Sample Sheep Questions
Answers are in parenthesis
Columbia Ewe Questions
1. Which ewe is the poorest in her hip structure and is cow-hocked? (2)
2. Which ewe is the levelest in her rump structure and the highest in her tail set?
(1)
3. Between 1 and 4, which ewe is more correct in her front leg structure? (1)
4. Which ewe is the narrowest chested and tightest in her rib? (3)
5. Between the two January born ewes, which is the largest framed and longest
bodied? (4)
6. Which ewe is genetically superior in her fleece weight? (3)
7. Which ewe had the poorest weaning weight EPD? (2)
8. Between 2 and 4, which ewe is more correct in her neck and shoulder
junction? (4)
9. Which ewe is the poorest in her post-weaning growth data? (3)
10. Which ewe has dark pigment on her nose? (4)
Dorset Ewe Questions
1. Who is the least structurally correct off of her back legs? (4)
2. Between 1 & 4, who has the most rib shape and volume? (1)
3. Between 1 and 2, who is the tightest at the point of her shoulder? (2)
4. Between 1 & 3, who had the highest 120 day and weaning weight FEPDs?
(3)
5. Between 3 & 4, who has the poorest Dorset breed character? (4)
6. Between 1 & 2, who was born as a twin and raised as a single? (2)
7. Which ewe is the most extended through her front end? (3)
8. Between 2 and 3, who is the squarest out of her dock? (2)
9. Between 2 & 4, who is the best balanced? (2)
10. Between 2 & 4, who’s offspring would be the lowest in milk production? (4)
Hampshire Ewe Questions
1. Who was the only ewe born as a twin and raised as a single? (2)
2. Who was the youngest and also highest in her growth traits? (4)
3. Who was the heaviest conditioned ewe in the class? (1)
4. Who was the shallowest ribbed ewe in the class? (2)
5. Who was the largest framed ewe in the class? (1)
6. Between 4 and 2, which is the heaviest muscled? (4)
7. Between 4 and 1, which is nicer balanced and more attractive? (4)
8. Between 3 and 2, which is the levelest designed? (3)
9. Which ewe is the longest sided? (1)
10. Which ewe is the shortest hipped? (2)
Sample Swine Questions
Answers are in parenthesis
Commercial Gilt Questions
1. Which is the mostly white gilt? (4)
2. Which is the straightest shouldered gilt? (3)
3. When comparing 3 and 4, which gilt has the most prominent and refined
underline? (4)
4. Which gilt has the weakest top, broken just behind the shoulder? (1)
5. When comparing 1 and 4, which gilt is the deepest bodied? (4)
6. Which gilt is the shortest strided and most restricted in her movement? (3)
7. When comparing 1 and 2, which is gilt is the bolder fronted, wider chested
gilt? (2)
8. Based on the performance data, 1 and 4 are littermates. (True)
9. When comparing 2 and 4, which gilt is the heaviest boned? (2)
10. When comparing 2 and 4, which gilt is the longer necked and more feminine
about her front end? (4)
Market Hog Questions
1. Which is the heaviest muscled, most expressive pig? (2)
2. Between 3 & 4, which is the fattest? (4)
3. Which pig is the tightest moving and most restricted in its movement up front?
(4)
4. Which is the gilt? (2)
5. When viewed from behind, which pig shows the least expression through its
ham? (1)
6. Between gilts 3 and 4, which is longer bodied and leveler through its rump ?
(3)
7. Which pig is the widest based and most open through the center of its
body? (2)
8. Which is the Hampshire patterned pig? (1)
9. Between 1 & 2, which pig will hang a carcass with a greater percent
lean? (2)
10. Between 2 & 4, which pig is shorter bodied and shorter fronted? (4)
Duroc Gilt Questions
1. Which was the darkest colored gilt? (2)
2. Which was the freest and easiest moving gilt? (3)
3. Which gilt appeared to be the fattest today? (4)
4. Between gilts 2 and 3, which was leveler in her top and hip design? (3)
5. Were there any littermates? (yes)
6. Between gilts 1 and 4, which was longer and cleaner fronted? (1)
7. Between gilts 2 and 3, which had more depth of body? (2)
8. Which gilt was the most prominent in her underline? (1)
9. Which was the shortest bodied gilt? (4)
10. Based upon the EPDs, which gilt would most likely produce boars that would
sire the slowest growing offspring? (1)
Sample Scenarios and Performance Data
Angus Bulls
Scenario
Rank these bulls in the order they should be selected as potential herd sires for
use on a purebred Angus operation in the upper Midwest. This operation prefers
to purchase bulls with indicators of early puberty. The top 20% of the female
progeny will be retained as replacement heifers. Primary income from this
operation comes from the sale of yearling bulls to commercial cattlemen who
retain ownership of their calves and sell market steers on a grid that pays
premiums for yield grade 2 and 3 cattle that grade choice or better. Feed and
labor resources are adequate.
___________*EPDs___________
No.
Birth Date
1
9-04-05
2
9-11-05
3
11-03-05
4
11-10-05
Breed average EPDs
Birth
Weight
+ 1.7
+ 1.7
+ 2.9
+ 2.6
+ 2.7
Weaning
Weight
+ 37
+ 37
+ 52
+ 49
+ 35
Yearling
Weight
+ 76
+ 76
+ 85
+ 77
+ 65
*EPD stands for “Expected Progeny Difference”
IMF stands for Intramuscular Fat
REA stands for Ribeye Area
Milk
+ 27
+ 27
+ 20
+ 23
+ 17
Scrotal
- .30
- .30
+ .41
+ .43
+ .23
%IMF
+ .40
+ .37
+ .45
+ .48
+ .01
REA
+ .35
+ .30
+ .44
+ .46
+ .13
Limousin Heifers
Scenario
Rank these heifers in the order they should be selected as potential
replacements for a purebred operation. Income is derived from the sale of
yearling bulls to commercial producers to be used primarily as terminal sires. A
few elite heifer calves are sold to 4-H and FFA members for exhibition at state
and national shows. This operation retains the top 35% of its heifer calves, so
even though growth and muscle are emphasized, maternal traits are still
important.
___________*EPDs__________
No.
Birth Date
1
4-01-05
2
4-09-05
3
4-09-05
4
5-20-05
Breed Average EPDs
Calving Ease
+6
+3
+1
+ 13
+ 6.68
Birth
- 1.3
+ 3.6
+ 3.2
- 1.1
+1.8
Weaning
Weight
+ 38
+ 37
+ 54
+ 33
+ 38
*EPD stands for “Expected Progeny Difference”
Yearling
Weight
+ 68
+ 71
+ 91
+ 73
+ 71
Milk
+ 20
+ 22
+ 26
+ 18
+ 20
Chiangus Heifers
Scenario
Rank these heifers in the order they should be selected as potential
replacements for a two breed (Chiangus x Hereford) rotational crossbreeding
system, located in the west. The top 20% of female progeny will be retained as
replacements. All steer progeny and non-replacement females will be marketed
at weaning as source and age verified cattle. Replacement heifers must be
structurally correct females that excel in volume and fleshing ability. Feed
resources are adequate, but labor at calving is limited.
___________*EPDs___________
No.
Birth Date
1
9-04-05
2
9-14-05
3
9-18-05
4
9-30-05
Breed average EPDs
Birth
Weight
+ 4.3
+ 1.0
+ 4.2
+ 2.2
+ 1.6
Weaning
Weight
+ 50
+ 49
+ 47
+ 54
+ 33
*EPD stands for “Expected Progeny Difference”
Yearling
Weight
+ 92
+ 100
+ 85
+ 98
+ 60
Milk
+ 13
+ 14
+ 10
+ 15
+ 11
Suffolk Ewe Lambs
Scenario
Rank these ewes in the order you would select them for a purebred Suffolk
operation in the Western part of the U.S. Primary income is from the sale of
range rams to cross on whitefaced ewes. This operation is known for sheep that
excel in multiple births, performance and muscling.
Expected Progeny Differences
% Lamb
60 Day
120 Day
Crop
Weight
Wt.
Ewe No.
Birth
Date
1
1-31-06
-5.4
-0.8
+2.0
QR
2
2-06-06
+4.6
+1.2
+2.0
RR
3
2-20-06
+6.5
+2.6
+2.8
RR
4
2-27-06
+10.2
+3.0
+5.9
RR
+2.0
+1.0
+1.9
--
Breed Average:
Codon
171
Corriedale Ewe Lambs
Scenario
Rank these ewe lambs as replacements for a registered Corriedale sheep
operation whose primary income is from the sale of rams and ewes to other
seedstock producers.
The owner of this flock desires to improve the
performance and Scrapie resistance of his sheep, while maintaining their fleece
quality.
Ewe No.
Birth
Date
1
2-08-06
Born/Raised
Adjusted
120 Day
Weight
Fleece
Spinning
Count*
Codon
171
S/S
120
50’s
QR
2
2-23-06
Tw/Tw
122
54’s
RR
3
2-26-06
Tw/S
116
54’s
RR
4
2-28-06
Tw/S
112
56’s
QQ
*Fleece Spinning Count – defines the wool fiber diameter. The range can be
from less than 36 to greater than 80. An 80 represents a very fine diameter,
whereas a 36 is coarse. All animals in this class fall within acceptable spinning
counts to meet breed standards.
Duroc Breeding Gilts
Scenario
Rank these gilts as you would select them as replacements for a purebred Duroc
operation that sells boars to commercial farrow to finish operations. All hogs not
retained as replacements or sold as boars are marketed on a lean-value basis.
All hogs are housed in confinement.
Gilt No.
Expected Progeny Differences
Number
21-day
Days to
Born
Litter
250
Alive
Weight
pounds
Back Fat
Maternal
Line
Index
Terminal
Sire
Index
1
+ 0.35
+ 2.61
- 2.5
- 0.06
109
118
2
- 0.02
+ 1.58
+ 0.3
- 0.07
102
104
3
+ 0.21
+ 2.82
- 1.2
- 0.06
111
114
4
Breed
Average
+ 0.07
+ 0.14
- 1.1
- 0.02
101
106
+ 0.03
+ 0.78
- 1.11
- 0.01
103.6
105.3
Commercial Gilts
Scenario
Rank these gilts as they should be selected for replacements in a commercial
operation that utilizes Yorkshire boars to produce crossbred show pigs for youth
exhibitors. All progeny not marketed as show pigs will be fed to market weight
and sold on a lean value basis. This swine herd is managed as a total
confinement operation.
Days to 250
21-d Litter
Gilt No.
lbs
Wt.
1
149
130
2
138
151
3
140
153
4
151
127
*SPI stands for sow productivity index
Number Born
Alive
8
10
10
7
Dam’s SPI
101
110
112
103