How beef tenderness is measured and obtained.
Tag: Breeding
Basic Principles of Breeding Heirloom Vegetables
Tips for raising vigorous seeds, whether your goal is to preserve a variety or to create a locally adapted strain.
Beef Cattle Talk: A Glosssary
From 3 in 1 to heterosis to yield grade, all those confusing cattle terms you have wondered about.
Why Are Dairy Bulls More Dangerous Than Beef Bulls?
The answers to this common question include genetics, upbringing, and bull management.
The Broody Hen Versus the Incubator
Natural chick hatching or high-tech precision? Both methods have advantages.
What is a Composite Breed?
Want to combine the best characteristics of several breeds? A composite may be the answer.
Pick-a-Chick
Looking for the best breed of chicken to raise this year? How about a heritage breed? Heritage chicken breeds may not reach the egg or meat production levels of commercial hybrids, but they are often healthier and hardier, not to mention more attractive. For a free-range situation, heritage breeds can’t be beat. The Livestock Conservancy…
British and Continental Cattle Breeds
There are many way to categorize cattle breeds—beef and dairy, standard and miniature, commercial and heritage, Bos taurus taurus and Bos taurus indicus. One classification that is frequently used to describe beef breeds is British versus Continental. The names are rather self-explanatory. British breeds come from the United Kingdom, while Continental breeds come from Continental…
An Introduction to Heritage Breeds
Thinking about starting a farm with heritage breeds? If you are new to this topic, you may enjoy An Introduction to Heritage Breeds: Saving and Raising Rare-Breed Livestock and Poultry by The Livestock Conservancy. This excellent beginner’s resource starts with the basics—defining breeds in general and heritage breeds in particular. It discusses the plight and…
What is a Landrace Breed?
A landrace is a group of genetically related animals unique to a given geographical area. Landraces come about over time as animals within the area interbreed for many generations with relatively little outside influence. The fact that all of the animals within the population descend from the same set of ancestors, whether those ancestors came…
