Practical Color Genetics for Livestock Breeders

For animal breeders coat color genetics is one of the fundamental elements of breeding, along with health and conformation. Breeders need to know about coat color for showing purposes and where the fibre is used in industry, for example sheep and alpaca wool. Breeding for coat color is complicated because many dominant and recessive traits interact to produce the base coat color. Alleles for these occur in pairs, so that the phenotype, or visual appearance, does not always reflect the underlying genotype. Practical Color Genetics for Livestock Breeders is a guide for breeders on the biology behind coat color in large animals directing breeders on how to implement breeding strategies to achieve desired results.

D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD is Professor of Pathology and Genetics at the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. His breed conservation endeavors include techincal adviser for the Livestock Conservancy as well as extensive work in Latin America.