Is it ok to Breed a Cow to a Related Bull?

Darrh Bullock (University of Kentucky): You can breed your females to related bulls, but you need to realize there’s going to be some increased risk when you do so. Some of those risks that you would have when you have inbreeding, which is breeding the females to either their own sire, or grand sire, or an uncle or other relative, you have an increased incidence of genetic defects. You can have, basically, if there is a genetic defect in that population, there’s a higher incidence that it will then show up. You also have just generally reduced performance in the cattle. You’re going to have maybe some higher incidences of disease, just because they are a little bit more susceptible, not as resist. You’re also going to have some more incidences of lower performance in reproduction and also in general growth and performance. So, realize that you’re taking some risks. The more closely related the bull is to the female, the greater that risk is as well. Sometimes there are economic situations, say you only have one daughter of a bull and instead of replacing that bull and having the expense of replacing the bull, sometimes it’s ok to go ahead and have that inbreeding situation. But if you do, we do recommend that you shouldn’t keep back a female from an inbreeding situation.