Activity 4: Breeding Systems in

Livestock and Poultry

Introduction

Breeding Systems

Animal breeding is a segment of animal science that addresses the evaluation of the genetic
value of domestic livestock. A breed is a group of domestic animals with a homogeneous
appearance, behaviour, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals.

Breeding Systems

1. Purebreeding
2. Inbreeding/Linebreeding
3. Outcrossing
4. Cross Breeding

Pure Breeding

Pure-breeding is the mating of males and females of the same breed or type. A purebred flock
can be managed as a single flock because all animals are of the same breed. The goal of purebred
production is to provide superior genetics to the commercial sheep industry.

Inbreeding and Outbreeding

Various mating schemes of animals are classified under two broad categories — inbreeding and
outbreeding. Classification depends on the closeness of the biological relationship between
mates. Within each category, a wide variation in intensity of this relationship exists.

A very fine line separates the two categories. With less closely related animals (first cousins,
second cousins), people disagree about where to draw the line between inbreeding and
outbreeding. Matings between animals less closely related than this, then, would constitute
outbreeding.

Inbreeding

Mating closely related animals (for example, parent and offspring, full brother and sister or half
brother and sister) is inbreeding. Technically, inbreeding is defined as the mating of animals
more closely related than the average relationship within the breed or population concerned.

Development of highly productive inbred lines of domestic livestock is possible. Although

occasional high performance animals are produced, inbreeding generally results in an overall
reduction in performance. This reduction is manifested in many ways. The most obvious effects
of inbreeding are poorer reproductive efficiency including higher mortality rates, lower growth
rates and a higher frequency of hereditary abnormalities.

Outcrossing

It is the mating of an individual to another in the same breed that is not related to it. This is the
most widely used mating system by both commercial and seedstock producers. Outcrossing
produces a higher level of heterozygosity.
Crossbreeding

The practice of crossbreeding is a well-accepted practice among sheep producers in the U.S. as
evidenced by the fact that the majority of lambs marketed each year are crossbreds.
Crossbreeding is used in order to take advantage of the different and complementary strong
points of two or more breeds and to utilize hybrid vigor. However, much of the crossbreeding in
the sheep industry is haphazard, does not utilize systems that optimize the advantages of
crossbreeding, and are not sustainable over several years.

Easy to implement and maintain – The KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) approach applies here.
Properly utilize the strong points of different breeds. A well designed crossbreeding system
utilizes these breed differences in a strategic manner to improve the efficiency of meat, wool,
and milk production over purebreeding.

Another advantage of crossbreeding lies in the ability to utilize breed complementarity. All
breeds have strengths and weaknesses. No one breed excels in all relevant traits. Thus,
production can be optimized when mating systems place breeds in roles that maximize their
strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
Objectives

 To understand the different breeding systems of beef and dairy cattle, small ruminants,
poultry and swine
 Determine the reasons or limitations why Filipinos opted to such breeding systems
 What are the breeding systems commonly practiced and why

Materials

 Mobile phone, internet

Method(s)

 Research about the breeding systems in livestock and poultry

Result and Discussion

Systems of Breeding for Beef Cattle

Types of Breeding Systems

There are two basic breeding systems in commercial production. If replacement females are
produced in the herd the system is continuous. If heifers are not put back in the herd, but are
brought in from outside, the system is terminal.

Calves from continuous systems have two functions: Some heifers are saved for replacements
and go back into the herd, while the rest of the calves are grown and/or finished to produce beef.
But all calves from terminal systems have only one use the production of beef. (A small segment
of producers specialize in producing replacement females to be marketed to other producers.)

There can be combinations of continuous and terminal systems. Producers should under- stand
the differences in these systems to avoid inefficient and costly mistakes.

Continuous

Since a continuous system produces its replacement females, it requires only external sires to
avoid inbreeding. Because replacement females are retained, the cow herd has genetics from
both sires and dams. If sires have genetics for traits that are undesirable in brood cows, those
traits are perpetuated in the cow herd.

Therefore, both sires and dams should have a similar level of expression of important traits,
without any undesirable characteristics. Genetic extremes generally do not fit. Continuous
systems can be either straightbred or crossbred.

Terminal

In a terminal system, replacement females come from outside the terminal-cross herd.
Replacements can be either purchased or produced in another herd. Since heifers are not retained
for breeding there is more flexibility in choosing types of sires and dams. Genetics for maternal
ability are irrelevant in terminal-cross sires because their female progeny are not saved for
replacements. However, genetics for maternal ability are important in sires that produce the
females used for a terminal cross.
Continuous Crossbreeding Systems

True Rotations

True rotation systems use two or more breeds and the same number of breeding groups. The
simplest true rotation uses two breeds and is sometimes called a crisscross (Fig. 1). A different
breed of sire is used in each of two breeding groups. Replacement heifers are moved (rotated)
from the group where they were produced to the other group, where they are mated to the breed
that is not their breed of sire to minimize loss of heterosis in the system. Females remain in that
breeding group, with the same breed of sire, for all of their lifetime matings. Over time, females
in the two groups gravitate toward a composition of two-thirds of the breed of their sire and one-
third of the other breed. If a rotation has three or more breeds, a heifer is moved to the breeding
group with the breed of sire to which she is least related to ensure minimal loss of heterosis.

Fig 1 True
breed

rotation

Because they require multiple breeding groups, true rotations increase the complexity of a
breeding program. (Artificial insemination can simplify the mechanics, but not the management,
of some crossbreeding systems.) Also, a compromise must be made between complementary
matings and uniformity among groups. Because of these complexities and limitations, true
rotations are uncommon, especially those involving more than two breeds.

Sire Rotations

Sire rotations are sometimes called rotations in time. Instead of rotating heifers out of the
breeding group where they were produced to another breeding group, as in true rotations, sire
breeds are rotated periodically in a single breeding group. The number of years a sire breed
should be used depends partly on how often heifers are put back in the herd. As is true with all
breeding systems, severe inbreeding should be avoided; therefore, sires should be changed at
least when necessary to avoid breeding them to their daughters.
Terminal Crossbreeding Systems

Static Terminal

In a static terminal system, replacement females are either purchased or produced in another
herd. Purchasing females simplifies the operation of this system because the only breed- ing
group needed is for the terminal cross. A straightbred terminal is possible, but there usually is no
good reason to do so (unless a producer does not want to save and manage heifers in a
continuous straightbred system) because the benefits of crossbreeding are absent.

A two-breed static system, using purebred sires and dams of different breeds, produces direct
heterosis in crossbred calves. However, this system forfeits the considerable advantages of
maternal heterosis from crossbred dams.

A three-breed terminal is more productive and efficient. Two breeds with desirable mater- nal
traits are crossed to produce adapted and productive F1 dams, which are bred to sires of a third
breed in a terminal cross. Figure 2 shows a complete three-breed static terminal system. In the
complete system, about one-fourth of the dams must be straightbred, about one-fourth are needed
to produce the F1, and only about one-half are available for the terminal cross.

Figure 2. Breed
terminal cross.

Static terminal crossing is the only system that can have maximum heterosis in both cows and
calves, favorable breed combinations, and the bonus of complementarity. However, these
advantages are tempered by the necessity of pur- chasing replacement females or producing them
outside the terminal cross.

Rotation-Terminal

A rotation-terminal combines continuous and terminal systems. It is one way to provide

crossbred replacement females for static termi- nals. A rotation system, either true rotation or sire
rotation, produces replacement females both to keep itself going and to use in a separate ter-
minal herd. Middle-aged dams (4 to 6 years old) are moved out of the rotation to the terminal
because they are less prone to calving problems if terminal sires are relatively large.
Combination Breeds

Existing breeds are sometimes blended to form combination breeds, with new packages of traits.
Because these breeds are formed by crossbreeding, there is some residual heterosis; how much
depends on how many breeds are included, in what portions they are included, and how much
inbreeding occurs as the breed develops. So with these combination breeds it may be possible to
obtain some heterosis using a single breed in a straightbred system.

Other Systems

The breeding systems discussed so far all use a single breed of sire in a breeding group. There
are alternatives.

Multiple Sire Breed

More than one sire breed can be used concurrently in a single breeding group. For example, sires
of two British breeds could be used in a continuous system. To reduce loss of heterosis and
decrease phenotypic variability, retained replacement heifers should be intermediate in
appearance, as much as possible. Or, British-breed and American-breed sires could be used. If
so, heifers with a more American-breed appearance should be retained if that type is better
adapted to the prevailing production conditions. These systems are similar to two-breed
rotations.

Hybrid Sires and Composites

Just as there is heterosis for reproductive traits in females, there is also heterosis in males for
semen quality and quantity, mating capacity, and longevity. Using hybrid sires can be a
relatively simple way to create combinations of traits not available in established breeds. Some
seed- stock producers specialize in producing hybrid bulls. For the most part these combine
different types, such as British-Continental or British- American. Several breed associations have
registries for hybrids.

Systems of Breeding for Dairy Cattle

Breeding systems play a significant role in the livestock production depending upon the purpose.
The type of the breeding system depends upon the size of the herd, likes and dislikes of the
farms/entrepreneur and need for any breed registry/herd registry scheme etc. Basically there are
two systems of breeding. Pure breeding is used for registry in the breed associations and these
animals will perform better than non-pure breeds. Cross breeding is used mostly by many
commercial producer and animals also have good performance because of hybrid vigour.

Systems of Breeding

A number of breeding systems are available for improving the performance of dairy animals in
terms of growth, production and reproduction. The aim of breeding systems is breed
improvement. The system of breeding to be used depends on livestock operation, goals of the
farmer or breeder and size of the herd etc.
Inbreeding

The method of mating between individuals which are more closely related, such as brothers and
sisters and of sires with daughters is called inbreeding. After many years of inbreeding it is
possible to obtain lines which produce uniform offspring. Commercial and purebred producers
exploit this method to obtain hybrid vigour by crossing between two or more inbred lines.
Inbreeding increases the genetic purity of the stock produced, but reduces performance. After
several generations of inbreeding, both desirable and undesirable traits become more visible. A
good program of selection of desirable traits and culling of undesirable traits results in a breeding
stock with more desirable traits. The ill effects of long term inbreeding are lowered production in
terms of milk yield and fat %, increased susceptibility to diseases resulting in more mortality. All
the effects are due to undesirable recessive genes becoming homozygous.

Out breeding

It is a practice of breeding the farm animals which are not closely related within the same breed.
It is popular system of breeding the dairy herds with average production and small livestock
owners. Out crossing combined with selection is responsible for most of the changes and
improvements in most of purebreds of dairy cattle. The effect of outbreeding are opposite to the
inbreeding since without breeding heterozygosity is increased.

Cross breeding

It is the mating of the animals belonging to two different breeds. It is done to take advantage of
good qualities of two or more breeds. Extensive research on cross breeding of dairy cattle is
under taken by military dairy farms in India. The outcome of all the crossbreeding studies
showed that combination of 50 percent exotic inheritance and 50 percent indigenous inheritance
excelled in terms of growth rates, production traits and adaptability to Indian climate. It
contributed to make India to stand first in milk production in the world. The level of exotic
inheritance should never exceed 62.5% to exploit the full genetic potential of the animal for a
sustainable production. The cross breeding programme was under taken to exploit the milk yield
potential of the exotic breeds combined with heat tolerance, disease resistance of indigenous
breeds. Cross breeds of Jersey, Holstein Fresian and Brown Swiss are early maturing, yielding
more milk compared to indigenous breeds. All India Coordinated Research Project on cattle
resulted in development of synthetic breeds like Karan Swiss, Karan Fries, Frieswal, and
Sunandini etc. Crossbreeding usually results in improved traits in the offspring. Superior traits
that results from cross breeding are called hybrid vigor or heterosis.

Grading up

It is mating of pure bred males of an established breed with nondescript females successively
over several generations to produce a progeny that resembles and performs similar to the pure
breed. Grading up is the system of breeding mostly adopted for genetic improvement of the
buffaloes. It is to be taken up in areas having more number of the non-descriptive female
population. After seven generations of crossing, the non-descriptive females acquire the
characters of a pure breed. Murrah buffalo bulls are used on local buffaloes for genetic
improvement in India. The amount of improvement that results is dependent on the quality of
sire used for the breeding programme. Godavari breed of buffalo is developed by crossing of the
local buffalos of coastal region of Andhra Pradesh breed with Murrah breed over several
generations.
Out crossing

Mating of the unrelated pure breed animals, within the same breed is called out crossing. The
animals mated have no common ancestor on either of their pedigree up to 4 to 6 generations and
the offspring of such a mating is called the outcross. The purpose out crossing is to bring into the
breeding programme traits that are desirable but not present in the original animals. This results
in few undesirable genes being fixed in the population. For traits with high heretabilities like
growth rates, this is the most effective method. Out crossing is useful procedure when a drastic
change in the type of either seed stock or commercial herd is desired.

Back crossing

The cross bred females obtained by crossing two breeds are mated to males from one of the two
parental breeds.

Rotational crossing

In rotational crossing, males from one of the pure breeds are used in alternate generations to
breed the cross bred females. This rotational crossing could be between two breeds is called
crisscrossing and among three breeds is called triple crossing. The heterosis among crossbreds
produced by rotational crossing will not be 100 percent after several generations of rotational
crossing: The individual heterosis is about 67 percent in the rotational crossing, while it is about
85 percent in triple crossing. Triple crossing offers maximum individual heterosis and maternal
heterosis.

Cross breeding is the system of breeding mostly used for genetic improvement of cattle whereas
grading up is the method used for genetic improvement of the buffalos.

Systems of Breeding for Small Ruminants

(Goat)

With advances in estrus synchronization techniques, artificial insemination, or AI, is being used
more commonly by goat producers. Artificial insemination makes it possible to obtain or
transfer genetic material domestically and internationally. Many goat producers, both meat and
dairy, utilize AI to produce animals that are more desired by markets and consumers as well as
animals that will do well at local, state and national livestock shows.

There are two kinds of decisions that meat goat breeders must make. They first must make
decisions such as which individuals become parents, how many offspring they may produce, and
how long they remain in the breeding population. Meat goat breeders then must also decide
which bucks to breed to which does. That is a mating decision.

Mating decisions fall into two general categories, inbreeding and outbreeding. Inbreeding is most
often practiced by purebred breeders who are producing the parent stock for commercial meat
producers. Even linebreeding is a mild form of inbreeding. The other category is outbreeding,
which includes the often discussed practice of crossbreeding.
Crossbreeding can be used for upgrading, i.e. moving from breed to another, or “upgrading”
from common stock to more superior stock. This is accomplished by backcrossing.

Crossbreeding can be used in a perpetual system to produce market stock and replacement
females at the same time. There are some significant advantages seen in using this mating system
for meat production. The advantages have been documented in other livestock, and there is a
growing body of evidence that suggests the advantages apply for goats raised for meat too. A
number of practical systems are available.

Two major factors make systematic crossbreeding effective: a.Combining the attributes of two or
more breeds (There is a practical limit to the number of breeds that can contribute positive
aspects.) and b. Taking advantage of hybrid vigor (heterosis or the condition where the offspring
show more vigor or growth than the average of the parents), which in a sense provides a free
boost for some traits.

Some specific crossbreeding examples are provided below.

Rotational crossbreeding systems

Rotational crossbreeding systems involve rotating sire breeds across the female population. Such
systems produce replacement females internally, yet manage to maintain acceptable levels of the
original heterosis. Either purebred sires or crossbred sires can be used. You can use the breeds of
sires simultaneously by placing them in separate physical locations; or you can use the breeds
sequentially over time. Any number of breeds can be involved but generally the system involves
only 2 to 4 different breeds. Although adding more breeds will maintain heterosis at a higher
level, it may be a challenge to identify more than four breeds that complement one another.

Two-breed rotational system

A two-breed rotational system, also known as a crisscross system, represents the simplist system
available. Suppose you have chosen to use the Kiko and the Spanish breeds to use in the rotation.
The first step is to make the initial cross. Then backcross to one of those original breeds. The
female offspring from that backcross will then be mated to the other breed; then back to the first
breed. By following this system you will maintain about 67 percent of the original 100 percent
level of heterosis. The actual result in terms of measurable differences and units will differ from
trait to trait. This system is illustrated here using a rotation over time.

After about the 3rd generation, the relative percentages in breed composition will be about 2/3
for the most-recently-used breed, and 1/3 for the breed next in rotation. These same crosses can
occur simultaneously if the system is applied on a spatial basis where different herds of goats are
in different locations.

Three-breed rotational system

Three-breed rotational crossbreeding increases the level of complementarity, and the level of
hybrid vigor maintained after the first crosses. In this system, approximately 86 percent of the
original level of heterosis will be maintained on average over time.

After about the 5th generation, the relative percentages in breed composition for the offspring
will be about 57% for the currently used sire breed, about 28% for the next most recently used
breed and 15% for the breed next in line for mating. The complementary effects will increase
slightly and the level of retained heterosis will increase as compared to the two-breed rotational
scheme. Crossbred replacement does will be produced internally from the mating plan.
Terminal sire systems

Terminal sire systems are systems applicable where breeds are unquestionably identified as
maternal-breeds, which excel in maternal traits like conception rate, number born, milk yield,
and that intangible term, mothering ability; or paternal-breeds, which excel in traits like growth
rate and carcass yield.

Within the meat goat breeds, there are individual animals that tend to be more balanced in terms
of maternal and paternal features for all breeds. However, data from Teneesee State University
indate that the Boer may excel in growth and carass trais while the Spanish and Kiko may excel
over the Boer in maternal characteristics. One more extreme example is that, if they were used,
the Nubian breed would have to be considered a maternal breed. It would be more difficult to
identify a similar breed on the paternal side because of the balance of traits. Terminally sired
females are not kept as replacement, but are sold as meat animals because there will be other
breeds which will do better on the maternal side. While these terminal systems produce ample
amounts of hybrid vigor, their most important attribute is breed complementarity. There are two
approaches to terminal systems; static terminal systems and rotational/terminal systems.

Static terminal-sire crossbreeding system

The static terminal-sire crossbreeding system is considered static because the proportional breed
composition does not change over time as it does with rotational systems. The system does not
provide for replacement females internally. Obtaining those replacement does is the most
difficult aspect. A static terminal system that uses purchased does is very simple from a
management standpoint. The system produces a lot of hybrid vigor.

Rotational/terminal systems

Rotational/terminal systems are designed to solve the replacement problems associated with
static terminal systems. They combine a maternal rotation for producing replacement females
with terminal sires for producing market offspring. A portion of the goat herd is bred to
“maternal sires” to produce the replacement does. The remaining does are bred to terminal sires
to produce market offspring. Obviously the males from the maternal sires will be marketed too.

This system provides the breed complementarity that would be missing from purely rotational
systems, and the crossbred replacement does missing from a purely terminal system.
Approximately 25 percent of the two-breed does would stay in the system as replacements.

Rotational/terminal systems provide more hybrid vigor and breed complementarity than
comparable rotational systems, but less than comparable static terminal systems. Whenever you
combine two crossbreeding systems, you can expect the combination to be more complex than
its separate parts. In addition to the requirements of the rotation, an additional pasture is needed
to accommodate terminal matings. Using a rotation in time would simplify the rotational
component. Using artificial insemination on one of the groups would reduce the number of
breeding locations required.

Composites

Composites are derived from crossbred foundations. They can be considered new breeds.
Although developed initially through various crossbreeding systems, the intent of a composite
base is to develop a new breed. The simplest way to use composite animals in commercial
breeding is as one breed. Once the breed is closed (usually after about three generations of inter
se matings (that is, matings among the crossbreds themselves), there is no longer any
crossbreeding. A composite breed can be considered a breed made up of two or more component
breeds and designed to benefit from hybrid vigor without crossing with other breeds.
Development of new composites should be based on research information regarding the true
need for both paternal and maternal characteristics within the new breed. Research should be
conducted on the optimal mix of breeds to obtain the desired mix of characteristics— that is,
what the foundation breeds should be, and in what the proportion.

In developing a useful composite breed, it is critical that those individual animals and families of
animals within the foundation that are not performing be rigorously and quickly culled. Nothing
can kill the success of a new composite breed better than nonperformance of too many animals in
those early generations. New meat goat producers may try a composite one time, but they will
not stay with it if too many animals fail to reach expectations. Another key is to begin with a
large population. This will help manage the rate of inbreeding. Unfortunately there is no single
answer to the question, how large is large enough. Apply selection with extensive culling at each
successive generation.

Systems of Breeding for Small Ruminants

(Sheep)

Pure-breeding

Pure-breeding is the mating of rams and ewes of the same breed or type. A purebred flock can be
managed as a single flock because all ewes and rams are of the same breed. The goal of purebred
sheep production is to provide superior genetics (seedstock) to the commercial sheep industry.
Seedstock are marketed as rams and replacement ewes to other seedstock producers or to
commercial sheep operations.

Improvements in purebred sheep should be documented through performance records. The

National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) collects performance data from purebred
producers and provides them with across-flock EBVs. "EBV" is short for "Expected Breeding
value."

An EBV is an estimate of the genetic merit of an animal for a given trait. It is the expected
difference between the performance of an animal and the average performance of all the animals
in the breed for that trait. For example, if a lamb has a weaning weight EBV of 2.0 lbs., this
means that it will be 2.0 lbs. heavier than the average lamb in the breed. Its offspring will be 1.0
heavier.
Out-breeding

Within pure-breeding, there are several types of mating systems. Out-breeding is the mating of
animals of the same breed but which have no closer relationship than at least 4 to 6 generations.
Outbreeding is the recommended breeding practice for most purebred sheep breeders.

Inbreeding

Inbreeding is a system of breeding in which closely-related animals are mated. This includes sire
to daughter, son to dam, and brother to sister. Technically, inbreeding is defined as the mating of
animals more closely related than the average relationship within the breed or population
concerned. The primary genetic consequence of inbreeding is to increase the frequency of
pairing of similar genes.

Inbreeding is essential to the development of prepotent animals — animals that uniformly

"stamp" their characteristics on their progeny. Inbreeding may also be used to uncover genes that
produce abnormalities or death — genes that, in outbred herds, are generally present in low
frequencies. Inbreeding is suggested for only highly qualified operators who are making an effort
to stabilize important traits in a given set of animals.

In general, inbreeding results in an overall lowering in performance: vigor, disease resistance,

reproductive efficiency, and survivability. It also increases the frequency of abnormalities. For
example, the spread of spider lamb disease in black-faced sheep is believed to be the
consequence of inbreeding.

Linebreeding

Linebreeding is a system of breeding in which the degree of relationship is less intense than in
inbreeding and is usually directed towards keeping the offspring related to some highly prized
ancestor. The degree of relationship is not closer than half-brother half-sister matings or cousin
matings, etc. Line breeding is a mild form of inbreeding.

Crossbreeding

Crossbreeding is the mating of rams and ewes of different breed compositions or types. It does
not denote indiscriminate mixing of breeds, but rather is a systematic utilization of different
breed resources to produce crossbred progeny of a specific type. Crossbreeding is used
extensively in the commercial sheep industry and the majority of slaughter lambs are crossbred.

Crossbreeding offers two distinct advantages over pure breeding: 1) heterosis; and 2) breed
complementarity. Heterosis or hybrid vigor is the superiority of the crossbred offspring as
compared to the parents. Mathematically, it is the difference in performance between the
crossbred and the average performance of its purebred parents.

There are effects of heterosis in the crossbred offspring, crossbred dam, and crossbred ram. In
general, crossbred individuals tend to be more vigorous, more fertile and grow faster than
purebreds.

Effects of heterosis tend to be larger for traits that are lowly heritable (e.g. reproduction) and
smaller for traits that are highly heritable (e.g. growth, carcass, and wool). The effects of
heterosis are cumulative. Heterosis can be maximized by mating crossbred ewes to a ram of
another breed to produce crossbred offspring. Composite breeds such as the Katahdin and
Polypay capture most of the benefits of heterosis.
Breed complementarity

The second major advantage of crossbreeding lies in the ability to utilize breed complementarity.
All breeds have strengths and weaknesses. No one breed excels in all relevant traits. Thus,
production can be optimized when mating systems place breeds in roles that maximize their
strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

Mating Polypay ewes to Suffolk rams is an example of matching complementary strengths of

breeds to optimize efficiency of a production system. This cross takes advantage of the
reproductive efficiency and moderate maintenance costs of Polypay ewes while producing
Suffolk-sired lambs to meet market requirements for fast-growing, heavy muscled lambs.

The efficiency of this cross would be much greater than the reciprocal mating of Suffolk ewes to
Polypay rams. The latter cross would produce genetically equivalent market lambs (half Suffolk
and half Polypay), but fewer lambs would be sold and production costs greatly increased due to
higher feed requirements of heavy Suffolk ewes compared to Polypay ewes.

Crossbreeding Systems

There are several systematic crossbreeding systems. Terminal crossing makes maximum use of
both heterosis and breed complementarity. It may utilize two, three, or four breeds, and can be as
simple as crossing two pure breeds.

Terminal crossing

In terminal crossing, all of the crossbred offspring are sold and replacement ewe lambs must be
purchased or produced in the flock by mating a portion of the flock to rams of the same breed or
type. In a three or four breed terminal crossbreeding system, crossbred ewes and crossbred rams
can be utilized in the system to maximize heterosis.

Rotational crossing

Rotational crossing will also maintain high levels of heterosis. Rotational crossing involves
alternating the use of rams of two, three, or more breeds. Ewes are mated to rams of the breed
which they are least related. It works best when breeds which function acceptably as both ram
and ewe breeds, are utilized.

Roto-terminal crossing

Roto-terminal crossing involves both terminal crossing to produce market lambs and rotational
crossing to produce ewe lambs. The best ewes in the flock would comprise the nucleus flock.
They would be used to produce replacement ewes. The rest of the ewes in the flock would be
bred to a terminal sire to produce market lambs.

Grading up

Grading up denotes the repeated crossing of ewes and their female progeny to rams of a single
breed, with the ultimate objective of creating a flock that is indistinguishable from purebred
flocks of the ram breed. It is used when only rams of the breed of interest are available or
affordable.

Composite breeds
Crossbreeding is also used to form new or "composite" breeds. Once the crossbred base
population has been formed, the flock is managed as a purebred flock. This is how new breeds
are created.

Many of the aforementioned crossbreeding systems are difficult to accomplish in a small flock,
which may only have the option of one or two breeding groups. The purchase of replacement
females would enable the use of a terminal crossing program. Alternating the use of ram and ewe
breeds would maintain maternal and growth characteristics in the flock.

Breeding Systems for Poultry

(General)

Whether a male or female bird can be kept for breeding purpose or not is determined largely by
the kind of progeny (young ones) they produce. This is true regardless of the character involved.
A male whose dam (mother) had a high record of egg production mated to a female with a high
egg production record frequently produces daughters that lay prolifically (in large amounts). The
results secured from a given mating are determined largely by the genetic contribution of the
birds mated rather than by their physical appearance.

The breeding systems can be classified depending on whether it is aimed to increase

homozygosity or heterozygosity into random mating, inbreeding (breeding for increased
homozygosity) and outbreeding (breeding for increased heterozygosity).

Random Mating

Mating of individual without any selection. This is used in developing a control population
which is required to compare and measure the effects of other breeding systems. Control
population also helps to estimate the effects of the environment which in turn, helps to estimate
the true genetic gain through any breeding method

Inbreeding

It is defined as mating between individuals which are more closely related to each other than the
average relationship between all individuals in a population. Inbreeding can be consistently
carried out for several generations. There are 3 distinct methods:

Close inbreeding

Mating between sibs and parents and progeny. Full sib mating and back crossing of the progeny
to the younger of the parents are often practiced.

Strain Formation
Developing a small group of animals within a breed and variety with a special character in view.
This is a mild form of inbreeding. For example Babcock strain of Single Comb White Leghorn
developed to lay heavier eggs.

Line breeding

This is inbreeding with an ancestral line and is the most intensive form of back-crossing. Line
breeding is back crossing to the same parent for several generations in succession.

Outbreeding

This is the opposite of inbreeding in the sense that the relationship of the individuals which are
mated is less close than the average relationship within the population. Mating between strains or
inbred lines are the forms of outbreeding. The methods of out breeding (cross breeding) are
outlined below:

Single or 2-way cross: Two different populations (inbred lines, strains or breeds) are crossed to
produce a first filial (F1) generation which is purely for commercial purpose but not for
breeding. F1 here usually exhibits hybrid vigour especially when inbred lines are involved.
When two inbred lines of the same breed are crossed, the progeny is said to be in- crossbred.
This is usually practiced in poultry breeding for crosses between inbred lines of low viability
since only a relatively small number of animals of the lines A, B, C, D need to be maintained.

Crossing for production of a new breed

Different breed types have been crossed to produce the modern day breeds of farm animals so as
to combine desirable traits from many sources. These foundation crosses have to be subjected to
inbreeding combined with selection to consolidate them into true breeding populations (breeds).
Example Cornish developed from Aseel, Malay and English game breeds.

METHODS OF MATING

Mating is defined as the pairing of a male and a female for the purpose of reproduction or
production of young ones. The different methods of mating commonly practiced in poultry are as
follows:

Pen mating

A single male is segregated with a group of females in a pen during the breeding season. This
requires marginally more labour. Number of females that can be allowed with a male (referred to
as mating ratio) is 10 to 12 in case of Leghorn (Egg type birds) and 6 to 8 in case of meat type
birds. Pedigreeing is possible both on sire’s (father) as well as on dam’s (mother) side. However,
if Pedigreeing is done only on dam’s side, multiple male mating can be employed in a larger pen.

Stud mating

The males are usually confined at all times to small individual pens (stud) within the large laying
pen. The female is held in the stud for a known period of time (till mated) after which it is
removed and another is added. Two mating per week or at least once every 5 days is desirable
for optimum fertility. This method requires more labour and is rarely practiced now-a-days.

Artificial Insemination

Artificial Insemination (AI) is the technique by which seminal fluid (semen) of male is
introduced or deposited into the female reproductive tract by a pipette. One cock will yield about
0.5 to 1.0 ml of semen depending upon the body weight. About 0.05 to 0.10 ml of semen is
enough to inseminate one hen. This technique of mating is having many advantages and few
disadvantages.

Artificial Insemination of a hen Collection of semen from a cock

The advantages of artificial insemination are as follows:
 Allows unlimited number of single male mating without requiring extensive breeding
 equipment;
 Preferential mating avoided;
 Accurate Pedigreeing possible;
 If, due to some reason, a male of superior qualities cannot mate, it can still contribute
to the next generation;
 If the males are too heavy (as in the case of Broad Breasted White Turkey) or too old
for natural mating, AI is the method of choice;
 Hybridization between two different species is possible (eg. chicken-quail hybrid);
 In caged-layers also, fertile eggs can be obtained only by the AI;
 Problems of trap-nesting are avoided; and
 The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases is reduced or avoided
Insemination of chicken must be done during the afternoon hours by which time most of the
birds are expected to have laid eggs rendering their oviduct empty. Frequency of insemination
is twice a week or at least once in every five days.
The disadvantages of AI are:
 It require more labour;
 Chances of cross contamination of birds through the inseminating equipment,
especially of paratyphoid infection is possible; and
 Involves handling of birds which may cause stress.

Shift System of Mating

It is desirable to obtain about 100-125 chicks to evaluate a male. This requires a total time
which is inversely proportional to the mating ratio. If a male has 6, 12, and 16 dams, the
approximate time required to obtain the desired number of progeny is 33, 17 and 13 days,
respectively. To reduce this time, the males can be shifted from one pen to another so that it
will have more mates (female birds) through which it can be evaluated. Similarly, the dams
also have more mates making the comparison between dams more critical and accurate.

The major drawback of the system is the overlapping of the paternity when the males are
changed since the viability of spermatozoa ranges from 7-21 days. It has been found that this
problem of overlapping of pedigree can be avoided greatly by using AI, because, the sperms
held in the oviduct cannot compete with those in the fresh semen. Therefore, the eggs laid on
the second day after AI is attributable to the new sire. Similar results is possible with natural
mating, but the chances of preferential mating or time taken before the new male mates with
the female concerned restricts the accuracy under natural mating. The other problems include
the difference in vigour, virility and fertility of the successive cocks, difficulty in record
keeping and more labour involvement etc.
The shift normally followed is as follows:

• 1st day first shift males in breeding pens.

• 2nd day Start of collection of fertile eggs.

• 15th day Removal of first shift males.

• 20th day AI using the semen of second shift males and the males are allowed into
the pen.

• 22nd day Eggs are laid from 8th to 21st day (both days inclusive) are pooled and
designated to have been fertilized by first shift males. Start of collection of fertile eggs on
22nd day and onwards.

• 29th day Second shift males removed.

• 35th day AI using the semen from third shift males and the males allowed into the
pen. Eggs collected from 22nd to 34th day are pooled and designated to have been fertilized by
second shift males; and so on.

However, pen mating or AI is the commonly practiced methods of mating in most of the
poultry breeding farms.

Flock Mating

In this type of mating, large numbers of hens in a flock are kept with cocks in the ratio of 10
hens per cock. Method is good to reduce operating cost because of large number of fowls per
unit. This method is preferred where pedigree records are not maintained.

This system of mating has the following disadvantages:

• Males develop tendency to fight each other (When one male become aggressive
prevents others from mating)

• Dominating tendency of male causes low fertility

• Pedigree cannot be maintained

Limitations

(Inbreeding)

It can bring about loss of hybrid vigour.

It may lead to decline in fertility.

It may lead to high rate of pre-natal mortality.

(Outbreeding)

Lack of uniformity in animals that result from outbreeding.

Desirable characteristics may be lost due to variation.

(Natural Mating)

Inbreeding is not easily controlled.

Transmission of breeding diseases.

Extra feed for the male is required.

Large males can injure small females.

Wastage of semen.

It is cumbersome and expensive to transport a bull to remote areas.

(Artificial Insemination)

Harmful characteristics can be spread quickly by one bull to the offsprings.

It requires skilled labour.

Low chance of conception due to death of semen during storage.

It is laborious

Conclusion

After choosing a breeding system, producers should determine what breeds and individuals
within breeds fit their climate, forage, general management practices, and market. When
choosing a breeding system, give careful thought to the entire process. Do not embark on the first
stage of a system without understanding and planning for subsequent stages. A system that
works well for one producer or one set of production and market conditions might be unsuitable
for another producer or different conditions.
Reference

 https://www.slideshare.net/schoenian/breeding-systems#:~:text=2.,distinguish%20it
%20from%20other%20animals.

 http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/mod/page/view.php?id=4877#:~:text=A%20number
%20of%20breeding%20systems,size%20of%20the%20herd%20etc.

 http://www.sheep101.info/201/breedingsystems.html#:~:text=Pure%2Dbreeding%20is
%20the%20mating,to%20the%20commercial%20sheep%20industry.

 http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/59756/1/Systems%20of%20poultry
%20breeding.pdf

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFXEtUFFgV0

 http://thepoultryguide.com/breeding-of-poultry/

 https://www.scribd.com/document/239691928/Methods-of-Mating-and-Artificial-
Insemination-in-Poultry

 http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/course/view.php?id=329 (Topic 1, 2, 10, 17, 20)

 www.elearnvet.net/moodle/course/view.php?id=37

 https://peda.net/id/1bd2c9005fa