relationship, Gregory et al. (1999) recommend that at least 20 to 25 sires be used per generation. This would also be a reasonable number to be used in the conservation of a breed. The use of 25 sires per generation would result in a rate of increase in inbreeding of about 0.5 percent per generation.
While the loss of effective population size is an important issue in the conservation of AnGR, it is interesting to note that successful breeders have always accepted some level of inbreeding in their programmes. These breeders established herds or flocks that met their standards – the animals produced in these closed herds or flocks inevitably came to be closely related, and inbreeding resulted (Hazelton, 1939).