I use AI on my cows. One is a granddaughter of a certain bull, but (too) many of the AI bulls are also related to the same bull. This time I want to mate her to her own breed to get a pure bred calf, so my question is: how close would you allow her granddaddy into the bull line without running into inbreeding problems?
How close would you breed?
- Thread starter Alicecow
- Start date
Quarter on quarter should be fine i.e. half cousins. Thus you could mate her to a grandson of her own grandfather , so long as the grandmother is different. I think that gives 6.25% inbreeding , the limit for economic impairment.
Grand-progeny have 25% of their genetic makeup from the same source, but they only have 12.5% which is identical , and they only pass on half of that to clash.
Of course there could be further relationships beyond that.
Grand-progeny have 25% of their genetic makeup from the same source, but they only have 12.5% which is identical , and they only pass on half of that to clash.
Of course there could be further relationships beyond that.
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
Why not cross them to a different breed of bull ?
A cross will ALWAYS be better than pure
A cross will ALWAYS be better than pure
Because I like the simmentals. I did register them for a while but gave that up, this girl is registered and I'd like a pure heifer out of her before she retires.
Thank you. The bulls are generally grandsons of her grandfather, a blend which I have avoided up to now, but short of paying stupid money for a private bull the choice is a bit limited, though maybe it's less limited than I thought.
M-J-G
Member
Always better, not always.
If you AI a pure continental cow with a Dexter, I wouldn't like to bet on it always being better than if I'd done her with a bull of her own breed.
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multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
Yes but obviously cross her to a suitable breed