Keeping Male Animals for Breeding

Many farmers are reluctant to keep male animals (bulls, he-goats, rams or cockerels), as they are costly and difficult to keep, and do not produce milk or offspring. The farmers prefer to sell or slaughter the male animals, and keep only the females. But this may make it difficult to find a male for breeding. The few males that are in the village mate with all the females, causing problems of inbreeding.

Governments often keep male animals of improved breeds at breeding stations, and use the semen to provide artificial insemination services. But there are few such stations, and the nearest may be a long way away. By the time the farmer is able to call an inseminator, the female animal may be no longer on heat.

Groups of farmers can overcome this problem in various ways. The group may decide to buy an animal and give it to one of the group members to look after. Or an individual farmer can own the male, and lend it to other farmers for a fee.

The approaches described in this section are useful where there are few male animals, or where it is difficult to access the services of a breeding station. They can also be used to improve the quality of the local breed of livestock by crossbreeding the females with a male of an improved breed. The description below is for cattle, but the approach can be used with all types of livestock, as shown by the examples later in this section.