Do-ability, one of Rockley’s 7 elite breeding attributes, describes the body condition of an animal in the paddock, and raised on grass. While do-ability enables animals to do well in all types of tough weather conditions, it can also affect a cow’s ability to conceive while lactating.

Excellent do-ability – NCC Diplomat is one of our current sires

A daughter of NCC Diplomat, Rockley Miss Datababe 17/14 has inherited good do-ability and is dam of our lot 843 for RWBS 2017

#1 The first benefit of do-ability is an animal’s capacity to adapt and survive, if not thrive, with minimal or no assistance, in difficult weather conditions and challenging physical environments.

Rockley buyers have found good do-ability in our herd bulls.

One buyer required: ‘… bulls that could maintain condition in the extreme heat of North Queensland, tolerate ticks and survive on pasture that at times lacked nutrition and protein’.

The buyer was also looking for, ‘ … stock that could be easily and safely handled in all situations from the paddocks to the plate including feedlots and being trucked or shipped as live export.’

This buyer has bought our herd bulls more than once.

We know that the progeny of our herd bulls also have the do-ability to handle harsh landscapes comfortably and adapt well to extreme climates without losing significant condition. For the owner of a beef business owner, this reduces production costs associated with supplementary feeding. It also increases your market appeal as do-ability is a much-needed requirement for cattle that will eventually end up in the difficult conditions of Australia and Asian climates.

#2 A second benefit of do-ability is its correlation with a cow’s ability to conceive while lactating, which increases her productivity. The ability to conceive while lactating is directly correlated with good body condition at the time of calving. Do-ability contributes significantly to this, along with nutrition and mating management.

Customers who buy Rockley bulls can expect to buy animals that are selected for do-ability out in the paddock rather than after concentrated periods of grain feeding.  (Read more on Rockley bull nutrition.) This is important because bulls have the most influence on genetic gain in your breeding herd due to the number of calves they sire in a lifespan. This means that bulls with good do-ability can help improve conception results in your females and improve weights in your steers and cull females.

Breeding from bulls with poor do-ability can result in females that generally have a long intercalving interval, where they fail to breed early in the mating period while lactating. By the time these non-performers or late calvers are identified, profitability is already affected due to the costs involved in carrying that animal – grass, supplementation consumption and more.

At Rockley, we are strongly committed to breeding animals with do-ability because it’s clear to us that this heritable trait offers the possibility for genetic advancement that is related to profitability.

Please contact me (Ashley) to talk further about improving do-ability in your own herds on 0408 780 810.

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