StrongBoPolled Breeding Goals

Breeding Goals

The international beef industry must adapt to ever going challanges, strive to become more finacially effient, reduce their carbon hoofprint, simultaniously maintaining and protecting our enviroment, animal welfare and promoting biodiversity. We at StongBo Simmental wish to produce extremely effient, easy calving, easy fleshing polled simmental bulls and heifers to benefit all aspects of the industry and the environment. Efficency breeds profit. Our breeding goals are listed below in order of preference:

Homozygous Polled Simmentals	StrongBo Simmentals wish to produce quality purebred simmentals with no horns. Homozygous Polled (PP) – all off-spring are without horns This is preferred. Heterozygous Polled (P) – half the offspring (to horned cow) are horned
Docility	Simmental/Flechvieh cattle are generally a very docile breed when interacting with people on a working farm
Easy calving	Calving ease is esscential to reduce stress on calving dams, reduce possility of calf mortality, reduce stress and labour of farmers during calving season
Milk	Cows must have adequate milk to promote calf growth to full potential
High weight gain	Offspring must have high average daily gain (ADG) to drive overall effeicancy
High Eurostar-Index – Terminal & Replacement	All simmentals generally have good Replacement Indexes but the aim is to have high terminal index as well (strong calves)

Homozygous Polled (PP), Heterozygous Polled (P) and Horned Animal Crossing

Every animal displays a trait. Polledness (ie – no horns), is a trait and horned is the alternative trait. These visible traits are called Phenotypes ( which is is not really helpful at all).

Animals carry two genes, one given by each parent. Its a roll of the dice which gene you get from each Parent (- they both have two of each).

If you happen to end up with two of the same genes, its no biggie – there is only one possible outcome – you will definately have blue eyes or joined together eyebrows or whatever that same pair of genes are for.

If you happen to end up with two different types of genes. The DOMINANT gene always wins! Everytime. Yes the underdog gene has no hope. Its tough but thats it!

The Polled gene (ie no horns) is actually the dominant gene – “P”. This is called a genetype (which again is not really helpful). A gene will be on his or her own – only in an egg or a sperm prior to conception.

The gene for horned is “h” – RECESSIVE (the underdog – who never wins when saddled with the dominant Polled gene).

To demonstrate what happens when we cross a (PP) – Homozygous polled, (Ph) – Heterozygous Polled, and (hh) Horned Simmental – please see the StrongBo Polled/Horned Breeding Matrix below and the resulting outcomes: