# Difference between linebreeding and inbreeding?



## SugarBush Farms (Apr 19, 2012)

What is the difference between inbreeding and linebreeding? 
I got asked this question during quizbowl and had not a clue. Are they just two terms for the same thing?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Its a fine line...

with line breeding you pick the very best of your stock and try to improve and strengthen certain traits..
Inbreeding is just throwing a buck and doe together with no regards to how the offspring will fair...any fault in the parents will be magnified in the kids...so I guesss you can say the difference is how we go about it...with reguard to the final result or no reguard at all


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## Axykatt (Feb 1, 2013)

I think that line breeding is a very controlled kind of inbreeding. You skip a generation or something and then breed back into the line. You don't just let all your goats interbreed regardless of degree of relationship. 

I could be mistaken, though.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

The general saying is that when it works it's linebreeding, and when it doesn't it's inbreeding


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Both are terms referring to breeding animals that are closely related - when it works it is called line breeding, when it doesn't it is called inbreeding.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

Ha, jinx.


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## SugarBush Farms (Apr 19, 2012)

That makes sense actually. Thank you!


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

zebradreams07 said:


> Ha, jinx.


:laugh:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yep.

Just be sure you know what you are breeding, look at any faults, as they will be worse, if bred to closely related, whether it be line breeding or inbreeding.


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

Linebreeding: you skip a generation. So Buck#1 X Doe#1= Kid#1. Kid#1 X Buck#2=Kid#2. then breed Kid#2 to buck#1=Kid#3. Kid#3 is 62.5% Buck#1 and 12.5% inbred.

Inbreeding: Buck#1 X Doe#1=Kid#1. Then Kid#1 X Buck#1=Kid#2. Kid#2 is 75% of Buck#1 and 25% inbred. 

This "holds" both good and bad traits. Culling must be very stringent with kind of program, but the results can be very worth while. A good example careful line and in breeding is the Devon breed of Cattle.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Would you breed 1/2 brother and sister or full brother and sister together? Or is this too close?


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

1/2 siblings you might get away with if the 1/2 they do not have in common has little to no genetic sameness. A lot depends on defects and such that the parent they share has. 

Full siblings, I wouldn't. Too chancy, even though there have been oops breedings between full siblings that came out fine.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Ok
Another question is I bought a little doe kid that at the time I didn't realise she was so closely bred. Her sire is also her grand father and great grandfather.. She is super and so well put together, but what do I have to look out for when breeding her? A buck that isn't related at all?

Next question: I am planning on running a closed herd soon and so have 6 bucks that are not closely related to each other, if at all. If I was to breed a doe to buck 1 then that kid to buck 2 and then that kid to buck 3 and again to 4, 5, and 6 could I then breed that offspring to buck 1? It would be 5 generations apart from the original sire. 

Sorry for all the questions, I don't want to cause any problems in my breeding so want to learn as much as possible to avoid this. I understand it can happen anyway.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

These are the actual definitions from two different dictionary sources:

LINEBREEDING: the interbreeding of individuals within a particular line of descent usually to perpetuate desirable characters.
a form of inbreeding directed toward keeping the offspring closely related to a superior ancestor.

INBREEDING: a process by which animals, plants, or people are born from or produced by closely related parents
the mating of closely related individuals, as cousins, sire-daughter, brother-sister, or self-fertilized plants, which tends to increase the number of individuals that are homozygous for a trait and therefore increases the appearance of recessive traits.

They are nearly the same thing. I guess you could say that linebreeding is purposefully breeding related individuals from a certain line with a goal in mind. Inbreeding is kind of just breeding closely related individuals with no focus on bloodlines.


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## Icedangel11 (May 23, 2014)

@Bree A common misconception is that inbreeding results in horrible freak offspring all the time, just because they are inbred. This isn't true. It just has the ability to bring out the hidden bad genes. So, if you breed a buck to his daughter and the kid has a weak back and spindly legs, not at all like the mother and father, you might think 'Oh,must be inbreeding causing this!' but you'd be wrong. The buck and doe carries the genes that cause a weak back and spindly legs. The same thing would happen if you happened to breed together an unrelated buck and doe who carried the gene but weren't related. 

Honestly, having six bucks seems like a giant waste of resources unless you have an absolutely massive herd. You'd most likely be fine breeding Buck 1. Then the doeling to buck 2, then back to buck 1. You'd be looking at a minimum of 2 years and 8 months for all the doelings to grow up, carry a 5 month pregnancy, and then repeat. In that time, buck 1 may have been replaced with a better buck. Adding genetic diversity adds heterozygousy, which also means your animals will pitch a wider variety of traits. If you are breeding for a specific thing, you'll have a lot of kids to cull. 

In your six buck chain the total amount of time it would take for his great-great-great-great granddaughter to get back to buck one is 8 and a half years. Assuming you bred the doelings at year old, they carried a 5 month pregnancy, and pitched a girl every time. 

I think someone on page 1 summed it up perfectly. It's only inbreeding if it doesn't work. Your doe who has the repeated sire would be fine to be bred to a buck who shares her sire. She's super well put together, so her half brother should be to! And with that link, so should the kid. Breeding her to a completely unrelated buck isn't necessary. Most of the time the ruling on inbreeding comes from a persons moral compass, moreso than a genetic one. The 'safest' route is one unrelated goat in between them to buffer any bad traits they could carry. Half brother to half sister, grandparent to grandchild, cousin to cousin. That way you're less likely to have those bad traits worked in, or to catch them before they get stuck in there.


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## Frosty (Feb 13, 2010)

Wow now my head is really spinning. I guess I need to read up on my goat lineage so I can get to understand all this. I am safe this year cause I am just rebreeding my four does but next year I will have to understand it cause I kept four does from my first breeding. Who would of guessed it was so involved.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Wow thanks icedangel. Something to think about!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I was thinking about you and your closed here this morning. If your going to have a totally closed herd then what is the plan for when your bucks your keeping pass on? I have no advise or anything lol it just never really hit me how hard it is to really have a 100% closed herd till you started asking your questions


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

So I have been buying in all different genetics that I really like and so now a lot of my herd has different lines. I would plan to keep a buck kid from one pairing that could then be used on at least 75% of the herd and then another buck kid from a different unrelated pair to breed to the ones that couldn't be bred by the first kid, this kid would also be able to breed 75% of the herd that wouldn't be related. I do understand that I may need to buy in new blood eventually but then I plan on buying at least 2 at a time that would live in complete quarantine for at least 6 months if not 12 month so I can test for diseases twice before they are introduced to my herd. I would also be trying to limit my purchases to tested goats, but still keep in quarantine for about 6 months to test my self and to make sure they are completely healthy. I am still trying to figure out all the details..


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Ok that makes sense! I was just being curious lol


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## Icedangel11 (May 23, 2014)

Bree, it may be a good idea to post your farm plans up and have others give advice on them. I've heard of a 3 month quarantine, 1 month being the minimum, but I'm not sure you'll be able to sustain your farm, financially, with a 1 year quarantine. That's one full year of feed and care going into a goat that wont be producing anything for you. 

If you wanted a stronger line of defense, you could practice kid catching. Even if you have CAE adults, if you pull the kids from momma and pasteurize and bottlefeed their milk, it wont pass. 

It's hard, lol, finding a good line between 'financially sustainable' and best for the animals.


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