| Kinship breeding is recommended as an adequate breeding approach for organic farms, because breeders work with their own well adapted cow families and bulls. Therefore kinship breeding is promoted on organic farms in a project conducted in Switzerland and Germany. An often arising question is about a possible negative impact of inbreeding on animal health, performance and welfare, but there is not much and quite varying information available. Therefore, a literature study and 10 interviews with dairy cattle breeding experts were conducted to get a better knowledge on inbreeding impacts in small populations. Results: Inbreeding depressions were described for production, sperm quality and quantity, reproduction, calf vitality, longevity and calving traits... |
