# Inline breeding



## dhansen (Aug 7, 2009)

So, I'm pretty new to this.  I'm wondering if I can breed a half brother and sister (same dad) without issues.  Or maybe the grandpa with a granddaughter.  It sounds pretty gross in human terms, but how about animals?  Will I end up with deformed kids?  I've heard of accidental breedings between mother and son.  Any suggestions would be great.


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## cmjust0 (Aug 7, 2009)

I've never done it...wouldn't want to...but I've heard that linebreeding doesn't seem to be much of a problem in goats with regard to birth defects and deformations and so forth...

On the other hand, I've also heard it said that it's called "linebreeding" when it goes well, and "inbreeding" when it doesn't.


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## ()relics (Aug 7, 2009)

it is never a good idea to breed directly related animals...line breeding can be used to fix a certain trait in your line...As well as giving you kids that are close to the same everytime but with this there are also kids that are "genetically"inferior that will have to be culled....Line breeding can work but accurate records must be kept...If you are unsure about the parentage of your particular animal, I understand that they are half siblings but you would need to go back farther....their parents may have been related also.....You would be better off starting with unrelated animals and begin your own record of their pedigrees....JMO

http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/issues/83/83-6/Alice_G_Hall.html

here is a link to a nice description....


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## dhansen (Aug 7, 2009)

Thank you all for your help!


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## FlightsofFancy (Aug 14, 2009)

I just asked a similar question to a very well respected Nubian Breeder (look at any of the south east"s top show winners....it might be him. haha) and a member of the ADGA board of directors. His reply was "Wind that DNA strand tight! If it falls apart it wasn't worth keeping."
Now before you go given me "You know what"....I was questioning this practice to this producer because if you look at some of the BEST lines there is plenty of line breeding. However, if you don't know what you are doing a _"line breeding"_ could turn into _"in-breeding"_ ....not a good outcome. 
So for myself I have to agree with the above replies. Don't do it if you have a choice.


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## Laney (Aug 14, 2009)

We'd heard all kinds of stuff.  It's OK to breed a billy to his daughter but not his grand daughter etc....

Our Vet however says "just say no" to line breeding.  I think the answer to your question there comes in with the friend who is a top breeder of show champions.

If you study the genetics, learn under a good breeder, and learn your breed.  Get yourself some good unrelated show stock and then decided to line breed when you know what you're doing it's one thing.  If you are me, hobby farmer who got into goats about a year and a half ago, and chose pygmies because of there size...got her unregistered goats off of craigs list.....

Just say no to line breeding.  That's when it turns into inbreeding.  I love my pygmies and I'm really getting into them.  I'm starting to study what brings out what color combination etc.  I'm learning the breed standard - what size and colorations do I want to breed for.  In a few years I'll look into registering my herd but I think I'm years away from knowing what I'm doing with that type of breeding.

Laney


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## trestlecreek (Aug 15, 2009)

Well, it is my opinion that in-line breeding is a no-no. Regardless of what you might "fix" or may not "fix", inbreeding will always fix recessive genes that we do not want. Line-in breeding has and always will create weaker animals. For awhile it may appear that animals will resemble one another physically, but ultimately it's more damaging than helpful. When I find scientific evidence saying that it can be rewarding all the way around, I will be sure to post it!!! I've looked into this several times and have not yet found something that proves the pro's!!


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## Aped (Aug 17, 2009)

I think line breeding is a good method of increasing desirable traits. As long as you are a responsible breeder, and skip generations when breeding, it can be a very useful tool. The whole idea is to increase the characteristics you like thereby eliminating the ones you don't. If an undesirable trait isn't there then it's not going to be there. If you do have an undesirable trait then why would you even consider line breeding? Some people treat line breeding like a loaded hand gun, it's best left alone or to professionals. But anyone is capable of using it to a positive effect if you just use some common sense.


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## cmjust0 (Aug 17, 2009)

Well...all I know for sure is that linebreeding can definitely give a goat two sets of a bad recessive gene just as easily as it can give a goat two sets of a good recessive gene.  So, you're sorta doubling up on the good _and_ the bad..

I also know that when you create an F1 cross by mating two different breeds, you typically get the exact opposite known as "hybrid vigor."  We have some really, really good examples of hybrid vigor in our boerXnubian crosses here..  One doe in particular got really nice wide shoulders, a thick neck with lots of meat, good nubian influenced length and height, and big long nubian teats and udder attachment out of the deal...to me, she's the perfect goat.  Nature smiled on her, big time.

Personally, I think it would have taken lots and lots and lots of linebreeding to make a goat like her...but it only took one crossbreeding.

You be the judge.


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## K*S La Manchas (Aug 20, 2009)

FlightsofFancy said:
			
		

> I just asked a similar question to a very well respected Nubian Breeder (look at any of the south east"s top show winners....it might be him. haha) and a member of the ADGA board of directors. His reply was *"Wind that DNA strand tight! If it falls apart it wasn't worth keeping."*Now before you go given me "You know what"....I was questioning this practice to this producer because if you look at some of the BEST lines there is plenty of line breeding. However, if you don't know what you are doing a _"line breeding"_ could turn into _"in-breeding"_ ....not a good outcome.
> So for myself I have to agree with the above replies. Don't do it if you have a choice.


That's a good phrase.  And very true.

If you look at any of the top breeders, you will find they circle around in their breedings.  Nubians, in particular, benefit from close linebreeding, due to the genetic pool being so incredibly large.

If you want consistancy, and not just hope that randomly breeding two goats together will give you what you want, linebreeding is the tool that will get you where you want to be.  Provided that your foundation stock was worth breeding to begin with.  Two scrub goats, even if related, are not going to produce anything other than a scrub goat.

Outcrossing may give you a nice product in that F1 generation, but after that, just like hybrid chickens, you have no idea what may pop up, or what throwbacks there may be.

It entirely depends upon your goals.


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