• Length:
    6 Weeks
  • Effort:
    4–6 hours per week
  • Price:

    FREE
    Add a Verified Certificate for $149 USD

  • Institution
    WageningenX
  • Subject:
    Biology & Life Sciences
  • Level:
    Intermediate
  • Language:
    English
  • Video Transcript:
    English
  • Course Type:
    Self-paced on your time

Associated Programs:

Prerequisites

The prerequisites are a high school level of mathematics and genetics and a 2nd or 3rd year university level of statistics.

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About this course

Skip About this course

Animal breeding involves the selective breeding of domestic or livestock animals with the intention to improve desirable (and heritable) qualities in the next generation. This MOOC introduces the steps required to design a program for breeding animals and teaches the genetic and statistical concepts that are needed to build a solid breeding program. Follow this course and learn what the key factors are for improving and increasing productivity and learn what it takes to create and maintain a healthy strong population. You will learn how an animal breeder balances the need for improving the desirable qualities of the animals with the need for genetic diversity and long-term sustainability of the breeding program. You will learn about the scientific concepts in genetics that are applied in animal breeding, as well as how to apply the genetic models and computational methods that are used in animal breeding.

Professionals working with animals will be able to use the knowledge from this course to understand the impact of breeding on animal populations and use genetic principles to make their decisions. This course will allow you an advanced starting point for further studies, such as M.Sc. level courses in breeding.

Please know that knowledge of statistics at a 2nd or 3rd year university level is needed to follow this course successfully.

For whom

Although this course is open to everyone, it is particular useful for breeders of:

  • Cows
  • Poultry/Chicken
  • Horses
  • Pigs/Swine
  • Dogs
  • Sheep
  • Goat
  • Fish
  • Shrimp

Professional Certificate Program

This course is part of the Professional Certificate Program "Animal Breeding and Genetics". Join the other course in the program, Evaluating Animal Breeding Programs, and advance your career as a breeder.

The course is developed with financial support and input from the Koepon Foundation and the African Chicken Genetic Gains project.

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • The steps required in setting up a breeding program.
  • Understanding of the main concepts in animal breeding.
  • Applying genetic models and tools to predict the breeding value of animals.
  • Applying tools to predict genetic change and/or inbreeding in populations.
  • Understand the dissemination of genetic progress in different animal

Syllabus

Skip Syllabus

Module1: Introduction to Animal Breeding
Introduction to the seven steps that are needed to set up a breeding program.

Module 2: The breeding goal
Learning the characteristics of a breeding goal and how to define a breeding goal for genetic improvement and for genetic diversity.

Module 3: Collection of information and family relationships Learning the value of information on relationships, performance, and DNA information, including the concept and consequences of inbreeding. Learning methods to quantify relationships and inbreeding.

Module 4: Genetic models
Learning the concept of genetic models and to apply suitable genetic models for different traits. Learning the genetic concepts of heritability, repeatability, common environment ratio and mendelian sampling.

Module 5: Ranking the animals
Learning to estimate the breeding value of animals, using single or multiple sources of information, including DNA information. Learning to calculate the accuracy of estimated breeding values.

Module 6: Response to selection
Learning to calculate the response to selection and knowing its key elements and consequences of trade-offs between them. To understand mating schemes and long term contributions to inbreeding.

Meet your instructors

Wageningen University & Research
Hans Komen
Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Wageningen University & Research
Han Mulder
Assistant Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Wageningen University & Research
Piter Bijma
Assistant Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Wageningen University & Research
John Bastiaansen
Research associate Animal Breeding and Genomics
Wageningen University & Research

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Learner testimonials

"This course is very important especially developing countries like Africa where there is no well planned Breeding policy for the different farm animals. Because of this, they couldn't get the expected production and productivity is very low."

"All the course organizers were well prepared and knowledgeable. That was very respectful of their learners and the profession of animal breeding. I can now see why Wageningen University is a leader in teaching and research of animal science!"

Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions about the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and/or related online programmes of Wageningen University & Research? To help you find answers to your questions, we created a list with frequently asked questions about enrolling, participating in- and finishing a MOOC.

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