Breeds and herd booksA breed can be defined as group of animals within a farm animal species that has come into being uniform over a certain period of time. A breed shares the same origin and is distinguished from other breeds and sub-populations of the same species by certain hereditary characteristics. These breed characteristics can be qualitative (e.g. coat quality and colour, horned or polled) and quantitative (e.g. size, milk production), but these are not necessarily breed-specific. The concept of breeds The herd book keeping to confirm pedigrees started during the 19th century when the creation and development of breeds was very active. Within a breed, lines or groups can slightly differ in one or more characteristics, or in pedigree, from the main population of the breed . A breed is not a totally closed and static unit. New breeds are formed in an ongoing process. In the breeding history, there are several examples of newly created breeds, so called synthetic breeds, which have mostly been developed through merging of existing groups or breeds. For example the Swedish Red Cattle, SRB, is a crossbred of Ayrshire and older Swedish red and white cattle, and the Norwegian Red Cattle, NRF, that of several Norwegian native breeds and Nordic dairy breeds (both black-and-white and red commercial dairy cattle). Herd books In practice, from a modern standpoint, ‘pure breed’ comprises of the animals that are included in a specific herd book. In addition to pedigree, information about size, body conformation and performance, such as milk production for cows or growth and feed consumption for pigs, were included in herd books. The first herd book for cattle (Shorthorn in England) was edited in 1822, but for horses some earlier examples existed. In the Nordic countries, the herd book keeping was started for the dominant dairy cattle breeds at the end of the 19th century. Verifying pedigrees for farm production animals has become a part of production registration (testing), which has been developed for all economically important traits. The qualitative characteristics are, however, typically without economic importance, but contribute to breed identity and recognition. Reliable registrations are highly valued because of their importance for animal breeding and food production. Activities of registrations are included in official rules and regulations given by EU. The principle is that a herd book shall typically be ‘open’, and an object for continuous evaluation for searching for new breeding animals. Responsible: Anne Præbel |
