breeding and improvement of farm animals

791 Pages·2013·32.62 MB·English

PUBLICATIONS IN THE
~MsGRAW-HILL
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
R. A. BRINK, Consulting Editor
BREEDING AND IMPROVEMENT
OF FARM ANIMALS
McGRA W-HILL PUBLICATIONS IN-THE
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
R. A. BRINK, CONSULTING EDITOR
ADRIA:\"CE AND BRISON' Propagation of Horticultural Plants
AHLGRE);J . Forage Crops
Al'iDERi'\O:-O . Dis('ases of Fruit Crops
BROWN' Cotton
CARROLL AND KRIDER' Swine Production
CRUESS' Commercial Fruit and V('getable Products
DICKSON . Dis('ases of Field Crops
ECKLES, Cm.ms, AND MACY . Milk andl'Iilk Products
ELLIKER . Practical Dairy Bacteriology
FERXALD AND SHEPARD' Applied Entomology
GARD'NER, BRADFORD, AND HOOKER' The Fu~I::lIll('ntals of Fruit Production'
GUSTAFSOX . Conservation of the Soil
GCSTAFSOX . Soils and Soil Management
HAYES, IMMER, A;I;D S:lHTH . Methods of Plant Brf'cdin!(
HEALD' Manual of Plant Discases
HEALD' Introduction to Plant Pathology
HERRINGTO!'l . Milk and Milk Processing
HUTT' Genetics of the Fowl
JE!'INY . Fact.ors of Soil Formation
JULL' Poultry Husbandry
LAURIE AND RIES . Floriculture
LEACH' Insect Transmission of Plant Dis('ases'
MAYNARD' Animal Nutrition
:\iETCALF, FLI;I;T, AXD METCALF' Destructiv(' and Useful Insects
XEVEXS . Principles of Milk Production
PATgRSON . Statistical Technique in Agricultural Research
PETERS AND GRt':lnlER . Livestock Production
RATHER AND HARRISON' Field Crops
RICE AND ANDREWS' Bre('ding and Improvl'mcnt of Farm Animal8
ROADHOUSE AND HEXDERSO!'l . The l\iarket-milk Industry
ROBBINS, CRAFTS, AND RAYNOR' \V('('d Control
RCHILLETTER AND RICHEY' Textbook of Gl?npra],!'F~lifmTl'
STEIXHAUS . Principles of Insect PathologJ1 .,~~ ••
Tno;'\IPsoN . Soils and Soil Fertility '.
THO~!p'SON . Veg('table Crops
WALKER' Diseases of Veg('table C~ops
WALKEll . Plant Pathology .
WILSO!'l . Grain Crops
WOLFE AXD KIl'PS . Production of Fidd Crops
The late Leon J. Cole was Consulting Editor of this series from 1937 to 1948.
Th('re are also the relatcd scries of McGraw-Hill Publications in the Botanical Science~,
of which Edmund W. Sinnott is Consulting Editor, arid in the Zoological Sci~ces, of
which Edgar J. Boell is Consulting Editor. Titl('s in the Agricultural Scien!es were
publishrd in these series in the period 1917 to 1937,
Breeding and lInprovemellt
of
Farm Animals,
VICTOR ARTHUR RICE ,.
Professor oj'Animal llusbandry
Cni11ersily of ll.fassachusetts
AND
FREDERICK NEWCOMB ANDREWS
,
/
Professor of Animal Husbandry
Pllrdue University
With Chapter on
Selection in Meal Anirn.o,ls
BY
EVERETT JAMES WARWICK
Geneticist, Bureau of Animal Industry, U.S. Department of Agriculture
and Professor of Animal Husbandry, University oJ Tennessee
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NEW YORK TORONTO LONDON
McGRAW-HILL BOOK' COMPANY, INC.
1951
BREEDING AND IMPROVEMENT OF FARM ANIMALS
Olpyright, Hl26, 1934, 1942,1951, by thEl McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
Copyright renewed 1954 by Victor Arthur Rice. Printed in the United
Htates of America. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may
not be reproduced in any form without permission of the publishers.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
In the Preface to the First Edition, published in 1926, we said, "This
book has been written primarily for use as a textbook of animal breeding.
It treats the subject of breeding practice from the scientific standpoint
in so far as this is possible at the present time. Breeding is an art to be
learned only by practice, but knowledge of principles supplies the only
firm foundation for its practice. Superior animals will be more numerous
when breeders know why as well. as how."
Part of the Preface to the Second Edition, published in 1934, reads,
"Great progress has been made in all three of the fields included in the
scope of this book since its publication in 1926. In the field of reproduc
tive physiology significant discoveries have been made in matters pertain
ing to the endocrine control of sex manifestations as well as in those
dealing with the maintenance of genital health and normal activity.
Great forward strides have been made also in the science of genetics and
new phases of this subject have been developed. These include among
others the artificial induction of mutations by radiation or heat; the
development of the theory of genic balance; and the cytological demon
stration of crossing over. The mechanism of transmission is now pretty
thoroughly understood and the chromosomal interpretation of inheritance
established beyond reasonable doubt. Of great significance, also, are the
new approaches and points of view that have come to the fore in the art
of breeding. Rules of thumb are fast passing into the discard and breeders
are now basing their operations on sound physiological and genetic
principles. "
The Preface to the Third Edition, published in 1942, is included in full
on the following pages.
In the present revision, the basic organization remains as it has been
from the start, viz., (1) a general introductory section, followed by sec
tions dealing with (2) reproductive physiology, (3) genetics, and (4)
selection. During the past eight years, significant advances have been
made in all these fields: a broadened recognition of the fundamental
aspects of animal agriculture together with breed advancements, and
shifting emphasis among the various classes of livestock as indicated in
Section I, Animals and Man Up to the Present; further unraveling of the
intricate interactions of the hormonal regulation of sex manifestations
ane! tlJ.e widespread use of artificial insemination as portrayed in Section
v
~-.- --
Vl PREFACE TO l'HE FOURTH EDl'l'ION
II, Mechanisms of Reproduction; continuing delineation and refinement
of the basic l.aws of inheritance and their application to livestock improve
ment as shO\m in Section III, Mechanisms of Heredity; and a concerted
experimental attack on the problems and implications of the various
systems of breeding as related to the main f.unction of animal breeding
more successful selection as demonstrated in Section IV, The Art of
Breeding.
For ultimate success in creating more .efficient and beautiful animals,
one must possess an understanding of the basic principles underlying
reproductive physiology and inheritance and then gather, interpret, and
apply performance facts about his animals so that the hereditary deter
miners for desirable qualities may sluwly but surely replace those for
undesirable qualities now present in the germ cells of the animals cur
rently constituting his herd or flock.
It is the authors' hope that this book may provide both the knowledge
and the inspiration to accomplish this most worth-while and interesting
task.
We are again indebted to many friends, authors, and publishers for
kindly criticisms, helpful suggestions, and permission to quote and to
reproduce illustrative materials. We are happy to acknowledge our
special indebtedness for helpful suggestions to Doctors B. B. Bohren and
A. E. Bell and Professor R. B. Cooley of Purdue University; Dr. W. A.
Craft of the Regional Swine Breeding Laboratory; Doctors J. E. Nordby
and C. E. Terrill of the Regional Sheep Breeding Laboratory; and to
Professor \V. A. Cowan of the University of Massachusetts.
Our very deep appreciation is hereby extended to Dr. E. J. Warwick
for his generous and penetrating suggestions throughout our labors and
for his willingness to contribute the chapter on selection in meat animals.
For invaluable clerical assistance, we wish to thank Mrs. O. R. Rudde
forth and Mrs. W. A. Cowan of Amherst, Massachusetts, and Mrs.
Thelma Boesch of Lafayette, Indiana.
We shall always welcome constructive criticism.
VICTOR ARTHUR RICE
.FREDERICK NEWCOMB ANDREWS
AMHERST, MASS.
LAFAYETTE, IND.
October, 1950
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
In the early history of the Land Grant Colleges there was an almost
complete lack of technical agricultural science supported by experi
mental data, with the result that curriculums ·were built largely out of
liberal arts materials. Today ,ve have reached the other extreme with
so much well-supported technical agricultural science data available
that the student of agriculture has all too little time for liberal or cultural
courses. Most agricultural students probably get a smattering of repro
ductive physiology in general courses in anatomy and physiology and a
smattering of genetics in general courses in biology; but since the limita
tions of time so often prevent the inclusion of separate courses in repro
ductive physiology, animal hygiene, genetics, embryology, etc., and since
the inclusion of all these courses would exclude just so many more cultural
courses, the author has proceeded on the basis that undergraduate
students in animal husbandry should have one complete course in animal
breeding with reproductive physiology, genetics, and the art of breeding
brought together into one complete whole. He has also endeavored to
make this something more than just a technical book on breeding by
giving a bit of the historical background involved and by indicating
some of the broader implications of the place of man and his animals on
this planet; but he has tried to leave to the reader the matter of drawing
philosophical deductions.
This book is comprised of four sections. Section I begins with the
present status of animal breeding and then traces it back to its probable
beginnings. The origins of both man and his animals are investigated,
as well as the broader aspects of the evolutionary process that apparently
brought both into existence.
Section II deals with the processes involved in the physiology of
reproduction both from the scientific and the practical angle. The
breeder should be acquainted with the normal functioning of the genital
systems in order that his herds and flocks may be maintained at a high
level of reproductive efficiency.
Section III is devoted to a study of the principles of heredity. The
various types of behavior of the chromosomes and genes, passed on to
each new individual by means of the germ cells of its parents, in the
perpetuation of ancestral traits or the creation of variations from the
older :patterns, are considered in some detail. Although the direct
manif"stations of many of these principl~s which are explicitly detailed
vii
Vl11 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
in lower organisms are difficult or impossible of exemplification in the
higher species, it is a VIrtual certainty that they are at work. Therefore
a full understanding of the basic principles is necessary if the breeder is
to handle, in the most intelligent and profitable manner, his practical
problems of selection.
Section IV is devoted to what is often called the art of breeding, which
may be summed up in one word selection. This term has both a present
and a future connotation, since a breeder is constantly selecting from
among the best animals making up his herd or flock on the basis of their
pedigrees and performance, and he is also anticipating future selection
by planning matings to create new animals of a preconceived pattern.
Selection, therefore, involves the various systems of breeding both
among related and unrelated individuals. In the final chapter the reader
can glance backward over the trail that animal breeders and scientists
have blazed and look forward to try to foresee" the shape of things to
come."
It is the author's hope that this book will be stimulating and helpful
to students of breeding both in classrooms and on livestock farms.
Many friends have assisted the author in the preparation of this book;
among them Drs. H. H. Plough and Charles L. Sherman of Amherst Col
lege; Dr. Harry L. Shapiro of the American Museum of Natural History,
New York; Mr. Bradford Knapp, Jr., of the Bureau of Animal Industry,
Washington, D.C.; and Drs. G. Chester Crampton, Johr. B. Lentz,
Frank H. Hays and Mr. Floyd Johnson of the }\Iassachusetts State Col
lege. Special thanks are due Dr. F. N. Andrews of Purdue Cniversity,
Dr. Arthur B. Chapman of the University of Wisconsin, and Drs. Hugh C.
"McPhee, Ralph W. Phillips, and Ralph G. Schott of the Bureau of
Animal Industry, Washington, D.C., for their suggestions and construc
tive criticisms. The author is also greatly indebted to Mr. Talcott
Edminister for assistance in reading proof, and to Miss Evelyn Day, who
in some ingenious manner deciphered the original manuscript and put it
through a typewriter.
The author is indebted to Prof. R. A. Fisher and to Messrs. Oliver &
Boyd, of Edinburgh, for permission to reprint Tables 29 and 31 from their
• book Statistical Methods for Research Workers, 8th edition (1941).
Grateful acknowledgment is also made to various authors and pub
lishers for permission to use certain of their materials.
If the reader is curious as to the sources of the ideas herein expressed,
he may discover them.in great measure through consulting the refer
enees listed at the close of each chapter.
VICTOR ARTHUR RICE
AMHERST, MASS.
March,1942
CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION . v
PREFACE.TO THE THIRD EDITION .. YI
SECTION I. ANIMALS AND MAN UP TO THE PRESENT
I. Animal Breeding-Pres~nt and Past. . . 1
II. Early Man and Animal Domestication 38
III. Animal Origins and ProgreslSion. . . . . 68
SECTION II. MECHA~ISMS OF REPRODUCTION
IY. The Male's Part in Reproduction. . 98
Y. The Female's Part in Reproduction. 134
VI. Reproductive Efficiency. . . . 173
VII. Lowered Fertility and Sterility. . . 198
VIII. Pregnancy and Parturition. . . . . 226
IX. :Mammary Development and the Initiation of Lactation. 249
X. Artificial Insemination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 260
SECTION III. MECHA~ISMS OF HEREDITY
XI. History and Problems of Genetics. . . 290
XII. The Principles of Heredity. . . . . . 304
XIII. The Principles of Heredity-(Continued) 339
XIV. The Principles of Heredity (Continued) 364
XV. The Principles of Variation ..... 390
XVI. The Principles of Variation (Continued) . 418
XVII. Sex Determination . . . . . . . . . . 433
SECTION IV. THE ART O}" BREEDING
XVIII. Systems of Breeding-Unrelated AniRlals . 452
XIX. Systems of Breeding-Related AnimaJs . 485
XX. General Considerations in Selection. .528
ix
x CONTENTS
XXI. Selection in Dairy Cattle . 580
XXII. Selection in Meat Animals. 644
XXIII. Selection in Horses . . . 708
XXIV. Retrospect and Prospect. . 736
ApPENDIX. Livestock Record Associations . 757
NAME INDEX .. 761
SUBJECT INDEX. 767