Learn How Animals are Bred
Course Code: BAG301 | Nominal Course Duration: 100 hours
Animal reproduction varies in many ways, hence the ways we approach animal breeding needs to be different for different types of animals. Dog breeding is not the same as breeding horses fish or birds. There are many fundamental things that are common to breeding most types of animals. Learn these fundamentals and you have a foundation for breeding any type of pet.
Learn the Fundamentals
- Genetics
- Selection
- Pure breeding
- Cross breeding
- Breed improvement
Start with a broad understanding of genetics in the first two lessons, and build your knowledge from there.
Breeding dogs, cats, horses or other animals can only be understood and applied from knowledge of the science of genetics.
This course provides both the scientific and practical foundation to build skills in breeding any types of animals.
What the Course Covers
This course is made up of seven lessons.
This course covers:
Lesson 1. Introduction to Genetics - Cell division, mitosis and meiosis
- 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
Lesson 2. Genetics: Genes, dominance, sex determination, mutations, lethal genes, hybrid vigour
- Genetics
- Gene mutations
- Lethal genes
- Effect of the environment
- Hybrid vigour
- Genetics in agriculture
- Heritability
Lesson 3. Selection: Animal breeding programmes, natural selection, artificial selection, regression
- Selection
- Animal breeding programs
- Agriculture
- Decide on your priorities
- Dual purpose animals
- Artificial selection
- Gene groups
- Regression
- Domestic animals - Dogs, cats etc.
Lesson 4. Pure Breeding - Inbreeding, close breeding, line breeding, advantages and disadvantages of inbreeding
- Pure Breeding
- Inbreeding - close breeding and line breeding
- Genetic effects of inbreeding
- Advantages and disadvantages
Lesson 5. Introduction to Cross Breeding
- 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
Lesson 6. Cross Breeding
- Cross Breeding
- Practical cross breeding
- Two breed or single cross
- Back cross or crisscrossing
- Cyclical crossing
- Rotational crossing
- Advantages of cross breeding
- Reciprocal recurrent selection
- Breed societies
- Grading up
Lesson 7. Livestock Improvement
- Livestock Improvement
- Performance Testing
- Sib Testing
- Progeny testing
- Relative breeding Values (RBV)
- Artificial insemination
- Synchronised heats
- Ova transplants
What you will learn!
- 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.
After Your Studies
100 hours of learning will immerse you in the subject of animal breeding - so much so that your knowledge, networking and experience will inevitably strengthen and grow your ability to tackle all sorts of challenges moving forward.
Graduates will:
- Know more about breeding pets and other animals
- Be better equipped to plan and implement breeding
- Be more able to evaluate and select animals
- Better understand the mechanics of breeders and animal suppliers to the pet industry
Making the Right Choice for You?
Everyone has different needs when it comes to education. Ambitions vary. The way different people learn varies. Our situations vary - what is possible, what is easy to achieve and what is difficult.
This is why we provide a free course and career counselling service. Connect with our course advisors and start a conversation. We want to make sure you follow the best learning pathway - whether with us - or someone else.
Making a better choice before enrolling is always the best way to begin any course.
Use our free Course Counselling Service - click here - and engage with an expert who understands the pet industry and courses we offer.