List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding: 1. It Can Lead To Loss of Species Variety

Selection is used as a tool for livestock improvement.
A breeding stock is a group of males and

females which act as parents of future generations.
Selection is the process of allowing certain animals to be parents of future generations while
culling others.
Culling is the removal of animals which do not perform to the desired level, from the herd. The
animals retained have certain desirable characteristics which make them produce more.
Selected animals make up the breeding stock.

The breeding stock should pass the good qualities to their offsprings for better performance, to
improve the livestock.
Selection process repeated for many generations increases chances of formation of desirable
qualities in an animal.
Genetically termed as gene frequency(occurrence of the genes that carry desirable
characteristics.) Selection increases occurrence of desirable genes and decreases occurance of
undesirable genes.
During selection, the characteristics to be selected for are first studied closely to ascertain that
it is not influenced by the environment, but mainly by the genetic make-up.
Selection helps improve characteristics which are highly heritable.
Heritability means the likelihood of a particular trait to be transmitted to the offspring and they
are strongly inherited.
A character like milk yield is lowly heritable, i.e. it is weakly inherited and a bigger percentage of
the character is affected by the environment.
The degree to which selection affects a character depends on the following factors;
The heritability of the character, The intensity with which the selection is done and the interval between
generations and kind of selection being practiced.
Factors To Consider When Selecting A Breeding Stock.
 Age
 Level of performance
 Physical Fitness
 Health
 Body Conformation
List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding
1. It can lead to loss of species variety.
2. It does not have control over genetic mutations
3. It brings about discomfort to animals.
4. It could create a genetic depression.
5. 4. It can create offspring with different traits.
6. It poses some environmental risks.
7. It can change the evolution of species.
8.
 Temperament or Behaviour
 Quality of products
 Mothering Ability
 Adaptability
 Prolificacy
Age
 Young animals,
 Those that have not parturated for more than 3-times, should be selected.
 They have a longer productive life.
 Old animals are poor breeders and low producers.
 Production and breeding efficiency decline with age.
Level of performance
 Animals with highest production level selected.

 Performance best indicated by records.
Good performance of animal indicated by;
 High milk, wool and egg production,

 Good mothering ability
 High prepotency which is the ability of a parent to pass good qualities to their offsprings.
 The animals with poor performance should be culled.
 Good records kept and used by the farmer for this purpose.
Physical Fitness
Animals selected should be free from any physical defect e.g.
 mono-eyed,
 limping,
 irregular number of teats,
 scrotal hernia,
 defective and weak backline
Health

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 Sick animals do not breed well and are expensive to keep.
 Animals that are resistant to diseases pass these characteristics to their offsprings
Body Conformation
 Animals for breeding to be selected according to proper body conformation.

 A dairy cow should be wedge-shaped with a large udder, thin legs, long neck.
Temperament or Behaviour
 Animals with bad behaviors should be culled. e.g Cannibalism, egg eating, aggressiveness,
kicking
Quality of products
 Select animals that give products of high quality such as meat, wool, eggs, milk.
Mothering Ability
 Animals selected should have a good mothering ability,

 That is animals with good natural instinct towards their young ones.
 This will enable them to rear the young ones up to weaning.
Adaptability
Animals selected should be well adapted to the prevailing climatic condition in the area e.g Ardi
and semi arid areas.
Prolificacy
 Animals selected should be highly prolific.

 That is, animals with the ability to give birth to many offsprings at a time(larger litter).
 This is a quality that should be considered when selecting pigs and rabbits.
 The ancestry records assist to choose the prolific breedsfor mating
SELECTION OF CATTLE AND SHEEP

Selection in cattle

8.
Consider the following;
Level Of Performance Which Include;
 Milk Yield Buter Content.
 Length Of Lactation Period.
 Calving Intervals.
Age of the Animal, Fertility, physical Fitness, Health Of The Animal, Body Conformation and
suitability of the enterprise-milk or beef
Selection in sheep
Consider the following;
Level of performance which includes;
 Mothering ability
 Growth rate
 Wool quality
 Carcass quality
 Twining rate Age
Suitability to the enterprise-wool or mutton

Flocking instinct Health of the animal
Physical fitness
Inheritable defects
Fertility
Inheritable defects.
Fertility.

8.
Selection in Goats
Consider the following:
Fertility.
Mothering ability.
Growth rate.
Twining rate
Carcass quality/dressing percentage
Growth rate.
Suitability to the enterprise - milk or mutton.
Health of the animal.
Age.
Selection in Pigs
Consider the following:

Carcass quality/dressing percentage
Suitability to the enterprise (bacon or pork)
Growth rate.
Mothering ability.
Prolificacy.
Number of teats
Temperament.
Body formation.
Age.
Heredity defects
Selection in Camels
Age.
Temperament.
Foraging ability.
Fertility.
Level of performance-milk, meat, fur and transport.

8.
METHODS OF SELECTION
These include:
Mass selection - Animals with superior characteristics (highly heritable breeds) are selected
from a herd and then allowed to mate among each other at random. The offsprings will show
higher performance than their parents. This is because mass selection increases the occurrence
of the desirable genes in a population.
Progeny testing - is a offspring resulting from selected parents ( Family selection).In this method a group
of progenies (offrprings) are used as an aid to increase accuracy in the selection ofa breeding stock. This
is method is used when the character to be selected is of low heritability and expressedby one sex only.
This methodtakes upto nine years for the results to be seen
Contemporary comparison
Contemporaries refers to other heifers in the herd sired by the same bull.
This is a progey tasting method which involves comparison of average production of daughters (Heifers)
of each bull with that of the other heifer refered to as contemporaries.
In this methods it is assumed that thedifference between the herds of the same breed are non-genetic
in origin.
advantages
 It is possible to compare heifers of different ages in different locations worldwide.

 It eliminates difference brought about by the environment.
 it is possible to make direct comparison of stut bulls at different artificial insemiation centres.
 It is accurate since we are using a large herd of animals.
List of Advantages of Selective Breeding

1. It requires no company patent.
2. 2. It allows for higher profit.
3. 3. It can create new varieties of good crops.

8.
4. 4. It does not have any issue of safety
5. It helps eliminate diseases
6. 6. It influences the production of food coming from
plants in a positive way.
7. It can provide a sustainable food chain.
8. 8. It allows for the creation of high-quality products
9. 9. It can produce fitter and stronger animals.
Conclusion
The science behind selective breeding allows living organisms to be
bred selectively, so their best features and characteristics can be sent
along to the next generations. It is an active process that is seen in
plants and animals today, but is said to be even possible for humans as
well. Animals can become leaner and plants can become bigger for the
desired outcome of better products along the food chain.
This method is helping make animals healthier, fruits tasting better and
vegetables growing bigger. So, it is considered very important, especially
by people who are into the agricultural business, to enhancing and
increasing the quantity of crops they are going to harvest. Although there
are some limitations that come with selective breeding, it is still
producing great results. By weighing the advantages and disadvantages
listed above, you can come together to find a solution that helps the
world with meeting its needs into the future.

8.

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding: 1. It Can Lead To Loss of Species Variety

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Selection is used as a tool for livestock improvement.

A breeding stock is a group of males and

Selected animals make up the breeding stock.

Factors To Consider When Selecting A Breeding Stock.

 Animals with highest production level selected.

Good performance of animal indicated by;

 High milk, wool and egg production,

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding

 Animals for breeding to be selected according to proper body conformation.

 Animals selected should have a good mothering ability,

 Animals selected should be highly prolific.

SELECTION OF CATTLE AND SHEEP

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding

Level Of Performance Which Include;

 Milk Yield Buter Content.

 Length Of Lactation Period.

Consider the following;

Level of performance which includes;

 Twining rate Age

Suitability to the enterprise-wool or mutton

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding

Consider the following:

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding

 It is possible to compare heifers of different ages in different locations worldwide.

List of Advantages of Selective Breeding

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding

List of Disadvantages of Selective Breeding

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