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Frequently Asked Questions
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Q: I am looking to buy 2 bulls at a sale. However, I have already purchased 6 Angus bulls from this ranch, 2 New Design, 2 Right Time, and 2 Coalition Line and I have used the Traveler line. If I eliminate all the bulls in the sale catalog that have a great grand-mother or great great grandfarther that is related to the bulls lines that I already own, this is eliminating most of the bulls that I am considering. Can I buy bulls that are related 2 or 3 generations back and not have any inbreeding problems in my herd?
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A: Inbreeding is simply the mating of related animals but we generally think of it as the mating of animals that are more closely related than average. Too much inbreeding can lead to inbreeding depression, or the decrease in performance due to homozygosity (the opposite of crossbreeding). High levels of inbreeding may also increase the risk of genetic defects showing up since most are homozygous recessive.
The relationship of an animal and his great great grandfather is only 6.25% on average. Consequently, if the only relationship between your current females and the bulls you want to purchase occurs 3 generations back in a pedigree, they are not highly related and should not produce calves with a high level of inbreeding. If you are a purebred Angus producer, you could log in to the members area of the AAA website and actually calculate the inbreeding of calves that would result from various matings. This could be a good way to make sure that you won't have any problems.
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Dr. Matt Spangler, Beef Specialist, Beef Breeding and Genetics
University of Nebraska, ,
March 7th, 2008
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