Line Breeding
Hank Kauffman

Question:
I have a question and figured you were as good a sounding board as any. I have an opportunity to purchase a couple of bred females. I'm new at this. What is your opinion on line breeding? One of the females is a grandmother/grandson breeding. Thanks for any light you can shed on this situation.

Answer:
I am not sure I understand what you mean by a grandmother/grandson breeding. If you are saying that the dam was bred by her grandson, this is a 1/16 relationship and is much too close. If you are saying that the sire is the son of the grand dam, this is a 1/32 relationship which is still too close not to anticipate some of the problems that can be experienced by line breeding. On the other hand, if you are truly trying to amplify the positive traits of the grand dam, a 1/32nd relationship is sometimes used.

The advantage of deliberate line breeding is that one can amplify a particular trait of the line being bred, for example, great fiber or length of neck can be amplified in the progeny. The disadvantage is that one must be very selective or negative traits may also be amplified. In general, the most serious negative effects from line breeding closely related llamas is that often there are reproduction problems, growth problems, and lack of milk in the offspring.

A line breeding relationship that has produced some great llamas is a breeding between two llamas with the same grandparent and great grandparent. This breeding constitutes a 1/64th relationship and is considered a safe line breeding.

In 1992, I wrote an article on line breeding with a relationship chart. That article is reproduced here so that I can share the opinions of two line breeding specialists and offer the relationship chart.

A Look at Inbreeding and Line Breeding
Have you ever wondered how closely related llamas can be and be safely bred? Often the information is confusing and different breeders have different opinions. Thus, I went to several experts for answers.

I first interviewed Dr. Frank Allaire, a geneticist at the Ohio State University Department of Animal Science. I then spoke to Jeff Ziegler, a breeding specialist at the Central Ohio Breeders' Association "Select Sires". Select Sires specializes in livestock breeding and artificial insemination.

According to Dr. Allaire, inbreeding occurs any time related animals are bred to each other.
Line breeding is deliberate inbreeding of related animals emphasizing a particular ancestor to amplify the traits of that ancestor. Dr. Allaire states that to successfully line breed three things are necessary:

1. You must have faith in the genetic merits of the ancestor you are attempting to amplify.

2. That these specific genetic merits are what the industry, and you the breeder, want today.

3. You don't currently have those same qualities in your existing animals.

In other words, line breeding is inbreeding with an attempt to amplify the traits of a particular ancestor.

Line breeding is a trade off. You may end up with the desirable traits you attempted to accomplish but create other serious effects. The most serious negative effects in line breeding affects reproduction abilities and growth traits of the progeny. There is generally little affect on conformation except in growth patterns. Lactation abilities of the offspring are also affected. In dairy cattle as little as 1% inbreeding can create a lactation loss of 50 pounds of milk a day. It follows that closely bred llamas will tend to have reproduction problems and be poor milkers.

Dr. Allaire ended the interview by stating that a good safe rule of thumb for line breeding is that anything with less than a 1/64th relationship is safe.

Jeff Ziegler from Select Sire amplified most of Dr. Allaire's points. He did add that males that have been highly line bred have a problem with semen production. He also made the point that to line breed one must pick animals with only good traits. Line breeding will also intensify any bad genes that the breeding animals may have.

Mr. Ziegler then stated that for safe line breeding not to breed any closer than a 1/64th relationship. A 1/64th relationship exists when the male and female being bred to each other have the same ancestor as a grandparent of one animal and great grandparent of the other animal.

In summary, one can intensify the outstanding traits of a bloodline but the progeny may also have amplified any negative traits that existed in the bloodline. Apparently, one can safely breed two related llamas as long as the relationship is not closer than a common grandparent and great grandparent which is a 1/64th relationship. The following chart shows the relationships and their percentages.