Double W Rustic brings ‘Ricky Power’ to red and white

With the new red-and-white InSire bull Double W Rustic and his black-and-white half-brother Double W Hurdler RC, the breeding strength of the Ricky family is now also available to the red Holstein line.

“Their dam, Ricky 123 (by Endless), is clearly more refined and dairy-typed than other Rickies,” says Booij. “She combines high protein content with high milk yield. ”Ricky 123 finished her first lactation with 16,664 kg milk, 4.29% fat, and 3.80% protein in 369 days (lactation value 125). Even before drying off, she produced between 41 and 49 kg milk per test day, with a somatic cell count between 14 and 38. She scored 86 points overall, with 87 for udder and 87 for legs, receiving the highest marks for leg use and rear leg placement.

Her influence is clearly seen in Rustic’s breeding values, which show a different pattern from that of his distant uncle Ranger. Rustic transmits +1,900 kg milk, +131 kg fat and protein, +467 Inet, and 112 persistency. His type traits are typical of Ricky: 109 udder, 111 legs, and 112 total.

His daughters will develop into stylish cows with a lot of strenght and spring of ribs. Shallow udders that are strong and high attached. Rustic daughters move powerfully on parallel-set rear legs with a slight curve from the side.

At the Ottens dairy farm, half of the 190-cow herd descends from the Ricky family. Willem Booij still uses Rustic himself: “We want strong, functional cows that visit the milking robot easily, have low cell counts, and produce well. A bull like Rustic fits that goal perfectly.”