Assessing Breeding Potential
A ram’s appearance will be influenced by his breeding potential, age, health and management. Appearance alone can be a poor guide to breeding potential for growth and carcase traits and provides little information about maternal traits, such as prolificacy and milking ability.
In Signet recorded flocks, measures of “performance” such as prolificacy, lamb growth rate and muscling are collected on an annual basis. Differences in age, sex and flock management are taken into account, together with data from known relatives, to provide the best possible prediction of breeding potential (genetic merit).
These predictions are referred to as Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs). The seven main EBVs are shown below.
| Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) | Trait |
| Eight Week Weight (kg) | Early growth rates |
| Scan Weight (kg) (Weight of lamb at 5 months old) | Growth rate |
| Muscle Depth (mm) | Muscling across the loin |
| Fat Depth (mm) | Leanness |
| Litter Size (% lambs) | Female prolificacy |
| Maternal Ability (kg) | Milking ability |
| Mature Size (kg) | Ewe mature size |
EBVs provide the best guide to assess breeding potential.
