Stud (animal)

For other uses, see Stud (disambiguation).
Stud Murray Grey cows receiving supplementary feeding during a drought, Graman, NSW.

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species (stallion, bull, rooster, etc.) usually imply that the animal is intact—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring. A specialized vocabulary exists for de-sexed animals (gelding, steer, etc.) and those animals used in grading up to a purebred status.[1]

Stud females are generally used to breed further stud animals, but stud males may be used in crossbreeding programs.[2] Both sexes of stud animals are regularly used in artificial breeding programs.

A stud farm, in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding using stud animals.[3] This results in artificial selection.

  1. ^ "Santa Gertrudis Standard of Classification". Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  2. ^ Stud ewes Archived 2004-01-03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 15 October 2008
  3. ^ Taylor, Peter, Pastoral Properties of Australia, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, London, Boston,1984