Lesson Structure: Animal Breeding BAG301

There are 7 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to Genetics;
   • Plant cells
   • Animal cells
   • Cell division – mitosis (asexual reproduction); meiosis (sexual reproduction)
   • Genes – phenotype and genotype; homogenous and heterogenous
   • Terminology
   • The work of Mendel
   • Sex determination
2. Genetics;
   • Gene mutations
   • Lethal genes
   • Effect of the environment
   • Hybrid vigour
   • Genetics in agriculture
   • Heritability
3. Selection;
   • Animal breeding programs
   • Agriculture
   • Decide on your priorities
   • Dual purpose animals
   • Artificial selection
   • Gene groups
   • Regression
   • Domestic animals – Dogs, cats etc.
4. Pure Breeding;
   • Inbreeding – close breeding and line breeding
   • Genetic effects of inbreeding
   • Advantages and disadvantages
5. Introduction to Cross Breeding;
   • The effects of cross breeding in farm animals
   • Genetic effects, phenotype effects,heterosis, and genotype effect
   • Cross breeding in sheep
   • Cross breeding in domestic animals
6. Cross Breeding;
   • Practical cross breeding
   • Two breed or single cross
   • Back cross or crisscrossing
   • Cyclical crossing
   • Rotational crossing
   • Advantages of cross breeeding
   • Reciprocal recurrent selection
   • Breed societies
   • Grading up
7. Livestock Improvement;
   • Performance Testing
   • Sib Testing
   • Progeny testing
   • Relative breeding Values (RBV)
   • Artificial insemination
   • Synchroised heats
   • Ova transplants

Learning Goals:   Animal Breeding BAG301

• Explain genetic influence on the characteristics exhibited by animals.
• Explain the factors that interact with genes to produce nonconformity in animals.
• Develop procedures to select animals for a breeding program.
• Develop an animal straight breeding program.
• Develop an animal cross breeding program.
• Explain the commercial methods used to breed farm animals.

• Explain how genes control the inheritance of characteristics, using two specific examples of animal breeding.
• Distinguish between the phenotype and the genotype, of a specified farm animal.
• Distinguish between dominant and recessive gene pairs.
• Explain the differences in the function of chromosomes, of a specified fowl, when compared with a specified mammalian farm animal.
• Describe the linkage of gender with the expression of non-sex character traits, in a specified farm animal.
• Explain the role of mutation in animal breeding, including both positive and negative aspects.
• Explain the role of the environment in all factors which determine genetic expression in animals.
• Explain the relevance of hybrid vigour to breeding different animals, including; *chickens *pigs *sheep
• Explain heritability in different classes of livestock, including: * dairy cattle *beef cattle *pigs *sheep.
• Develop a set of aims for a breeding program, for a chosen farm animal.
• Develop a checklist of criteria for selecting animals in a breeding program for a specified type of farm animal.
• Explain natural selection, by giving an example of its application in a farm animal breeding program.
• Explain artificial selection in animal breeding programs, including: * it’s aims *the methods used.
• Explain genetic regression by giving an example of its possible occurrence in a farm breeding program.
• Design a checklist of factors to consider when purchasing breeding stock for a specified farm situation.
• Explain how an animal breeder in the learner’s locality selects animals from which to breed, for a commercial breeding program.
• Distinguish between different types of straight breeding, including: *close breeding *line breeding.
• Explain how a specified pure breed (ie. straight breed) is maintained.
• Compare the advantages and disadvantages of line breeding in a breeding program for a specified type of farm animal.
• Explain where it would be appropriate to use line breeding methods in animal breeding programs.
• Explain where it would be appropriate to use close breeding methods in animal breeding programs.
• Write a procedure for straight breeding of a specified type of animal.
• Differentiate between different types of cross breeding, including: *terminal cross *two breed cross *back cross *three breed cross *rotational cross.
• Explain the concept of ‘grading up’, as it relates to commercial animal husbandry.
• Evaluate ‘crossbreeding’ in an animal breeding program.
• Determine a commercial situation, in which crossbreeding may be justified.
• Explain the services provided by a specified Breed Society in cross breeding, on a specified farm.
• Write a procedure for cross breeding of a specified type of animal.
• Define breeding terminology
• Describe the breeding programs which use artificial insemination, synchronised heats and ova transplants.
• Explain the importance of synchronised heats to breeding animals.
• Describe two different testing methods, observed by the learner that are used for animal breeding programs,
• Evaluate the relevance of breeding methods, that are used on a specified property, to the stated aims of the property owner.
• Describe the husbandry procedures which may be carried out during the pregnancy of a specified animal.
• Describe husbandry practices which may be carried out during the birth of a specified type of domesticated animal, including: *routine husbandry procedures *emergency husbandry procedures
• Plan the management of a breeding program to maximise male breeding performance.
• Perform and record the birth of a specified animal.

At the end of each lesson their is an assignment which is submitted to the Academy to be marked by the Academy’s tutors and returned with relevant feedback, suggestions, and where needed, extra reading.

Your learning experience with ADLwill not only depend on the quality of the course, but also the quality of the person teaching it. This course is taught by Vicky Protopapadaki and your course fee includes unlimited tutorial support throughout. Here are Vicky’s credentials:

Vicky Protopapadaki
MSc (Distinction) Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare (University of Edinburgh), BSc Business Administration (University of the Aegean), Cert. Companion Animal Behaviour (University of Edinburgh ), Cert. Animal Use and Care (University of Prince Edward Island).

Vickys passion for animals led her to obtain her MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare, despite her having a background in business and management. Apart from her personal experience with animals, she volunteers at various animal shelters around Greece and has done research on feline behaviour at the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada and on primate behaviour at Edinburgh Zoo. She is currently researching PhD opportunities in the field of animal ethics and studying entrepreneurship for the purpose of creating her own charity for animal protection in Greece.

Excerpt from the Course

INBREEDING

Inbreeding is the mating of animals of the same breed that are more closely related than the average of the breed. Over the years, an element of fear has developed over the dangers of inbreeding. The marriage laws for people are designed to prevent marriage of extremely close relations.

However, inbreeding does have its uses and it plays a large part in the establishment of some degree of uniformity in the breeds of livestock which are on farms today.

Inbreeding can be divided into two types:

Close breeding – the mating of father to daughter, mother to son or brother to sister. (Brothers and sisters have, on average, half their genes in common. Fathers and daughters or mothers and sons must have half the genes in common)

Line breeding mating half brother to half sister, half cousins, grandfather to grand daughter, cousin to cousin, or grandson to grand daughter

The Genetic Effect of Inbreeding

The genetic effect of inbreeding is that it makes more pairs of genes homozygous. If we look at the case of self-fertilising plants – after only twenty generations of mating, all the genes in the offspring will be homozygous. This means that there will be no recessives in the genetic make up of the plants. In the case of successively mating brother to sister over twenty years, 98.9% of the genes will be homozygous with very few recessives left in the genetic pool. The following table shows how, as generations of inbreeding pass, the percentage of homozygous genes increases.

Percentage of Homozygous Genes after the Stated Number of Generations of Inbreeding

Results of Inbreeding

By increasing the degree of homozygosity, inbreeding increases the chances that recessive genes will come together and be homozygous. Some of these recessives may control lethal detrimental characteristics. It is very important to understand that inbreeding does not increase the chances that they will come together.

Inbreeding does not uncover dominant genes because they always show themselves. However, it increases the degree of homozygosity among the dominant genes. Thus inbreeding can help to fix characteristics within a breed, but at the same time as fixing good characteristics it may help to fix bad ones.

On the surface it seems simple to cull animals showing the bad characteristics and to keep the good animals. However, many animals have a combination of good and bad points, making it difficult to select animals for culling. Also the cost of such a culling program in cattle, and even in pigs and sheep, would be prohibitive in most circumstances. As a result, close inbreeding is rarely practised.

The effects of inbreeding on quantitative (measurable) traits have been studied, especially in pigs. These studies have shown conclusively that increasing inbreeding produces a decline in those traits related to physical fitness. Examples of these traits include; fertility; viability and early growth rate. In addition, one generation of brother-sister mating will reduce litter size by one while three generations will reduce it by two.

Inbred animals within a specific inbred line are more likely to be alike genotypically than phenotypically for traits of economic importance.

Many pigs in highly inbred lines are quite variable in size and weight when slaughtered. Cross bred litters tend to be more uniform and more easily marketed. Much of this difference is due to the unfavourable way in which inbreeds react to their environment. This difference is due to the crossbred being better buffered against the adversities of the environment.

Some farmers still recommend inbreeding to fix characters in an outstanding strain. Inbreeding could, however, result in decreased performance and the strain could die out.

Furthermore, the farmer loses the chances of introducing new “good” genes if he restricts himself to inbreeding. It is a fact that crossing two members from different inbred lines can produce remarkably good, uniform animals. This is the basis of hybrid production in pigs and poultry.

To sum up, inbreeding in commercial herds has its value but must be carefully conducted and will be extremely expensive.

In the example of inbreeding diagram (following) I & J are full cousins. The result of crossing these two cousins is K. This is inbreeding, but it is not close breeding, nor is it true line breeding.

EBOOK TO COMPLIMENT THIS COURSE

Animal Health Ebook

A complete guide to caring for animals, designed for anyone involved in their day to day care, including farmers, pet owners and students.

Animal Health

By the Staff of ACS Distance Learning

Animal Health eBook course online.Animal welfare and wellbeing has become increasingly important in recent times and is a major social issue in developed countries.

“For the past 10,000 years, people all over the world have domesticated animals for various purposes. Some animals such as dogs and cats were domesticated as pets to provide company to humans. Livestock animals such as cattle and sheep were kept to provide products such as meat, wool or milk, or kept as working animals. No matter what the reason, animals and humans have been connected over an extended period of time.

Optimum health is essential to the wellbeing and longevity of all animals. It is the responsibility animal owners to ensure the welfare of the animals within their care. As part of the general care of animals, we need to be able to identify diseases. The first step in recognising diseases in animals is to understand when an animal is unwell. This generally requires three things: information on the history of the animal, a physical examination and specialized testing to identify the cause of the illness.”

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Understanding Animal Health Issues

Preventing Disease and Injury

Inspecting for Health

Differential Diagnosis

Some Common Illnesses in Animals

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Here is a list of the most often asked FAQ’s.

General

Q. Why should I enrol with the Academy for Distance Learning?
A. Here at ADL, our students are our priority – we treat everyone as a unique individual.

Q. Do I need to buy text books?
A. No, as each module has been written by highly qualified industry professionals. The content of the material is presented in such a way that text books are not required. However, if you require additional reading your tutor will be able to supply a list.

Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (eg. become sick, go on holidays, have a baby, move house, etc)
A. It’s OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.

Q. Is there an age limit?
A. There is no maximum age limit. We do however, have a minimum age limit of 18 years. Below that age parental consent would be required.

Q. Are your courses up-to date?
A. Our courses are revised and updated on a rotation system.

Q. Do you have a Cancellation policy?
A. Yes. We have a cancellation policy that is fair and equitable. For further details please click here.

Q. Will I have any opportunity to engage with other students?
A. We have a Student Community group based on facebook! If you don’t have a facebook account already, you could make one just for talking with fellow students on the group.

Enrolment

Q. When can I enrol/start?
A. You may enrol and start at any time of the year – it’s all self- paced.

Q. Can I study from anywhere in the world?
A. Our courses are available to anyone, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. The course content is relevant to any country, culture or economy.

Q. How long do I have to complete the course?
A. You complete the course at any time that is convenient for you.

Q. Completing a 100 hour module – how long will it take?
A. For some students a 100 hour module will take approximately to 3- 6 months to complete. Others take less time and some even longer.

Assessment

Q. Assessment – how does it work?
A. For each 100 hour module you are assessed by assignments (at the end of each lesson) and a final one and a half hour exam (or you may elect to complete a Project, instead of sitting the exam) – the choice is yours – you sit for the exam in your own location.

Q. I don’t cope well with exams – what can I do?
A. You may elect to undertake a Project (set by your tutor) instead of sitting the exam. Projects are completed from your home and can usually take a couple of weeks to complete.

Q. If my assignment is not up to standard is there an opportunity to resubmit my work?
A. Yes –

Q. How many assignments do I need to complete for each module?
A. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment – so if a course has say, 10 lessons, there would be 10 assignments.

Q. I am having difficulty attending workshops/industry meetings, what can be done?
A. If your course requires attendance at workshops, conferences, or industry meetings; alternative arrangements can be made in your country.

Qualifications

Q. What qualification will I receive?
A. For individual modules, you would be awarded a Certificate endorsed by TQUK (Training Qualifications, UK), providing you complete all assignments and the exam. If you just want to complete only the assignments and not sit for the exam or finish a Project, then a Letter of Achievement would be awarded. For more details on qualifications available please click here.

Q. Can I customize my diploma/higher qualification?
A. Not all educational institution’s certificates /diplomas meet everyone’s needs. The opportunity to Design Your Own Diploma at the Academy (subject to our approval) is an added bonus, not found at other colleges. You choose modules that you think will help you in achieving your goal.

Q. What do I get when I complete the course? Will I receive a transcript?
A. At the completion of all courses and providing all assignments and exam requirements have been met, you will receive your Award and a Transcript.

Tutors

Q. Our tutors – who are they?
A. We appoint Tutors and require that they must be currently active in their industry, with at least 5 years’ experience in their chosen profession.

Q. Can I contact my tutor at any time?
A. Yes – you have unlimited access to your tutor via email through our Online Classroom. You can always leave a message with ADL requesting your tutor to contact you. You decide on how much or how little contact you wish to have.

Q. Practical work – How is this done?
A. To find out more about this part of the course please visit the section on How Our Courses Work here.