Why choose?

Animals that are to produce offspring must be well chosen.

Breeding animals must be well chosen because the offspring are like the parents.

Cows that give a lot of milk usually produce females that will also give a lot of milk.

This quality is passed on from the mother (dam) to the daughter. (In animal breeding the mother is called the dam).

Pigs that grow and gain weight quickly usually produce males and females that grow and gain weight quickly.

This good quality is passed on from the dam to her young ones.

Sheep that have well- developed bones and muscles usually produce offspring that have well- developed bones and muscles.

This good quality is passed on from the dam to her young ones.

Pigs that grow and gain weight quickly, that have well- developed bones and muscles, usually produce offspring that grow and gain weight quickly, that have well- developed bones and muscles.

The young ones often have the good qualities of their father (sire). (In animal breeding the father is called the sire.)

Bulls born from a cow that gave a lot of milk often sire females that will also give a lot of milk.

The good qualities of the bull's dam are often passed on to the bull's daughter.

Cattle that have little resistance to sleeping sickness produce calves that have little resistance to this disease.

The parents' bed quality is passed on to their young.

A badly formed pig with poorly developed bones and muscles often produces badly formed offspring.

The parents' bad qualities are passed on to their young.

The good qualities of the male and the female are often passed on to their young.

The bad qualities of the male and the female are also passed on to their young.

So it is very important to make a good choice of males and females.

It is easier to improve a herd by a good choice of male.

A female passes on her good qualities to a few offspring each year.

A male passes on his good qualities to all the offspring of the herd.

· A male should not produce young from one of his daughters.

The offspring would not be of good quality.

How to choose

If you want to have animals that are strong for work; that give a lot of milk; that gain weight quickly and make plenty of meat, you must choose breeding animals that are:

· well formed.

You must eat or sell all poorly developed animals. Keep animals that have plenty of muscle. The muscles of the back and rump are the most important, because they give the best meat.

· resistant to disease.

For example, do not raise zebu cattle in forest country where there is tsetse fly.

· good producers.

It is important to choose animals that produce a lot. For example: pigs that gain weight quickly; cows that give a lot of milk; chickens that lay plenty of eggs; ewes that produce two lambs.

· not too young or too old.

A breeding animal that is too young, not yet fully grown, gets tired, does not gain weight. It becomes a bad breeder. Its offspring will be poorly nourished, for a female cannot both feed the young she is carrying, and go on growing herself.