We have a family bull that we have used in our herd for the past 3 years. We had not had a heifer born in the prior years but now I have 2. I plan to move my two heifers once they reach around 6 months but when they are ready for breeding I assume its not ok for me to use our family bull? Since he is their father? When I google it I seem to read mixed things on this. Is inter breeding ok in cattle?
One bull herd
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Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Won't hurt a thing unless you have some genetic defect in the woodpile.
Lucky_P
Well-known member
Unless he is a carrier of a genetic defect - and you like what he produces - there's no major downside to allowing him to breed his daughters... though if you are a registered 'seedstock' producer, private treaty buyers might shy away from calves resulting from that sire/daughter mating... but if this is just a commercial herd, the buyers at the local salebarn won't know or care 'who's their daddy'.
snoopdog
Well-known member
Not a problem at all
Correct. Idk if some on here have done that but our philosophy has always been that way.
Gene pool would really tight and if there are any recessive genes that haven't show yet they will likely show in that granddaughter mating to that bull.
If it was me I'd keep as many of the first generation heifers as you want and keep breeding them for a couple more years then get a new bull you like .
Gene pool would really tight and if there are any recessive genes that haven't show yet they will likely show in that granddaughter mating to that bull.
If it was me I'd keep as many of the first generation heifers as you want and keep breeding them for a couple more years then get a new bull you like .
Lucky_P
Well-known member
Actually, 'Heifer 2' is no more likely than 'Heifer 1' to have inherited a genetic defect from Bull 1, if he's carrying one, so undesirable recessives are no more likely to show up in that sire/granddaughter mating than in the sire/daughter mating.
Agree, the inbreeding coefficient is getting higher with every cross... and at some point, ol' Bull #1's fertility is gonna tank (usually by 7 years of age, most bulls are experiencing a decline in fertility - if they're still working by that age), so he may or may not even be around to breed many of his granddaughters.
That said, we kept a recent bull around 'til age 10... pretty much only did cleanup behind AI for the last 6-7 years he was here. Turned out that he was the founder of an Angus genetic defect, and did sire some defective calves - out of both daughters and granddaughters. However, there were other granddaughters that he caught on the cleanup cycle that delivered fine, normal, healthy calves.
Agree, the inbreeding coefficient is getting higher with every cross... and at some point, ol' Bull #1's fertility is gonna tank (usually by 7 years of age, most bulls are experiencing a decline in fertility - if they're still working by that age), so he may or may not even be around to breed many of his granddaughters.
That said, we kept a recent bull around 'til age 10... pretty much only did cleanup behind AI for the last 6-7 years he was here. Turned out that he was the founder of an Angus genetic defect, and did sire some defective calves - out of both daughters and granddaughters. However, there were other granddaughters that he caught on the cleanup cycle that delivered fine, normal, healthy calves.
Chocolate Cow2
Well-known member
Why is it ok to breed father to daughter but not son to mother?LJCB said:
Chocolate Cow2 said:
I'm not a genetics expert haha.I guess it would be about the same but we just never have and never will. I just know a lot of the old time commercial guys around me follow the same type of rules.
