than 2 year old ewes and 2 year old ewes have more milk than 1 year old ewes
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Number of lambs born is impacted by the ewes age, at 1 year old a ewe tends to have fewer lambs than at 2 years old and at 2 years old a ewe tends to have fewer lambs than as an adult (3 years and older)
Columns
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Id - Id of the ram
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Born - Year that the ram was born in
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Status - Indicates if the ram is available
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Age - Age of the ram on 9/14/2021 in days
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BT - Birth Type
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RT - Rear Type
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Dam Age - Age of dam at lambing in years
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Dam Lambing - Lambing history of the data (or lambing history of the grand dam in the case of 1 year old ewes), "x" is shown if no lambing data is available for the ewe at 1 year old (there was a time when we did not breed ewe lambs)
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Sire - Sire of the ram
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BWT - Weight at birth in Lbs.
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WT60 - Weight at 60 days (adjusted to 60 days) in Lbs.
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WT120 - Weight at 120 days (adjusted to 120 days) in Lbs.
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WT170 - Weight at 170 days (adjusted to 170 days) in Lbs.
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WFEC - Percentage that weaning fecal egg count was below average (smaller is better)
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PFEC - Percentage that post weaning fecal egg count was below average (smaller is better)