Weasle Queen <[log in to unmask]> wrote on 8/1/2005, 2:15 AM: >Why are there ferret breeders out there that insist on "LINE BREEDING" >as this is another word for "IN-BREEDING"? Actually, as I understand it, there is a big difference between inbreeding and line breeding. Line breeding is the careful process of breeding related animals to produce a better offspring several generations down the line. Done correctly, it is also very successful at improving the species. Inbreeding is the indiscriminate mating of 2 related animals, and often produces genetically inferior offspring. I personally do not encourage line breeding, though, because to do it successfully, you need to understand genetics and the genetic make-up of your breeding stock. I suspect not many people who are breeding have a handle on either of these things. Most of your dog and cat breeds are the result of careful line breeding. Animals with the desired traits are mated with closely related animals with the same traits. Once undesired traits are removed from the gene pool, then unrelated animals with the same traits are brought into the breeding program. Without line breeding, we would have very few pure bred dogs. The problems we see today in some dog breeds are not from line breeding, but from inbreeding. Sometimes, inbreeding occurs because people who don't understand genetics attempt to line breed, and do it incorrectly. The policy of breeding totally unrelated animals will not always produce the healthiest offspring. If both parents carry a bad recessive gene, then the offspring will likely not be healthy, even though the parents were totally unrelated. Without genetic testing, the only way to know the genetic make-up of your breeding stock is to line breed, and cull the offspring that display bad genes. In this case, cull does not have to mean destroy - just remove them from the breeding colony. The best way to produce healthy offspring is to breed only those animals that are the healthiest, and have the best temperaments. This means not breeding for special colors and patterns which may be associated with things like neural crest disorders. While I don't encourage line breeding, I consider breeding for specialty markings far worse, and more harmful in the long run. -- Danee International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator http://ferretcongress.org ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com You can help fight ADV! Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/ [Posted in FML issue 4957]