Re: RC: pedigrees, breeding, etc.

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/4/00 11:46:37 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
kmhicks1@juno.com writes:

<< When I was in High School I raised goats for an FFA project.  I bought
 two does that were out of full sisters and by the same sire.  One was
 MUCH nicer than the other.  I bred them to the same buck and then bred
 those does to the same buck. Know what?  The line out of the nicer doe
 was so much better that they didn't even look related, even though in
 blood they were identical.  Pedigree only gets you so far.  >>

Remember--pedigrees are NOT blueprints--they are a set of possibilities.  
Your better doe clearly got better genes from the shuffle than her her full 
sister did.  And that is where being a skilled breeder comes in--recognizing 
which individuals got which genes, and breeding the next generation 
accordingly, instead of just looking at the pieces of paper.  The fact 
remains--the qualities (or lack thereof) of BOTH does were represented in the 
pedigree, somewhere.

Heidi