# Line breeding or in breeding?



## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

On the weekend at a show I went to there was a breeder that had a few goats there. A really nice buck and a really nice doe of theirs is brother and sister and then they had twins with the mom (sister) that were fathered by the brother. The babies were really nice as well. They all won or placed in their classes. The people said it wasn't a planned breeding but now they would do it again. Is this line breeding or inbreeding? Is it worth the risk? What are some things to consider before doing line breeding or inbreeding? 


Owned by 16 miniature goats, 2 boer goats, 8 horses, 4 dogs, 6 cats, 9 parrots and too many chickens to count!


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

If it works out, it is called line breeding, if it doesn't - inbreeding! 
Seriously, close breeding can magnify problems, if there are any, or it can 
bring out really good points. You need to know the goats in question really well before 
you decide to breed close relatives.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

Please read this article:

http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/83-6/alice_g_hall/


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Hollowdweller said:


> Please read this article:
> 
> http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/83-6/alice_g_hall/


That is a great article! Thanks for posting, it contains a lot of useful information!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All good advice.

You really have to know your genetics and the goats being put together, any flaws in the genetics will come out even worse at times.
There is risk, but sometimes you can get some really good goats and other times, it is a goat to which is no good.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

My definition of line breeding is when you introduce a specific individual or blood line multiple times in the pedigree but at the same time you keep the actual inbreeding percentage low.

My goats are mostly linebred on 2 saanen bucks. Companeros Voice of Reason and Perfection Snolan.

Here is a pedigree of one of my goats. If you know how to click and look farther back in the pedigree look how many times Reason and Snolan appear, but when you click "Inbreeding" on her pedigree page, she is only 5% inbred.

http://www.adgagenetics.org/GoatDetail.aspx?RegNumber=S001349159

Where this doe has been linebred she really seems to throw does that have her good properties and style.

OK, then here is anothe buck, one I used to own and was not only very nice but seemed to throw his type to his offspring. Notice how many times Snolan appears in the pedigree not only Snolan but any animal with SNO prefix is a Snolan son and daughter. Also click "inbreeding" and see that he was 19% inbred. I would consider this buck more inbred than linebred.

This buck was VERY good on the outcross, even bred to other animals that had Snolan in their pedigree. But if I crossed him back to like a grandaughter or something I lost size and milk, and some type.

That didn't mean that the inbreeding was bad, that just meant that you used him on the outcross.

http://www.adgagenetics.org/GoatDetail.aspx?RegNumber=S001178177

So to repeat. I consider linebred to be where a specific animal or herd name with similar individuals repeats in a pedigree but without a very high inbreeding percentage, where a single animal that appears close up in the pedigree over and over with a high inbreeding percentage, to me that would be more inbred. However technically it's all inbreeding.


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