GENE IRELAND Maternal Bull Breeder Participant Dermot O’Brien with one of his best pedigree Parthenaise cows called ‘Artique’.She has a Replacement index of €103 (23% reliable) and a Terminal index of €162 (20% reliable).
Backround of the herd: The first Parthenasie cow was bought in Spring 2006. She was called ‘Pyralene’ and was the dam of the 2010 Beef Expo champion ‘Keelties Ella’. 3/4 sisters of the well known AI Sires ‘Vulain’ & ‘Vendeen’ were also purchased and added to the herd since then.
Maternal Breeding: The herd has very well balanced €urostar figures with herd averages for the replacement index of €137 (23% reliable), and a herd average for the Terminal Index of €148 (22% reliable).
Top Maternal Cows: One of the highest indexed cows in the herd is ‘Keelties Dahlia’. Sired by ‘Orient’ and out of a ‘Oignon’ cow. She has a ‘Replacement Index’ value of €228 (5 stars/30% reliable), placing her in the top 1% of the breed. She has an average calving interval of 357 days.
Key traits of interest: Key traits of interest for the herd are Calving Ease, milk & fertility.
Recent Sires used: Richelieu, Joker, Dakar, Atomic & Stock Bull – Dere Noel
Breeder’s comment: “Having a herd of cattle that are quiet, easily maintained, fertile and in a word ‘simple’ to work with is what I focus on. My pedigree cattle don’t get any special treatment here – any females that turn out not to have enough milk and can’t rear their calf well enough are culled.”
