Animal breeding

This article is about breeding of animals by humans. For breeding of animals in the wild, see Breeding in the wild. For other uses, see Animal breeding (disambiguation).

Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation (using best linear unbiased prediction and other methods) of the genetic value (estimated breeding value, EBV) of livestock. Selecting for breeding animals with superior EBV in growth rate, egg, meat, milk, or wool production, or with other desirable traits has revolutionized livestock production throughout the entire world. The scientific theory of animal breeding incorporates population genetics, quantitative genetics, statistics, and recently molecular genetics and is based on the pioneering work of Sewall Wright, Jay Lush, and Charles Henderson.

## Breeding stock[edit]

Breeding stock is a group of animals used for the purpose of planned breeding. When individuals are looking to breed animals, they look for certain valuable traits in purebred animals, or may intend to use some type of crossbreeding to produce a new type of stock with different, and presumably super abilities in a given area of endeavor. For example, when breeding swine for meat, the "breeding stock should be sound, fast growing, muscular, lean, and reproductively efficient."[1] The "subjective selection of breeding stock" in horses has led to many horse breeds with particular performance traits.[2] While breeding animals is common in an agricultural setting, it is also a common practice for the purpose of selling animals meant as pets, such as cats, dogs, horses, and birds, as well as less common animals, such as reptiles or some primates.

## Purebred breeding[edit]

See also: Purebred

Mating animals of the same breed for maintaining such breed is referred to as purebred breeding. 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. By "breeding the best to the best", employing a certain degree of inbreeding, considerable culling, and selection for "superior" qualities, one could develop a bloodline or "breed" superior in certain respects to the original base stock.

Such animals can be recorded with a breed registry, the organisation that maintains pedigrees and/or stud books. The observable phenomenon of hybrid vigor stands in contrast to the notion of breed purity.

For laboratory purposes, organisms such as mice have been inbred to 100% pure lines, as offered for sale by the Jackson laboratory. But this is highly unusual and difficult to do for most organisms, in whose populations all individuals harbor recessive, deleterious gene variants (alleles).

## Backyard breeding[edit]

Main article: Backyard breeder

In the United States, a backyard breeder is someone who breeds animals, often without registration and with a focus on profit. In some cases, the animals are inbred narrowly for looks, with little regard to health.[3] The term is considered derogatory. If a backyard dog breeder has a significant number of breeding animals, they become associated with puppy mills. Most puppy mills are licensed with the USDA.[4]

## See also[edit]

* Animal husbandry

### Plant and animal breeding[edit]

* Artificial insemination of livestock and pets
* Artificial selection
* Agricultural science
* Backyard breeder
* Genomics of domestication
* Plant breeding
* Progeny testing
* Selective breeding

### People[edit]

* Robert Bakewell
* Arthur B. Chapman
* James Hutton
* Thomas Lecky

### Other topics[edit]

* BLUPF90 and ASReml: software packages for animal breeding statistics
* Veterinary medicine
* Veterinary surgeon
* Veterinarian

## Further reading[edit]

The seven biggest breeders[5][6]

* Lush, JL (1937), Animal Breeding Plans, Ames, Iowa: Iowa State Press
* Kempthorne, O (1957), Introduction to Statistic Genetics, John Wiley & Sons
* Van Vleck; L. D.; Searle; S. R. (1979), Variance components and animal breeding: proceedings of a conference in honor of C.R. Henderson, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
* Henderson, CR (1984), Applications of linear models in animal breeding, Guelph, Ont: University of Guelph, ISBN 0-88955-030-1
* Hammond K. Gianola, D. (1990), Advances in Statistical Methods for Genetic Improvement of Livestock (Advanced Series in Agricultural Sciences), Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K, ISBN 3-540-50809-0
* Massey, JW; Vogt, DW (1993), Heritability and Its Use in Animal Breeding, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri
* Mrode, R. A. (1996), Linear models for the prediction of animal breeding values, Oxon: CAB International, ISBN 0-85198-996-9
* Cameron, N. D. (1997), Selection indices and prediction of genetic merit in animal breeding, Oxon: CAB International, ISBN 0-85199-169-6
* Dalton, C; Willis, MB (1998), Dalton's Introduction to Practical Animal Breeding, Oxford: Blackwell Science, ISBN 0-632-04947-2
* Bourdon, RM (2000), Understanding animal breeding, Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-096449-2
* Newman, S; Rothschild, MF (2002), Intellectual Property Rights in Animal Breeding and Genetics, Wallingford, Oxon, UK: CABI Pub, ISBN 0-85199-641-8
* FAO. (2007). The Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources and the Interlaken Declaration. Rome.
* FAO. (2010). Breeding strategies for sustainable management of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines. No. 3. Rome.
* FAO. (2015). The Second Report on the State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome.

## References[edit]

1. ^ Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (n.d.). "Selection of Swine Breeding Stock" (PDF). pp. 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-09-01.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
2. ^ James Warren Evans (1992). Horse breeding and management. Elsevier Health Science. ISBN 978-0-444-88282-0.
3. ^ The Obama family dog saga. LA Times.
4. ^ Rescue groups paint a sad story of Iowa's puppy mills. The Messenger.
5. ^ Meat Atlas 2014 – Facts and figures about the animals we eat, page 24, download Meat Atlas
6. ^ ETC Group, Putting the Cartel before the Horse ... and Farm, Seeds, Soil, Peasants, etc. , page 17, chapter: Livestock Genetic, September 2013

## External links[edit]

* Domestic Animal Diversity Information System
* Guidelines For Uniform Swine Improvement Programs, National Swine Improvement Federation, 2003, archived from the original on 2008-10-21
* Implementing the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources
* bataille de la somme

### Academic centers[edit]

* Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, Netherlands, 23 March 2022
* Animal Breeding and Genetics Group, University of Georgia, USA
* Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, University of Guelph, Canada
* Animal Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University, USA
* Animal Breeding & Genetics, Iowa State University, USA
* Breeding and Genetics Program, Colorado State University, USA, archived from the original on 2008-10-12
* Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, University of New England, Australia
* European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics (EGS-ABG), AgroParisTech, France ; Wageningen University, Netherlands ; Aarhus University, Denmark ; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

### Journals[edit]

* "Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics", Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics (1986), ISSN 0931-2668, archived from the original on 2008-12-12, retrieved 2008-09-06

### Organizations[edit]

* Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Australia
* Roslin Institute, Scotland
* Animal Breeding, Genetics & Genomics, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USA, archived from the original on 2008-09-20
* Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, USA, archived from the original on 2008-10-12, retrieved 2008-09-06
* Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, Australia, archived from the original on 2008-07-19
* INRA, Institut National de la Recherché Agronomique, France
* INIA, Instituto Nacional Investigación Agraria, Spain, archived from the original on 2013-08-12

* v
* t
* e

Breeds and cultivars

* Lists of breeds
* Lists of cultivars

Methods|

* Backcrossing
* Crossbreed
* Inbreeding
* Marker-assisted selection
* Mutation breeding
* Outcrossing
* Preservation breeding
* Selective breeding
* Smart breeding (Marker-assisted selection)
* Hybrid
* Purebred

Animal breeds|

* Cat
* Cattle
* Chicken
* Dog
* breeding
* Donkey
* Duck
* Goat
* Goose
* Guinea pig
* Horse
* breeding
* Pig
* Pigeon
* breeding
* Rabbit
* Sheep
* Turkey
* Water buffalo

* Backyard breeder
* Breed standard
* Breeding back
* Breeding pair
* Breeding program
* Captive breeding
* Designer crossbreed

Plant cultivars|

* Apple
* Japanese
* Banana
* Basil
* Callistemon
* Canna
* Cannabis
* Capsicum
* Cherimoya
* Citrus
* hybrids
* Coffee
* Cucumber
* Gazania
* Grape
* Grevillea
* Hop
* Mango
* Narcissus (daffodils)
* Nemesia
* Nepenthes
* Olives
* Onion
* Pear
* Rice
* Rose
* breeders
* cultivars
* Strawberry
* Sweet potato
* Sweetcorn
* Tomato
* Venus flytrap
* Heirloom plant
* Plant breeding in Nepal
* Tree breeding

Selection methods
and genetics|

* Culling
* Marker-assisted selection
* Natural selection
* balancing
* directional
* disruptive
* negative
* selective sweep
* stabilizing
* Selection methods in plant breeding
* Genotype
* Phenotype
* Dominance
* Codominance
* Epistasis
* Dwarfing
* Heterosis
* Outbreeding depression
* Inbreeding depression
* Recessive trait
* Sex linkage
* F1 hybrid

Other|

* Breed registry
* Breeder
* Germline
* Landrace
* Rare breed

Authority control

National|

* Germany
* Israel
* United States
* Czech Republic
* 2

Other|

* Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
* NARA
* 2

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