The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: sokel on May 04, 2013, 10:21:59 pm
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Someone who has some of our 50% Doe kids reserved has asked us if we have any 100% Bucks for sale.
We said no as the only bucks we have are half brothers to the girls.
They have said that that is a good match for line breeding :-\
I personaly go for a full out cross and wondered what everyones opinions are on half brother/ sister breeding ?
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Line breeding is the best way forward to maintain breeding ........particularly if you are establishing a herd. Within 3/4 generations, you should be able to breed a predictable type.i.e Excellent udder/topline/body/ etc
If you outcross then basically you will never know what the outcome will be.............the genes are in a tumbler of possibility and you could just as easily end up with mish mash.
In 40 years I have only outcrossed once.......that was importing goats due government mismanagement of the scrapie scheme.
I will at some point, mate father to daughter/mother to son. My Saanens are so alike I have to eartag asap after birth so I know wh is who !!!!!
I do the same with my Nubians as well...............can trace all my pedigrees in direct descent to 1922.
I have animals with correct type/udder & milk yield.
You do need to understand how the system works though. If you are mating just to get kids then of course it does not matter how you do it.
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All of our Goats are from top milking/Show lines and the Boers are also from some of the top lines.
Its the Boers that are new to us and what this person was talking about.
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I have done successful half brother to half sister (same sire) matings. But you have to be prepared to cull any that don't look right straight away.
I try not to do direct mother/son matings, rather mother back to her grandsire or half-siblings. But the scarcity of good GG males means I have out-crossed too, and so far the result is not too bad (but she hasn't got an udder yet....).
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True outcrossing is something for experienced breeders who are in a position to recognised failures and or improvements.
All breeding has to be done with the expectation of culling heavily & keeping only the best for the next generation.