- In animal breeding people select the animals that will produce the next generation of animals that are on average superior than the present generation of animals.
- Selection by nature, natural selection, is very important for the adaptation of animals to the circumstances they are kept.
- An important prerequisite for the success of animal breeding is that traits are heritable, which implies that the ability for the trait is passed on from parents to progeny.
- Domestication of animals started with the dog. Later on the farm animals were domesticated. Domestication of a species requires specific traits. Within the domesticated species the process is still going on due to new requirements caused by changing circumstances.
- Selective animal breeding started 250 years ago with the formation of breeds and herd books. The scientific base for animal breeding is developed in the 20-th century. The application of scientific developments in reproduction in the past 50 years made animal breeding more effective. Recently it got a strong impulse from developments in molecular genetics.
- Breeding activities are directly be influenced by and are related to developments in society: required food production by animals and requirements of mankind for animals as companion and for leisure purposes.
- Breeding programs with cattle, pigs and poultry yielded sharp increases in the quantity of milk, meat or eggs. Also capabilities of horses improved sharply.
- Breeding of animals did not only give positive results: in dogs inbreeding and one-sided selection for conformation traits resulted in dogs with more health problems and less welfare. In farm animals selection for yield implies a risk for a deterioration of quality and fitness traits.
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