jodief100
True BYH Addict
Another thing to consider, sometimes the issues due to close breeding do not show up for a few generations. The kids from closely related offspring do well but then one of those dreaded negative recessives shows up in their kids.
I am not sure how much everyone here understands genetics or how much detail I can go into without either confusing some people and patronizing others. The simple explanation is almost all genes are paired, one from each parent (XY chromosome is the exception). One gene is dominant over the other. The dominant trait is the one that expresses itself in the animal, the phenotype- what you see. The genotype is what is in the genes, which may or may not been seen. The blue vs brown eye in humans is the simplest example. If you get a brown eyed gene from both parents, you have brown eyes and cannot have a blue eyed child, the genotype is homozygous(same) brown. If you get a brown eye gene from one parent and a blue from the other than you have brown eyes but can have a blue eyed child because you can pass that blue eye gene to your children, heterozygous(different) brown. If you get a blue eyed gene from both parents, you have blue eyes. Most traits are controlled by multiple genes so it is usually more complicated than that.
When you breed closely related animals, you reduce the variation in the genes. There are fewer opportunities for "bad" recessives to be covered by "good" dominant ones. If there are bad recessives in the genome, the odds are increased they will present in the phenotype or be passed down tot he next generation. This is also why males have more genetic issues than females. The Y chromosome is much shorter than the X. It is the one place in the genome where a gene will not have a pair. Negative recessives carried on the X chromosome can be masked if there is a second X chromosome present but not it the second chromosome is a Y. So traits such as color blindness (a annoying yet benign issue) or Duchenne's (deadly), a female would need to get the gene from both parents where a male only needs to get the gene from his mother.
EarthMother is correct, don't go down the linebreeding road unless you are willing to be aggressive about culling and keeping inferior animals out of the gene pool.
I am not sure how much everyone here understands genetics or how much detail I can go into without either confusing some people and patronizing others. The simple explanation is almost all genes are paired, one from each parent (XY chromosome is the exception). One gene is dominant over the other. The dominant trait is the one that expresses itself in the animal, the phenotype- what you see. The genotype is what is in the genes, which may or may not been seen. The blue vs brown eye in humans is the simplest example. If you get a brown eyed gene from both parents, you have brown eyes and cannot have a blue eyed child, the genotype is homozygous(same) brown. If you get a brown eye gene from one parent and a blue from the other than you have brown eyes but can have a blue eyed child because you can pass that blue eye gene to your children, heterozygous(different) brown. If you get a blue eyed gene from both parents, you have blue eyes. Most traits are controlled by multiple genes so it is usually more complicated than that.
When you breed closely related animals, you reduce the variation in the genes. There are fewer opportunities for "bad" recessives to be covered by "good" dominant ones. If there are bad recessives in the genome, the odds are increased they will present in the phenotype or be passed down tot he next generation. This is also why males have more genetic issues than females. The Y chromosome is much shorter than the X. It is the one place in the genome where a gene will not have a pair. Negative recessives carried on the X chromosome can be masked if there is a second X chromosome present but not it the second chromosome is a Y. So traits such as color blindness (a annoying yet benign issue) or Duchenne's (deadly), a female would need to get the gene from both parents where a male only needs to get the gene from his mother.
EarthMother is correct, don't go down the linebreeding road unless you are willing to be aggressive about culling and keeping inferior animals out of the gene pool.
