Breeding and selection

Understanding the Basics of Breeding and Selection

  • Learn about the importance of breeding and selection in livestock production for improving livestock products, enhancing farm profitability, and promoting animal welfare.
  • Recognise that selective breeding involves choosing specific animals to parent the next generation, based on desirable traits such as health, size, productivity, or temperament.
  • Remember that inbreeding, or breeding between close relatives, can lead to an increase in genetic disorders, while outbreeding, or breeding between unrelated or distantly related animals, can lead to increased genetic diversity and potentially more favourable traits (heterosis).
  • Be aware that cross-breeding, which is a form of outbreeding, can promote hybrid vigour, yielding animals that are healthier and have higher production rates.

Key Processes in Breeding and Selection

  • Remember that for breeding and selection to be successful, accurate records of animals’ parentage, performance, and health should be kept.
  • Consider how sex determination, or controlling the sex of offspring, can be of economic importance in livestock production.
  • Learn about artificial insemination (AI) as a modern technology used in livestock breeding which allows fast genetic improvement and disease control.
  • Understand how genomics, or the study of all of an animal’s genes, is helping to revolutionise livestock breeding by enabling more precise selection.

Ethical Considerations in Breeding and Selection

  • Familiarise yourself with the potential ethical and welfare issues associated with selective breeding in livestock production, such as animals suffering from health problems due to excessive focus on certain traits.
  • Understand that good livestock breeders ensure their practices respect animal welfare, striking a balance between the economic rationale for breeding and the physical and mental wellbeing of the animals.
  • Appreciate that transparency and positive engagement with the public about breeding practices can foster trust and support for the agricultural industry.