Right Breeding Strategy A Must:

[mikey]

Right Breeding Strategy A Must
The right strategy in breeding livestock and poultry is more important than you think. That is why Dr. Syrian Baguio, assistant director of the Livestock Research Division of Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), is worried. There are so many breeds of goats being imported and if everybody is going to breed and crossbreed without the right strategy (bara-bara in Tagalog), he is afraid the goat industry could be “mongrelized.” Mongrels, he explained, don’t have predictable performance.

He is afraid that growers would be crossing different kinds of animals without really having specific targets in mind. That could result in mongrel animals. When that happens, the offspring could be very variable. There’s no uniformity and that is bad for a commercial operation. Using the best-looking animals (the products of crossing) is not the best way to breed. That is often a mistake, according to Dr. Baguio. What is more important is to produce a pure or purified line with the right genes for breeding purposes. A purified line could be achieved through sustained selection until the animals produced are uniform in size, appearance, productivity, adaptability and other attributes.
Dr. Baguio laments the fact that we have not even produced an animal breed of our own. There is no purified native chicken, for instance. One that is uniform in size and appearance. He is somehow elated to know that one fellow in Negros Occidental, Johnny Tagamolila, through the help of the West Visayas State University is now producing native chickens that are more or less uniform in plumage. Dr. Baguio stresses that one should have a clear idea of what type of animal he is going to produce before embarking on his breeding program. He cites, for instance, what they plan to do to improve the milk yield of the native cattle in a project in Lanao. First, they will cross the native cattle with a purebred Jersey bull. Jersey is a dairy breed that is much smaller than the Holstein. The resulting cross will be smaller in size but with high milk yield. One advantage is that smaller animals require less feed.

The first generation offspring or F1 will be backcrossed to a purebred Jersey bull. That will produce the second generation or F2. The next step is to mate F2 with another F2 of the same breed but with different parents to avoid inbreeding. With constant selection of the best performing animals, the breeder would be able to produce the animal he is looking for. Constant selection will do the trick.

What are the traits they are aiming at in the case of the milk cow? One with high milk yield with the desired butterfat content, one that is adapted to the local environment, one with disease resistance, etc.

In the case of the native chicken, PCARRD’s program is not to increase the size or the egg-laying capacity of the bird. After a survey they made, they concluded that the market needs a chicken that is less than one kilo, with rounded body that resembles the shape of the banana blossom (preferred by traders). The PCARRD experts are after chickens that will have predictable performance. That is important in commercial production.
 
With regular purchase of flock sires from the same stud, the commercial flock makes genetic gains at the same rate as the stud, although it lags behind in terms of absolute genetic merit. Furthermore, the genetic progression (direction and speed) of the commercial flock/herd is the same as that of the stud, regardless of the individual sires used from the stud (see Figure 1).
GENETIC MERIT

In commercial flocks or herds, new sires that are genetically superior to those purchased previously are introduced each year. This means that the next offspring obtained are genetically halfway between the new sires purchased and the females on the property and so are a little better than the previous year's offspring.

Figure 2. Genetic merit of progeny
(by using a new group of herd sires)

Imagine that commercial-flock females are all mated to one group of new flock sires. The genetic merit of the offspring will be halfway between that of the sires and the females, as shown in Figure 2. Unless the offspring are backcrossed to the same sires repeatedly, the commercial flock will never get to a situation where it gets all the genes of those sires, and it will always "lag behind" in genetic merit.
SIRE SELECTION

Selection of sires is paramount, especially the sires that are to be used as replacement sires in the herd or flock. This is the engine room where genetic gains are made. Determining from which stud to buy sires is the sire buyer's most important decision. Evidence from many trials and experiments has shown that genetic differences between studs can be quite large. Only relatively minor differences can be made by buying different grades of sires from a particular stud.

     Re: Right Breeding Strategy A Must:

 If a breeder uses sires from a different genetic source each year, the likely outcome is that little or no genetic gain will be made over time, and, in fact, there is a chance that genetic merit could be lost. The reason, as described above, is nonvalid comparison of animals between environments.
GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING STUDS

1. Before attempting to identify a source of replacement sires or dams for improvement of a herd, first determine your own breeding objectives--in other words, the goals of the breeding program, the type of animal considered ideal, and how the current stock compares with the ideal.

Breeding objectives may relate to color, body weight, fleece weight, fiber diameter, degree of kemp within the fleece, and cria birth weight. Any number of characteristics can be bred for, but remember that some are not highly heritable. Furthermore, as the number of characteristics used as a basis for selecting individual animals increases, the slower will be the rate of change for each.

My recommendation is to look at and select animals on the basis of traits of commercial economic importance that can be objectively measured.

2. Visit potential sources of new genetic material and discuss breeding objectives of the property with owners or managers. Ask how, at what age, and how frequently they objectively measure and record data used for animal selection.

3. When you have identified genetic source properties with breeding objectives similar to your own, ask to see data of available animals before making your selection.

For example, if I were interested in male tuis, I would ask for data like fiber diameter, fleece weight, body weight, and fleece yield on all the male tuis and their averages. Remember that comparing data for animals of different ages is difficult.

Animals can then be culled from selection on the basis of physical faults first and then on the basis of your breeding objectives. To derive the best estimate of relative genetic merit, compare animals with one another and, more importantly, with the group average for a particular trait.

Remember: The smaller the population you are selecting from, the less confidence you will have in estimating genetic merit.

If a source of genetic material cannot or will not supply the data required to aid in your selection, it may be worthwhile to look at an alternate genetic source.

4. As explained above, once a source of genetic material has been identified, stay with that source for a reasonable period (five years) before considering a change based on rates of genetic improvement.

For most production traits, 20 to 40 percent of the observed superiority of an individual with respect to the mean of its contemporaries is of genetic origin; the remainder is of environmental origin.



 
 
 

[mikey]

Linebreeding, inbreeding...
what's the difference?

By Alice G. Hall 


A goat breeder, whether he or she is knowledgeable of the subject or not, is dabbling in the field of genetics (the science that deals with inherited characteristics). A little extra knowledge on the background of the science of breeding can go a long way toward improving future dairy goat characteristics and type.

The basic building blocks of genetics are genes. Genes are complex protein molecules made of DNA and RNA (acids that are templates or patterns for inherited characteristics.) Genes are lined on chromosomes (colored bodies) found in the nucleus of each cell in the body as beads on a string. Chromosomes, and therefore genes, are found in pairs in all the cells of the body except the sperm and eggs. The testicles and ovaries send the chromosomes through meiosis, a process whereby the pairs are split up so that each sperm and each egg carries only one half of a pair of chromosomes, and, therefore, genes. The sperm and eggs are called "gametes" because the number of genes and chromosomes in them are haploid (single) rather than diploid (double or paired) as they are in all other cells.

When two gametes, a sperm and an egg or ovum, unite, the haploid genes and chromosomes find partners and once again become diploid in the zygote (fertilized egg). As the zygote grows, divides itself, and multiplies in number of cells (in the process called mitosis), the cell retains its diploid state. Mitosis is the process by which a body grows and wounds are healed. Meiosis occurs only in the ovaries and testicles as sperms and eggs are manufactured. Each goat sperm and egg contains 30 chromosomes, so each normal body cell contains 60 chromosomes, or 30 pairs.

Genes come in two types, dominant and recessive. Dominant genes overshadow or modify recessive genes when the two are paired on a chromosome. In goats, the white color found in Saanens seems to be dominant over most other colors, so if a Saanen or mutant white gene is paired with a brown or black gene, the kid will probably be white. Such a mixed combination is called heterozygous. That means that a dominant gene and a recessive gene are paired in the genotype. If two dominant genes are paired together, or if two recessive genes are paired together, they are said to be homozygous. Recessive genes must be homozygous to show in the phenotype.

Phenotype is the product that is visible. For example, is the resulting kid black or white? Genotype is what the genes carry, i.e., are they paired homozygous or heterozygous? If a pair of genes is heterozygous, the breeder does not know what the genetics of the goat are. He only sees the dominant that shows in the phenotype. He does not know if that phenotype reveals heterozygosity or homozygosity of the dominant. A breeder who uses inbreeding increases his chances of homozygous recessives, and, therefore has a better chance of seeing recessives in the phenotype.

Horns are recessive, for example. For a goat to have horns, it must have received a gene for horns from both parents. If a horned animal is bred to a hornless one, the genes carried in the hornless kid are heterozygous for hornlessness if the hornless parent is homozygous. If the hornless parent is heterozygous, 50% of the kids will probably be homozygous horned, and the other half will be heterozygous hornless. Since hornlessness is dominant and so easily inherited, one might wonder why most goats seem to have the recessive trait for horns. That is because inbreeding among hornless animals often carries with it a "lethal" gene. Most lethal genes result in the outright death of the animal in a normal environment. The "lethal" associated with hornlessness is for hermaphrodism, so, although it is not lethal or deadly to the individual with the gene, it becomes deadly for the line in breeding inability.

One pair of chromosomes determines the sex of the kids. Females carry two "X" chromosomes, which are both the same length. Males carry a "Y" chromosome, a short or half chromosome, paired with the "X" they get from their mothers. Since only males manufacture "Y" gametes, it is the male that determines the sex of the offspring. Females can only produce females. Males can produce either sex.

Generally, what happens during breeding is that a randomly selected sperm penetrates an egg, also randomly selected, and the two produce a new individual. If the breeder is working with heterozygous parents, he might end up with any number of combinations in the kid. The results would be very unpredictable. This is what happens with outcrossing or cross-breeding. The kid would be a combination of all kinds of genes, only the dominant of which would show. The breeder would have no idea what recessive genes are masked in the genotype of the kid. A breeder can continue to keep the recessives masked and work with dominants as long as he continues to outcross, but he will continue to have unpredictable results unless he happens to hit on some lucky combinations of homozygous dominants.

If a dairy goat breeder is working with homozygous parents, either dominant or recessive, his results will be fairly predictable. Homozygous dominant parents will both pass on to the offspring dominant characteristics, so the kid will much resemble his parents. Homozygous recessive parents, if both are homozygous recessive, will also pass on predictability by passing on recessive traits that will be homozygous in offspring phenotypes.

Homozygosity, and therefore, predictability, is the aim and advantage of inbreeding. Inbreeding is the breeding together of closely related animals in the same line. Breeders who choose to inbreed must be willing to cull heavily at the beginning because, according to research done with Holstein cattle, it's much easier to inherit many undesirable traits than a positive trait. For instance, tall stature (a positive trait in all breeds of goats except Pygmies and Nigerians) is 47% heritable, while short stature is 51% heritable. Pygmy and Nigerian breeders would have an advantage here, and others would have to be very sure to cull out short-statured animals early in the program or be stuck with them forever, since it seems to be somewhat dominant.

Pygmy goat breeders might also have an advantage in breeding for head, as short head is 44% heritable in Holsteins, while the ideal Holstein head is only 17% heritable. According to Holstein research, a sloping rump is far easier to get than an ideal rump, a good fore udder is much easier to breed for than a good rear udder, posty hind legs are more common than ideal hind legs, and a topline that slopes toward the withers is easier to get in breeding than an ideal topline. Since so many "negative" traits are dominant, a breeder interested in inbreeding has to be willing to cull what is undesirable. Cull in this case, means to kill! It does not mean sell to a 4-H member.

If a breeder starts with hybrids-outcrossed or crossbred animals, his first step toward inbreeding is called backcrossing. This is the same as up-grading, breeding a crossbred kid back to one of its purebred parents. Line- breeding is often used by breeders who hesitate to breed extremely close but want to tie into some common relatives. Linebreeding involves the breeding of animals in the same line, like cousins. As a breeder becomes more and more inbred with his herd, his results become more and more predictable-unless he hits a mutation.

A mutation is a sudden, unexpected change that is heritable. Mutations are very often dominant and are passed on easily to the offspring. Mutations are also often lethal, so their heritability is a moot point.

So, if a breeder enjoys working with the unknown and unexpected results, he will enjoy outcrossing. If a breeder would prefer a more definite direction, he would rather use linebreeding. If a breeder knows exactly what he wants, has animals that promise to give that, and if he is willing to cull heavily to retain it, inbreeding might pay for him.

Breeders who enjoy linebreeding and inbreeding can "do all their breeding on paper" before they ever match a doe to a buck. Not only are the results somewhat scientific, they are also artistic.

A complete outcross would look something like this-where "A" is the new or proposed kid, B and C are its parents, and the others are grands and great grands: 


The pedigree of an out-crossed animal between two line-bred parents would look a little bit different.

A nicely linebred animal's pedigree might look like this: 


A half-brother, half-sister inbreeding might resemble this pedigree if parent B also had the same sire as its dam: 


A sire/daughter or dam/son breeding would result in the following pedigree pattern: 


Full sibling breedings are a risky form of inbreeding. It's the closest a person can go in inbreeding. It can work if the sire and dam were the products of outcrosses, and sometimes it can even work if they're more inbred. But if inbreeding problems such as lack of stature, fertility, or productivity are to occur, it would be here: 


All these pedigrees are actual pedigrees of purebred animals. The experience of some breeders who have used the "patterns on paper" program indicate that the most successful breedings are the ones in which the pedigrees show triangular patterns. The half-sibling pedigree shows a good triangle. More triangles become apparent as the pedigree is extended to further generations. Straight-line tie-ins don't seem to be as satisfactory in inbreeding. No matter what kind of breeding program a person decides to follow, it is wise to remember that genes determine potentials of the offspring, but the environment determines how much of that potential is reached. A kid could be bred for outstanding stature and production, but if his environment doesn't support him properly, his genetic potential will never be reached.

Previously published in Dairy Goat Guide, also found in Fundamentals of Improved Dairy Goat Management.
 

[mikey]

Dr. Sponenberg is a DVM, PhD, Professor, Pathology and Genetics at Virginia - Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
 

Breeding of goats can involve different breeding strategies. Each of these is going to have different consequences for the herd, and wise producers will pick a strategy that fits their own philosophies and goals. No single strategy fits all situations, but each strategy is a wise choice for certain goals and production systems.

This discussion involves a variety of concepts. One concept, regardless of breeding strategy, is selection. Selection simply means using some goats for reproduction, and some for food (or whatever other use you can dream up for a non-reproductive goat)! Selection assures that more desirable goats (and the definition of these varies with situation and philosophy) produce more offspring than less desirable goats. Selection is one aspect of the machinery of improvement. Other concepts include the breeding strategies: inbreeding, line breeding, line crossing, and crossbreeding. These will have slightly different definitions depending upon who is talking, but the important fact is that the pairing of animals for reproduction can have varying outcomes depending on the relationship of the animals mated.

Line breeding

One breeding strategy is Line breeding, which is really just different from inbreeding in degree. Both of these involve the mating of related animals (either distantly related or closely related). Inbreeding can be arbitrarily set as the mating of first-degree relatives (offspring and parents, or siblings), although this is only one possible definition among many. Line breeding can then be considered as the mating of related animals, but of less close relationship than first degree.

Line breeding (or inbreeding) results in uniformity of offspring, especially if adopted as a long-term strategy with appropriate selection. Uniformity of appearance and performance of line bred goats springs directly from the fact that line breeding increases genetic uniformity since parents are related. The uniformity can be for very good looks and performance, or for very bad looks and performance - the starting strain as well as selection practices will determine the relative quality of the end product. In addition, the degree of relationship of the parents helps to influence the degree of uniformity in the offspring (for good or ill).

.A very important historic note is that linebreeding and inbreeding are the usual strategies for the establishment of breeds. These two breeding strategies increase uniformity, and therefore predictability, of any population of animals. Predictability is the major attribute of breeds that breeders find useful. The predictability and consistency of any breed is why most breeders choose it - they want a specific type of goat producing a specific product.

The strength of linebreeding is that it increases homogeneity, and predictability. When coupled with selection (which it usually is) the result is hopefully a productive, predictable gene pool. This is the essence of the value of a purebred animal - predictability of production. Potential problems of linebreeding (and these are more common with inbreeding) include loss of general vigor, and especially loss of reproductive performance. Obviously, selection can help offset these. As a result, many linebred and inbred resources (breeds or strains) are indeed productive, vigorous, and reproductively sound.

Crossbreeding

Crossbreeding is a philosophic and biological opposite to linebreeding, and involves the mating of animals of two different breeds. Crossbreeding is a fascinating phenomenon, partly because different things happen depending upon which stage of crossbreeding is considered. The first stage is the initial cross. A useful example comes from cattle, and when Angus and Hereford cattle are crossed the initial result is a very, very uniform crop of black baldy calves. These have benefited from the specific combination of the genetic array of the parental breeds, and each calf gets half from each breed. Since each parental breed is uniform, and each calf gets half from each breed, every calf is pretty much like the next. This first calf crop is reaping the benefits of homogeneous parental breeds.

The trick is that if these calves are in turn used for reproduction, variability then increases since these calves are half one thing, half another. Using only color as the marker, these calves (when interbred) would produce black, black baldy., red, and Hereford pattern calves. The initial consistency is gone, and the result is a variable group of calves.

Variability is not all bad, and if combined with selection the excellent individuals can be skimmed off the herd and used to good advantage in show and other situations. They may indeed have excellent type and performance. What they lack, though, is the ability to consistently pass along this excellence to the next generation. They are something of a dead end, even though in themselves they may be wonderful, productive animals.

Many of the advantages of crossbreeding are somewhat the disadvantages of linebreeding: increased vigor and increased reproductive efficiency. Conversely, the disadvantages of crossbreeding are the advantages of linebreeding: consistency and predictability.

Linecrossing

Linecrossing is the crossing of different lines within a breed, and while it has some of the same consequences as crossbreeding, it does contain this within a single breed. As a result, the variability is not as great as a cross between breeds, so that the boost from hybrid vigor is not as great. This technique can be used to good advantage in certain breeds, such as the Angora goat, where interbreed crossing would make no sense at all. With linecrossing the benefits of crossbreeding can be achieved, without loss of breed character and type. Consistency of production is still diminished though, and each individual situation will indicate whether this is a good tradeoff or not.

The phenomena associated with crossbreeding and linebreeding are going to have differing consequences for different breeders, largely due to differences in philosophy of breeders. That is, what do you want, and how do you want to get there? These questions are essential for all goat breeders, but are frequently not asked. In the absence of a guiding philosophy and set goals, breeding programs fail to make the progress that is possible with such guidance.

Uniformity of progeny is important to nearly every commercially based goat breeding operation, whether this be mohair, cashmere, dairy, or meat. Reasonably uniform kid crops that perform predictably are of great value to farmers, who can target management for the average level of pro production the goats are going to achieve. Obviously the kids are not going to be entirely uniform, and the better will always be retained in favor of the worse. However, as the variation diminishes, the top and the bottom per formers of the kid crop approach one another (hopefully by the bottom coming up toward the top), so that the casual viewer is struck by the uniformity of the kid crop.

A few years back I was in Texas visiting Robert Kensing. His goats easily ily demonstrate the result of a consistent and long-term program of line breeding and selection. We were looking at groups of 1997 kids segregated ed as to keepers and culls. The culls were uniform, growthy, productive goats that would have done well for a Dumber of farmers (me included!) The keepers were likewise uniform, and even better and growthier than the culls. The point of the story is that this kid crop did not occur by chance but resulted from a careful, focused breeding program driven by a consistent selection philosophy over twenty five years. The selection decisions that breeders make today will determine the kid crop twenty five years from now.

Linebreeding takes time and commitment, while crossbreeding can be a quick fix and is a tempting strategy for a variety of reasons. One outcome of crossbreeding is initial phenomenal results, especially if the parents that are recruited for the crossbreeding are halfway intelligently selected. The boost of crossbreeding comes from hybrid vigor, and can easily be seen as the modem quest for meat goats comes to full flower. People now have available a number of distinctive related breeds. and these are going to produce growthy, productive crossbreds. These crossbreds, alas, will not in their own turn produce so excellently. This is due to their mix of genetic. inputs from their parents - which come from different breeds , breeds.

Summary

The result of all this is that crossbreeding does not make sense if the goal is consistent production generation to generation. Crossbreeding does make sense, in many circumstances. One of these is the production show animal. While something of an exaggeration, of, a terminal (meat or show the ideal meat goat producing system would be some sort of small, fertile, line female that could be mated to a large, growthy, meaty paternal line. All of the kids should be reasonably uniform, making an appealing lot for sale. While they may not in their own turn produce uniform offspring, they themselves are uniform and the clever breeder can take advantage of that. Note well, though, that crossbreeding systems such as this depend on a source of the female line as well as the male line. Crossbreeding basically "uses up" genetic material without contributing to its maintenance. Crossbreeding therefore depends upon some segment of the industry being committed to purebreds - and purebreds of different breeds for different niches. The importance of this cannot be overstated, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to dedicated, purebred breeders.

Is crossbreeding bad? No, certainly not, although if it uses up adapted breeds as breeders go for the fad of the moment it can lead to diminished choices for future goat breeders. A good example of this is the feral goats of Britain that have been incorporated into cashmere producing systems. Some of these ferals may have been the remnants of the old type of North Atlantic goats (Old English, Old Irish, various Scandinavian breeds). It is too early to say say if we lost something that might have been useful, but it is not early to say that we have indeed lost something.

Too few breeders have long-term commitments to linebreeding and the development of consistent, productive lines that are predictable for performance. Most of the older, high- reputation breeders of most breeds have indeed used this strategy (coupled with selection) to produce the sorts of goats that breeders today highly desire.
Every breed can benefit from several breeders using slightly different strategies, philosophies, and methods. It is healthy, for a breed to have some breeders linebreeding and others linecrossing, This allows for, successful combinations to be developed in a variety of locations and conditions, and all of this is good for goat breeds and goat breeders. A single program and philosophy will not fit all situations, and breeders need to encourage some diversity of approaches and techniques.
 

Table comparisons of inbreeding/linebreeding and outbreeding

Trait inbreeding/linebreeding outbreeding
Uniformity Good Poor
Fertility Poor (to good with selection) Good
Growth Poor (to good with selection) Good
Predictability Good Poor
Overall vigor Poor (to good with selection) Good
Longevity Moderate Good

 
Table of some choices of breeding strategy for different producer goals

Goal Inbreeding/linebreeding Outbreeding
Uniform kid crops Good choice with selection Good in first cross, then poor
Supreme show goats Poor in most cases Good if non-uniform goats
Rapid growth meat kids Moderate at best Good to excellent

[mikey]

So what are we really talking about here.Only speaking for myself and my Nubians.After 5 years of breeding I can say with 100% honesty they are better suited for meat over dairy,marginal milkers or part time mikers,150 days on average for milk production.True dairy animals,goats or cows by international standards need to milk 305 days of lactation to be considered real milkers.One breeding sire cannot correct all the faults to make true milkers.One also has to know what to corect,one must know what is broken before one can fix the problems.Not knowing what to correct usually ends in failure.My own nubians first needs a nubian bloodline that is known to correct body style only and cannot increase milk or fat but only work on body style meaning,longer bodies which helps to hold more milk and good legs and good top lines.After this I would need to find a bloodline that is known to increase milk production and fat content and correct udders.Sires from known star milkers or even better,ELITE milkersThis alone may take 5 years before one can say if they are on the right track.In the world of genetics not all bloodlines will cross well into your bloodline and even if the sire is from known bloodlines there is no guarantees.In the short term crossbreeding maybe a short fix to correct my problem until sometime in the future when frozen semen can be imported to try and correct my nubians and turn them into true milkers,hopefully star milkers.

[mikey]

True,we have covered this topic many times but I am not sure at times how well I explain things.So we will go through line-breeding and backcross breeding.

As anyone starts out up-grading their goats to the F1 level we notice 2 things.First of all sometimes the offspring will take after the sires side,fathers side and this is what we are looking for,but sometimes the offspring will take after the dams side,mothers side and will look more like a mongrel,not what we want.Uniformity and predicability is not definded at the F1 level.As I have stated before,when we were doing our meat goat experiments we found the F2 level more to what we were after.Uniform and much more predicable.

Line-breeding-,as I have practiced it.One will choose half brothers to half sisters.Same sire but different dams,only half brothers to half sisters.Breed F1s to F1s,half brother(s) to half sister(s).

Backcross-,is when one crosses the daughter(s) back to their sire or the son back to his dam.This is in-breeding is its true sense.This is done for very specific reasons.One reason would be because the dam has a very good udder and one breeds the son back to its dam in hopes that the new offspring(s) will take on the traits for a good udder,or the goats are SGCH (superior genetics champion) or (grand champion).It is also done to check for recessive genes when you breed son to mother or daughter back to her father.Remember,backcross only works for top quality stocks not poor breeding stocks.Sometimes it works out and sometimes it will not,its a gamble at best,but worthwhile the try if one is successful with this breeding strategy.

It takes on average 5 years before one can realize if this breeding program is successful or a failure.

maybe this explains it better.

[neodragon0l]

Is Philippines allowed to import goat semen? 

[mikey]

I tried asking this very question to the powers to be in the Philippines a few years back and got the royal run around.At that time no one knew what I was asking.My plans died at that point for the importation of some top American semen.The other problem was storage especially in the rural provinces where the gas,dry ice is needed to top up the semen storage tank from time to time.

The other problem becomes more science.Some bloodlines cross well and some do not.First of all,one has to understand the breed standard and the fault(s) in your goat(s) that needs fixing.Some sires can add lenght and height with level top lines,some will add udders and milk volume.Some will add one thing but you will lose something else.One example is Cadillac,can almost put an udder on anything but tend to be small in size with shorter ears,the udder is great but the smaller size with shorter ears is not.One bloodline cannot fix every fault but its a combination of bloodlines that goes on to produce the quality the breeder is aiming for.

hope this helps:

[neodragon0l]

That's interesting because the Agrilink this year has a section on AI? I am not sure why would you want to spend a lot of money on AI with the same country.  AI is only worth it if you are trying to upgrade a large herd?  the person is from Isabela State University.

[alaminos_goatfarm]

99% of goats of the more than 4 million goats in the Philippines are in the hands of the Filipino farmer who have no access to good genetic materials. AI can be a cost effective instrument for government to give the farmers in countryside an opportunity to improve their stock.

Always remember with the issue of adaptability the island born goats will always outperform the imported breeds from temperate countries under the tropical environment of the Philippines. In the context of genetic improvement, with the bigger base of purebred goats from the States and Australia, yes we need to get semen from quality breeders overseas to infuse new blood. AI would be ideal and address the health issues whenever you import live goats.

[mikey]

I understand what Alaminos is saying but it still comes down to knowing what needs fixing instead of guessing what needs fixing.There is no guarantee that American bloodlines infused into Australian bloodlines will produce better goats,but everyone is hoping so and some will fuse nicely together and some real changes will take place.It is well known in the world of breeding some bloodlines crossed with another bloodline will outperform their parents.This is where registeries can help people track what bloodlines are more likely to succeed.One never knows until they try first and if it works out carry on and if its a failure move on.

Lets hope with the extra American bloodlines in the country, that this will go along ways to helping the industry as a whole.

I have been a strong supporter of AI for many years now.When I look at the AI program for hogs in the rural areas, we see that the AI program is geared towards having the physical male and the AI program is fresh only not frozen semen.In some rural areas the local DA does not have the budget to keep storage semen tanks and the cost related to upkeep the tanks and well maintained with gas/dry ice.In some of the rural areas there is no bucks for hire so fresh AI semen is not even possible.Personally if the budgets were in place, the frozen semen would cover a larger area without all the problems of having to feed and maintain a live goat(s).Better value in the long run.There has been reports from some areas where the live goat for hire died before even completing his mission and this is a direct cause of those responsible for the program did not follow up with the program to make sure the person/people in charge of maintaining the goat had the prior knowledge needed to keep the goat in good health.Good idea on paper but not in the real world.

There seems to be more advancement in this area of breeding and in time we might see some real benefits coming from the AI sector.I think AI would be more beneficial for the remote rural areas where the care and maintance of a live buck for hirer seems rather risky.

I cannot say foresure if a large herd or if just numbers themselves.A prime buck at 3 years old may handle 50 does if well cared for, but 100 straws might get a 75% plus success rate and a choice of different bloodlines.It is not uncommon in N.America to have one goat AI to one bloodline and another doe AI to another bloodline and so on.

Over the course of time using different breeding sires, one will start to see some real changes and that is of benefit to any upgrading or breeding operation.

[alaminos_goatfarm]

AGF 22 Clinton: the Fastest Growing Kid Produced on Record at AGF

Breeding  goats at  Alaminos Goat Farm (AGF) always brings a lot of joy for us.  Once in a while  we are rewarded for all the hard work and time we put into our work with the arrival of an outstanding buckling like  AGF 22 Clinton. AGF 22 Clinton was born a single buckling kid with a  weight of 4.9 kilos on June 30, 2010.  At 60 days last August 30, he weighed a remarkable 20.8 kilos which translates to an average daily gain of 266 grams.

AGF Clinton is gaining a lot of muscle and this makes him an ideal candidate as herdsire for the line breeding program of AGF Mitra line. He is more on the meat type rather than a dairy  type of buck. The fast growing characteristic of AGF Clinton would be a big factor for the next generation Mitra Line to be produced in 2011. Fast growing goats would always be a big advantage in any breed improvement program.

AGF Obama, the sire of AGF Clinton has another interesting story. His dam is an imported purebred Anglo Nubian AGF 1458 Amera Asmara from Australia. These batch of Anglo Nubian does from Australia in 2007 were a total failure in our farm. They were not able to adapt to the tropical environment. AGF Obama was one of the few we have produced from this batch.

Ayie Alsua, our friend from Bicol was in the farm when AGF Obama was born. He committed to take AGF Obama when he is ready for sale. Like the rest of the batch of Anglo Nubian we imported in 2007 from Australia, AGF Obama was having a hard time adapting in tropical Philippines. Signs of difficulty adapting to the tropical environment are recurring colds and cough. This slowed down the growth rate of AGF Obama and Ayie decided not take his option.

In October 2009, AGF Obama, now looking good had a buyer, Camilo Velasco. Before closing the deal, we informed him about AGF Obama history of recurring colds and cough. We informed him it  slowed down his growth rate during his younger days. Camilo changed his mind so we decided instead to keep him for our Mitra line breeding program. AGF Obama comes with very good pedigree with our Top herdsire, AGF Louca Darwyn as his sire.  Based on pedigree and looks we opted to add AGF Obama as our herd sire to jump start the  Line breeding program for the Mitra Line (ML)  in January, 2010. His look is something different -  his color is mottle, with a prominent Roman nose, long legs and body which buyers loves.

We never doubted the decision in choosing AGF Obama to be a herdsire in our  Line breeding program for the ML in January,2010. AGF Clinton is a testament to that decision, he is the first kid born last June out AGF Obama mating. The next kid born is also  very good looking. We expect to see the rest of the kids out of AGF Obama mating in November and December. We have heavily used him in our ML  Line breeding program last June and July.

Last May, Ayie Alsua again offered to buy  AGF Obama when he saw him. We declined his offer since AGF Obama is now a big part of the ML Line breeding program.
 
Destiny seemed to have played a part for AGF Obama  to stay at Alaminos Goat Farm. Two times, buyers changed their mind to buy AGF Obama and the  third  time around  it was our decision to keep AGF Obama. Looking back we could not imagine  having sold AGF Obama and not seeing AGF 22 Clinton in Alaminos Goat Farm.
 
Life indeed is full of many surprises and along the way we were showered with a lot of God's many  blessings. AGF Clinton is one of them, and for that we are very thankful to the LORD

[neodragon0l]

AI definitely does not secure the good genetic material of goats.  There's still a lot of work to sort out good and bad genes after the pool has been infused.  At least it is up to the farmer which route to take: meat or dairy.  It is easier to work with several genes than no genes at all.

It is my understanding that we are importing goats from Australia and US to develop the genetic pool.  Maybe Art can provide a better insight since he is one of the pioneers in successfully importing quality goats in the country.  What is the survival rate of importing goats?  In the US, goats are fed with a lot of electrolytes to control the shock effect of shipment.  There's also the timing of weather.

In the US, AI is basically meant as a breed improvement program.  Economically, it is too expensive if you use AI to simply reproduce.  You are better off importing goats.  In time, AI can also have a success rate depending on the technician.  Initial cost is expensive: container, liquid nitrogen, AI kit, Thawing container, shipment of semen, etc.  The breeders in California use two containers to save on costs.  Rather than rotating the herd sires, they just bring semen.  If our local associations are willing, I would gladly put my own share. Has anybody successfully brought imported AI?  What would be the requirements?  BAI's forms are limited to livestock importation.   

Many rural areas in the Philippines are looking for genetic infusion because most "biyaheros" prefer goats of high quality: More carcass.  Local LGU is not very helpful.  I have been following the updates on the PL 480.  Until now, I have not seen any.  It would be really nice who were given the goats for transparency's sake.

[mikey]

Of course AI is used for breed improvement and has real value in the hands of the right people and many great goats are produced using this system.

Frosty Marvin was the best nubian buck ever produced in the USA.Frosty produced well over 500 offsprings and many,many went on to become elite champions.I can still buy his frozen semen.Okay,you live in one state and the sire lives in another state,you want this bloodline in your herd.Do you spend the money to ship your goats off to another farm or do you ship in frozen semen and AI your does you wish to have bred with this buck.One buys the frozen semen because alot of the farms here in N.America do not like to house goats from other farms due to bio-security reasons and all the costs related to housing someone elses stock.
Correct,there are costs related to the equipment needed for an AI set up but once the set up is in place the costs related decline and become cheaper.If this was not true why would most dairy farms with cattle AI only instead of housing the physical animal.Plus one has a better variety of sires to choose from.I know breeders here in N.America that AI their own goats.As in any new venture the start up costs are expensive until one gets the program up and running.

As for PL 480,as I understand they are in lock down until they are retested and its a crap shop as to who will receive any of these imported stocks.Some of the breeders I know have been emailing me for information about the goats they sold for this shipment and are wondering how the goats are adjusting.Goats shipped for long distances are generally given shots for shipping fever and true they will require electrolytes and monitoring for feed and water intake.You have the Goat Federation wanting some of these goats and then the Govt. wants some of these goats,so who knows what will happen in the end.Lets just hope this does not turn into one big mess leaving everyone unhappy.

Breeding is part science,part luck.

[mikey]

Sometimes I forget to post evrythng I want to say,forgive me.What I forgot to say about breeding is this.It is generally known that linebreeding produces better consistency.Breeders in the past have told me they feel confortable line-breeding up to 20%.All the best known goats if one checks their pedigrees you will see line-breeding was used to produce these top winning goats time and time again.

Imported goats and breeding with some knowledge is something new to the Philippines and how breeding affects furure stocks is just coming into light.The major breeders have their homework to do if they wish to start to produce some top gun lines of their own.

[alaminos_goatfarm]

Mitra Line AGF 1454 Scores at FGASPAPI Goat and Sheep Show at AgriLInk 2010
October 8, 2010
 
Mitra Line AGF 1454 scores as she wins in the goat and sheep show at the Agri Link Show. It was a rewarding morning for us, as  the judges saw and pick AGF 1454 as the best Anglo Nubian doeling of the show.
 
As a breeder it confirms our decision to choose AGF 1454 as our Top Mitra Line doeling produced in 2009. This only shows we are on the right track in our Mitra Line breeding program. We have line bred AGF 1454 with AGF Obama, her half brother. They share the same sire AGF Darwyn and kidding schedule is just before Christmas.
 
With the ribbon AGF 1454 won, we will vigorously pursue in propagating the line of AGF 481, AGF 1454 dam. We have bred AGF 481 with AGF Obama during the last breeding season, producing another outstanding kid AGF Clinton, the fastest growing kid this season.
 
This breeding season we have bred AGF 481 with AGF Edgar to give us more room in our Line Breeding Program. This will give us an option in our half brother, half sister mating. Next season we plan to breed AGF 481 with AGF Darwyn. We are excited with the possibilities which awaits  us in the future. Watch the Mitra Line story as it unfolds.