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Animal Identification in Breeding Practices

The document discusses the importance of unique animal identification for breeding programs, highlighting the need for accurate records of birthdates and parentage. It outlines various identification methods, including an international standard for dairy cattle and the limitations of physical IDs. The document emphasizes that effective identification is crucial for genetic improvement, health monitoring, and food safety traceability.

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yasir Awan
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16 views2 pages

Animal Identification in Breeding Practices

The document discusses the importance of unique animal identification for breeding programs, highlighting the need for accurate records of birthdates and parentage. It outlines various identification methods, including an international standard for dairy cattle and the limitations of physical IDs. The document emphasizes that effective identification is crucial for genetic improvement, health monitoring, and food safety traceability.

Uploaded by

yasir Awan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Principles of Animal Breeding

Faisal Ramzan
Compiled notes

Contents

FR
1 Animal Identification 2

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1
1 Animal Identification
Animals must be uniquely identified. The birthdate and IDs of the sire and dam should also be
known. To illustrate an ID system, the international standard system for dairy cattle is
HOCANF0036221749

where HO denotes a Holstein animal, CAN indicates Canada as the country of birth, F rep-
resents the code for a female animal, and the numeric part is the official registration number in
Canada. A problem with this ID is that it needs to be linked to a physical ID on the animal itself.
Common physical IDs are tattoos, hot or freeze branding, ear notches, radio collars,
n clipping, ear tags, and pit tags(electronic chips). A disadvantage of physical IDs is that
they are not permanent. Tags can be lost, or they are re-used after an animal is culled. DNA

FR
fingerprinting could be used to identify individuals uniquely and has been used to identify full-sib
groups of fish, but not individuals. DNA fingerprinting is also costly (at the moment). Animal
identification is a top priority for any genetic improvement program. Errors in identification can
lower estimates of genetic variability and can result in biased genetic evaluations. The best invest-
ment for a genetic improvement strategy is in a top-notch animal identification program. Besides
being useful for genetic evaluation, animal identification is important for health and traceability
concerning food safety for humans, which has become very important in recent years.

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