We often heard the term of crossbreed, but do we really understand what crossbreed is? In this article today, I would share to you everything that you need to know about animal crossbreeding, which perhaps for commoner like us didn’t quite understand before. Crossbreed often used for created different – newer species, ordinarily on purpose to create better shape and quality of some animals. Nor I say that those animals aren’t perfect, but sometime the need and necessity would make us do some innovation on behalf of progression of humankind.
The cross breeding could happen with or without human’s intervention. Human’s intervention could be seen in crossbreeding between pet animal species like dog, cat – also, the farm animals. Creating the new species of pet, ordinarily on purpose to create different characters, reducing dog’s behavior problems, examples, to create more hospitable dog who could easily adjust with a new family, and less-malignant – or just simply to make more beautiful appearance breeds. So it does with the cat. In the case of farm animals, ordinarily the term of crossbreed method was used on beneficial purpose.
Meanwhile, in the wildlife, those wild animals – sometime do mate with another species – outcome created different – rare animal into existence. People called these crossbreed animals ordinarily with hybrid animal, example of one nature crossbreed in wildlife is Grolar bear which is the crossbreed between grizzly bear and the polar bear. The Grolar bear outcome with magnificent appearance; they have glowing silver coat all over their body; now the Grolar bear mainly was in captivity and protection of official body.
Let’s not waste our time too long, here are: everything that you need to know about animal crossbreeding. The purpose and beneficial effects on humankind, and of course the gratitude for all breeder out there, who shown us a beautiful new species.
Crossbreeding Definition
The definition of a breed is an interbreeding group of animals within a species with some identifiable common appearance, performance, ancestry or selection history. Crossbreeding are matings between animals of different breeds or lines. Furthermore, the decision to crossing animal breeds is a concept of program to make well-design breeds or species. In 1850, Bakewell was created a concept of standardized breeds and defined the breeding goal. Now, Bakewell was known as the founder of practical breeding and the one who set the standardized of breeds in the first place.
The crossbreeding should be used to maintain the viability organism and the health of the subjects (animals), that is why an irresponsible crossbreed should be not done, consider the risk of dilute a purebred gene pool that could have driven species into extinction – also, producing inferior organism quality which could harm the species. However, you should understand that crossbreed and hybrid is different, my friends. The crossbreed is the cross mating within a single species, example: cat to cat, dog to dog, etc. In other hand hybrid is the cross mating between different species, example: tiger to lion, horse to donkey, and many other examples.
The Examples of Crossbreed’s Animals
Now, we would learn the examples of some animals whose have through some experimental of crossbreed in period of times that have been done.
Cattle
Cattle would be our first list from the examples of the animals today. In common crossbreed one of the animal was larger than other, because the females ordinarily become the perfect adapted as the purebred. The goal of cattle crossbreed is to improve the profit in economical area of dairy productions. There is a concept that economically sustainable breeding goal was essential for the survival and welfare of the animal itself.
Therefore, the crossbreed help the dairy producers to increase economic output, also improve in the herd level of animal’s welfare.
Cats
These days, many parties have developed and bring to the existence the well-established breeds from the domestic cat crossbreeds. Neither it was selected traits of propagate rare mutation without any inbreeding, or foundation stock, some breeds are entirely from the local landrace population development. Furthermore, almost all the cat breeds experimental was from the crossbreed. The pure example of crossbreed is the Aegean cat. There are also some hybridization on domestic cat with the wild cat’s species, which apparently shown a good result.
Dogs
Another commonly crossbreed that happened is between dogs. Crossbreed among dog is quite popular, based on the fact that the breeders could increase vigor without the risk of loss the appearance quality of the dog. Crossbreed in dog implicate two breeds, and sometime even more than two. It’s a bit distinguished, especially when one of the dog was a mixed-breed dog, because we have no clue about the pure ancestry of the dog.
There is a term called designer dogs which is mean the crossbreeding of two purebred dogs from different breeds – this method is widely famous among dog’s breeders.
Crossbreeding Systems
There are some of crossbreeding systems that applied in the most of breeding:
Pure-breed Cross (Two-way Cross)
This system is widely used for the sheep and cattle. The pure-bred cross exploited the heterosis in the offspring, cross the pure breeds together – the females mated to a breed of a high growth and slaughter quality males. Also, there’s no need to replacement to gets much higher value.
Three-way Cross
Three-ways cross requires two ways cross females mated to a pure-bred male of the third breed. There is term called backcrosa in three-ways cross which is only happened in special occasion of female crossbreeds to one of the sires of the parent breeds.
Four-way Crosses
In this system, two-way cross females are crossed to the crossbred males of the third and fourth breed. Apparently, this four-way cross was widely commercial poultry breeding programs.
Two-way Rotation
This system is familiar with the backcrossing method, which is the A breed females would cross to males of breed B. In each generation A breed and B breed males are used and all the crossbred females could be use as the replacement in all generations.
Three-way Rotation
This system use A breed females crossed to B breed males. In other option, males from the breed A, B, and C are used and all females from all generations could be use to produce replacement.