The introduction to the basics of animal breeding covers the most important performance characteristics of farm animals and discusses the importance of animal production. The inheritance patterns of qualitative and quantitative traits are shown and the terms kinship, inbreeding, heritability, selection intensity, breeding value and breeding success are explained in detail.

Introduction to basics of animal breeding. Importance of animal production. Species of livestock and their products, performance recording, functional traits, genetic diversity, breeding goals. Qualitative and quantitative traits. Basic knowledge of breeding methods: genetic and environmental variation, heritability, genetic correlation, estimation of breeding values, selection, mating systems.

Animal genetic resources include the genetic and species diversity of livestock. While few high-yield breeds have been improved through breeding, many local breeds have declined. Without conservation efforts and sustainable breeding, numerous regionally adapted breeds face extinction.

Important concepts from population, quantitative and molecular genetics are introduced and applied to plant and animal populations.

Molecular marker-based methods and applications in animal breeding and genetics are introduced by discussing approaches to discover genomic regions associated with monogenic and complex traits, genomic prediction as well as the properties of genomic breeding values. Participants analyse real genomic data with the R-package and thus acquire the skills to carry out own research projects.

This course introduces students to scientific work with data, covering the full workflow from importing datasets (e.g., from Excel) to performing basic statistical analyses and generating clear, scientifically accurate visualizations. Through hands-on exercises in R and RStudio, students gain practical experience in data analysis and the creation of meaningful graphical representations.

The students will learn the conceptual and methodological background of research in the animal science groups of the Institute of Plant, Animal and Agroecosystem Science. In addition to teaching the theoretical background, the major aim of the course is to integrate the students into the research groups (on job training) and, hence, to focus on the practical application of the knowledge.

The students will learn the conceptual and methodological background of research in the animal science groups of the Institute of Plant, Animal and Agroecosystem Science. In addition to teaching the theoretical background, the major aim of the course is to integrate the students into the research groups (on job training) and, hence, to focus on the practical application of the knowledge.