Breeding Animals Flashcards
Why do we breed animals?
• Production
• Pet Trade
• Animal Shows
• Working Animals
• Companion Animals
• Endangered Species
• Conservation
What is selecting breeding stock?
• Breeding Females
• Stud Males
• Genotypes
• Phenotypes
What are breeding females?
Breeding Females are usually selected from a long bloodline of breeding animals. This is because it is better for breeders to continue to breed from successful stock.
These females are usually selected because of their success previously breeding with minimal complications and because of the number of offspring she produces.
Healthy, strong genes are desired trait in order to have healthy offspring and usually Breeding Females will be selected based on her bloodline do avoid inbreeding with the Stud Male.
Despite this in some cases due to selective breeding, they female and male may be related however this can result in the offspring having health complications.
What are stud males?
Studs are usually selected for similar reasons to the Breeding Females. This will be for their strong genes and breeding quality, again breeding from successful bloodlines.
Studs are usually treated much better than the Breeding Females as they only have one job to do.
As you should with ethical breeding, the Stud she also be selected to minimise the bloodlines clashing and resulting in inbreeding. However, in selective breeding this may not be the case.
Stud’s don’t always breed directly with the female as it can be acquired through human intervention
What is a genotype?
A genotype is the genetic makeup of an organism; it describes an organism’s complete set of genes. In a narrower sense, the term can be used to refer to the alleles, or variant forms of a gene, that are carried by an organism.
Using genotypes, we can make a prediction on certain genetic traits which coud be passed onto the offspring by using punnet squares
Why are phenotypes?
Phenotype refers to an individual’s observable traits, such as height, eye colour and blood type. A person’s phenotype is determined by both their genotype and environmental factors.
The phenotype is important for selective breeding as it means you can breed animals based on desired physical traits
