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Line Breeding
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Linebreeding is a form of inbreeding and a system in which the relationship of an individual, or individuals, is kept as close as possible to some outstanding ancestor. The ancestor is usually a male rather than a female because a male produces many more offspring than a female, and this allows a greater opportunity to prove his merit by means of a progeny test. The genetic effect of line breeding is the same as that of inbreeding. Thus, homozygosis is increased, but in action, line breeding increases the profitability that the line-bred offspring will possess the same genes as the ancestor to which line-breeding is directed.
Linebreeding is also possible when the outstanding individual is already dead or not available for breeding purposes. In such a case one more of the ancestor’s sons or descendants may be used to keep the relationship high.
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