ANIMAL BREEDING- BREEDING AND VARIATION
Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that deals with the evaluation of the genetic value of livestock using different methods. Animals with superior breeding value in growth rate, egg, meat, milk, or wool production, and other desirable traits are selected.
Animal breeding is performed to domestic animals in order to improve desirable qualities and to better suit human needs.
Breeding Stock
- It is a group of animals used for the purpose of planned breeding. In order to gain certain valuable traits in purebred animals, or to use some type of crossbreeding to produce a new type of stock with different and super abilities breeding is performed.
- For example, when breeding cattle for milk, the “breeding stock should be sound, milch, having longer lactation period, higher productivity and reproductively efficient.
- Breeding animals is common in an agricultural setting, however, it is also a common practice for the purpose of selling animals meant as pets, such as cats, dogs, horses, and birds.
- Environmental factors must be considered and controlled in selecting breeding stock because it has greater effects on performance.
What is Population?
In animal breeding, a population is a group of interbreeding individuals, i.e., a breed or strain within a breed that is different in some aspects from other breeds or strains. Typically, certain animals within a breed are designated as purebred.
Breeding and Variation
- Selective breeding utilizes the natural variations in traits that exist among members of any population. There are two sources of variation namely, genetics and environment. So, breeding progress requires understanding these two.
- Continuous selective breeding leads to homozygosity in a population resulting a loss of variability.
- For some traits there is an interaction of genetics and the environment. Differences in the animals’ environment, such as amount of feed, care, and even the weather, may have an impact on their growth, reproduction, and productivity.
- Such variations in performance because of the environment are not transmitted to the next generation. For most traits measured in domestic animals, the environment has a larger impact on variation than do genetic differences.
- For example, only about 30 percent of the variation in milk production in dairy cattle can be attributed to genetic effects; the remainder of the variation is due to environmental effects. Thus, environmental factors must be considered and controlled in selecting breeding stock.
- Genetic variation is necessary in order to make progress in breeding successive generations.
Purebred Breeding
It refers to the Mating animals of the same breed for maintaining such breed. Opposite to the practice of mating animals of different breeds, purebred breeding aims to establish and maintain stable traits that animals will pass to the next generation. Such animals can be recorded with a breed registry, the organisation that maintains pedigrees and/or stud books.
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
What do you mean by Animal breeding?
Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that deals with the evaluation of the genetic value of livestock using different methods. Animals with superior breeding value and desirable traits are selected.
What is the objective of Animal Breeding?
Animal breeding is performed to domestic animals in order to improve desirable qualities and to better suit human needs.
What is selective breeding?
It is the process by which humans’ use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits by choosing animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together.
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SYSTEMS OF BREEDING- DIFFERENT METHODS