Animal Breeding terms

Purebreeding or Straightbreeding

The mating of purebreds of the same breed.

Outbreeding or Outcrossing

The mating of individuals of the same breed more distantly related than the average of the population.

Inbreeding

The mating of relatives.

Common Ancestor

An ancestor common to more than one individual. In the context of inbreeding, the term refers to an ancestor common to the parents of an inbred individual.

Inbreeding Depression

the reverse of hybrid vigor - a decrease in the performance of inbred, most noticeably in traits like fertility and survivability.

Crossbreeding

The mating of sires of one breed or breed combination to dams of another breed or breed combination.

Line Crossing

The mating of sires of one line or line combination to dams of another line or line combination.

Hybrid Vigor

An increase in the performance of hybrids over that of purebreds, most noticeably in traits like fertility and survivability.

Hybrid

An individual that is a combination of species, breeds within species, or lines within breeds.

Breed Complementarity

An improvement in the overall performance of crossbred offspring resulting from crossing different but complementary biological types.

Maternal Breed

A breed that excels in maternal traits.

Maternal Traits

A trait especially important in breeding females. Examples include fertility, freedom from dystocia, milk production, maintenance efficiency, and mothering ability.

Paternal Breed

A breed that excels in paternal traits.

Paternal Traits

A trait especially important in market offspring. Examples include rate of gain, efficiency of gain, meat quality, and carcass yield.

Terminal Sire Crossbreeding Program

A crossbreeding system in which maternal breed females are mated to paternal breed sires to efficiently produce progeny that are especially desirable from a market standpoint. Terminally sired females are not kept as replacement animals but are sold as slaughter animals.

Terminal Sire

A paternal breed sire used in a terminal sire crossbreeding program.

Composites/Synthetics

A hybrid with at least two and typically more breeds in its background. Composites are expected to be bred to their own kind, retaining a level of hybrid vigor normally associated with traditional crossbreeding. Advantage to small producers is that a composite may be managed as a purebred and still maintain a level of heterosis.

Backcrossing

the mating of a hybrid to a purebed of a parent breed or line.

Grading up or Topcrossing

(1) A mating system designed to create a purebred population by mating successive generations of nonpurebred females to purebred sires. (2) A mating system designed to convert a population from one breed to another by mating successive generations of females descended from the first breed of sires to sires of the second breed.

Repeated Backcrossing (Introgression)

A mating system used to incorporate an allele or alleles into another population. An initial cross is followed by successive generations of backcrossing combined with selection for the desired allele(s)

Random Mating

A mating system in which mates are chosen at random.

Assortative Mating

Positive - The mating of similar individuals. (Produces and extreme) Negative - The mating of dissimilar individuals (Produces an intermediate)

Corrective Mating

A mating designed to correct in the progeny faults of one or both of the parents.

F1

Refers to the first generation of crosses between two unrelated (not necessarily purebred) populations.

F2

Referring to the generation of crosses produced by mating F1 individuals among themselves

Bull

a sexually mature male. Bull calf used to denote males under 1 year of age.

Cow

a female that has produced a calf.

Heifer

a female that has not produced a calf. Note: some cattlemen will refer to a heifer that has just calved as a first calf heifer.

Heiferette

a heifer that has calved once, dried up and is then fed for slaughter.

Steer

a castrated male.

Calf

a young cattle (less than 1 year) of either sex.

Calve

the act of giving birth. Some dairymen will refer to "freshen" as a term denoting calving.

Stocker

weaned cattle that are run on grass or fed high roughage diets. Generally weigh 350 to 550 pounds when started. Expected to gain 250 to 300 pounds during growing phase.

Cow-Calf Operation

a management unit that maintains a breeding herd of cows and produces weaned calves for sale.

Yearling

a cattle of either sex that is 1 to 2 years of age. Some cattlemen will refer to short or long yearlings.

Crossbred

an animal that is a product of the crossing of two or more breeds.

Feeder Cattle

those requiring more growth and/or fattening before slaughter.

Feedlot

beef cattle enterprise where cattle are placed in confinement, fed harvested feeds and fattened for slaughter.

Seedstock Producer

enterprise that produces breeding animals for the commercial segment of the industry. The majority of purebred breeders fall into this category.

Backgrounding

growing program for feeder cattle from time calves are weaned until they are on a finishing ration in the feedlot.

Beef

meat from cattle (bovine species) other than calves. Meat from calves is called veal.

Beef checkoff program

Beef promotion and Research Act established in October 1986. Each time cattle are marketed, $1 per head is paid by the seller to the Beef Industry Council (BIC). Month is used in promotion, research, and education. Generates approximately $70 million per year.

Biological type

usually refers to size of cattle (large, medium or small), growth rate, milk production (high, medium, or low), and age at puberty.

Bovine

refers to a general family grouping of cattle.

Boxed beef

cuts of beef put in boxes for shipping from packing plant to retailers. These primal (round, loins, ribs, and chuck) and subprimal cuts are intermediate cuts between the carcass and retail cuts.

Branded beef product

a specifically labeled product that is differentiated from commodity items by its brand name. Certified Angus beef is an example.

British breeds

breeds of cattle, such as Angus, Hereford, and Shorthorn, originating in Great Britain

Bullock

young bull, typically less than 20 months of age.

Calf crop

number or percentage of calves produced within a herd in a given year relative to the number of cows and heifers in the breeding herd.

Chuck

Wholesale cut (shoulder) of the beef carcass.

Conditioning

treatment of cattle by vaccination and other means prior to putting them in the feedlot.

Cud

Bolus of feed that cattle regurgitate for further chewing.

Custom feeding

cattle feeders who provide facilities, labor, feed, and care as a service but they do not own the cattle.

European breed (continental breed or exotic breed)

breed originating in European countries other than England (these are called British breeds); a larger dual-purpose breed such as Charolais, Simmental, and Limousin.

Fed cattle

steers and heifers that have been fed concentrates, usually for 90-120 days in a feedlot.

Feedyard

cattle-feeding facility.

Finished cattle

fed cattle whose time in the feedlot is completed and are now ready for slaughter.

Herd

group of cattle (usually cows) that are in a similar management program.

Hide

skins from cattle.

Long yearling

animal between 19 months and 2 years of age.

Maverick

unbranded animal, usually on the range.

Middle meats

rib and loin of a beef carcass. These primals generally yield the highest-priced beef cuts.

Preconditioning

preparation of feeder calves for marketing and shipment, may include vaccinations, castration, and training calves to eat and drink in pens.

Short yearling

animal is over 1 year of age but under 18 months of age.

"Show List" or "Show Pens"

slaughter cattle that are ready for the cattle feeder to "show" the packer buyers.

Stocker

weaned cattle that are fed high-roughage diets (including grazing) before going into the feedlot.

Veal

meat from very young cattle (under 3 months of age). Veal typically comes from dairy bull calves.

Ram

a male that is sexually mature. Young males are called ram lambs.

Buck

another name for a sexually mature male goat.

Billy

intact male goat.

Ewe

sexually mature female sheep. Young females are called ewe lambs.

Doe/Nanny

a sexually mature female goat.

Wether

a castrated male. Note: in the Edwards Plateau, wethers are often referred to as "muttons".

Kid

young goat.

Lambing

the act of giving birth in sheep.

Kidding

the act of giving birth in goats.

Fleece

the wool of a sheep.

Mohair

the fiber of an Angora goat.

Flock

herd or group of sheep/goats.

Chevon

meat from goats.

Mutton

meat from sheep over one year of age.

Prolifacy

ability to produce multiple offspring.

Caprine

refers to goats.

Ovine

refers to sheep

Scurs

small hornlike tissue attached to the skin of polled or dehorned animals.

Boar

a male of breeding age. Young males are called boar pigs.

Sow

a mature female that has produced young.

Gilt

an immature female. Some hog men refer to gilts who have produced their first litter as "first litter gilts".

Barrow

a castrated male.

Farrow

act of giving birth in pigs.

Farrow to Finish Operation

a management unit that maintains a sow herd and carries the production through to market weight.

Feeder Pig

a waned pig that is ready to finish for slaughter.

Ear Notch

method of permanent identification. Litter number is placed in the right ear, pig number in the left ear.

Hybrid Breeding Stock

not a purebred breed but used as foundation breeding stock in commercial swine production. Developed by crossing purebreds of various breeds and then multiplying the hybrid lines.

Needle Teeth

set of 8 very sharp teeth in swine that are usually cut off 1 to 3 day old piglets to prevent injury to other piglets and sow's udder\

Stallion (Stud)

sexually mature male.

Jack

an intact male donkey.

Mare

a sexually mature female horse. A female who has foaled or a female 4 years of age or older.

Jenny (Jennet)

a female donkey.

Broodmare

a female horse used for breeding purposes.