Thereare many types of breeding systems that are used today. There is pure breeding,inbreeding/linebreeding, outcrossing, and cross-breeding. There are alsospecific ways to classify animals based on age and sexual maturity. The namesare different depending on what type of animal it is. Breeding systems are importantbecause they go against negative traits and select the good ones. Pure- breeding means to breed a male and a female of thesame breed.
The purpose of pure breeding is to provide the superiorgenetics. Inbreeding is when a male anda female who are closely related produce an offspring. Outbreeding is when amale and a female who are not closely genetically related produce an offspring.Inbreeding is also referred to as linebreeding, inbreeding normally results in areduction in animal performance. Inbreeding has many bad effects such as poorreproductive efficiency, high death rates, and low growth rates. Outcrossing is when two animals of the same breed matebut are not related to each other. This type of breeding is the most used incommercial and seed stock producers. A higher level of heterozygosity is producedwith outcrossing.
Crossbreeding is used to get the strong points of differentbreeds, it’s easy to use and maintain. Crossbreeding improves meat, wool, andmilk production. Animals are given specific names based on their sexualcondition.
These names can be different for different animals. Cattle arecalled bovine. A mature male is a bull and a mature female is a cow.
A youngmale is a bull and a young female is a heifer. An altered male is a steer andan altered female is referred to as spayed. A newborn is a calf and a group isa herd. Ovine is sheep.
A mature male is a ram and a maturefemale is a ewe. A young male is a ramlamb and a young female is a ewe lamb. An altered male is a wether and analtered female is spayed. A newborn is a lamb and a group is a flock. A hog is known as a porcine. A mature male is a boar and a mature femaleis a sow. A young male is a shoat and a young female is a gilt.
An altered maleis a barrow and an altered female is spayed. A newborn is called a pig and agroup is a drove. A chicken is a galine. A mature male is a rooster and amature female is a hen. A young male is a cockerel and a young female is apullet. An altered male is a capon and a newborn is a hick.
A group of chickensis a flock. These are only some of the many animals classified. Theclassification helps us understand what they are and are not capable of. Thedifferent breeding systems are also very important to try and get the most outof the traits. They also help avoid negative traits and take advantage of thegood traits.
