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The pros of inbreeding cattle are the following:

  • No need to purchase any cattle to add to the herd (i.e., new breeding bulls or replacement heifers)
  • No need (or almost) for vaccinations because of the maintenance of a closed herd
  • Gives you the ability to find certain animals that may or may not be carriers of certain genetic defects to cull from that herd to make it more pure
  • Ideal for purebred cattle herds

The cons of inbreeding cattle are:

  • It is highly unrecommended to be used in commercial cow herds or even purebred/fullblood cattle that you have little to no genetic history of for every individual animal used in that herd
  • Genetic quality decreases overtime, leading to physical or even genetic defects that affects the productivity of those animals
  • Productivity may decrease after consecutive generations, creating smaller and smaller animals that are of lesser quality than their ancestors were.
  • Health may decrease over time due to increasingly inferior genetics if used in poor-quality herds, making them less immune to diseases should they suddenly be subjected to them.
  • There is a limit as to how far inbreeding should go before the introduction of new genes must be introduced into a herd to maintain its productivity without ruining the purity of that herd.
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Arely Tromp

Lvl 10
3y ago

What else can I help you with?