"Registered" sheep

[ejb]

\"Registered\" sheep

Does anyone know what the process is to "register" sheep? I have a pretty good idea that what it means is that if you have an offspring of two registered animals, you can register the offspring...what if you don't know who the parents are? My guess in this case is, you can't register them? So then, if you have animals that are not registered, but you breed them, can you then register the offspring since both parents are known? If you do this, i.e. register the offspring of two unregistered aniamls, are they "just as registered" as another set of animals where the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents etc are all known? How important is that?

Does all this really matter? We are looking to branch out to a starter flock of sheep...the exact breed to be determined, but a small flock of sheep that I know of is available, and they "seem" like decent animals. A few ewes, a yearling, and two breeding bucks with different blood lines....

When we set out on this plan, we planned on getting registered animals, under the assumption that thye would cost more, but would also cause the eventual offspring to be worth more as well to potential buyers...

Thoughts on all of this?

 

[Currmudgeon]

Re: \"Registered\" sheep

I don't know about registered sheep, but we breed purebred German Shepherd Dogs, and the registration process is probably similar.

You can only register purebred animals. That means you must have the pedigrees on both parents, and they must be of the same breed. If you can't produce the paperwork, then they are assumed to not be purebred. There's nothing you can do about that, other than finding the paperwork. The whole exercise is intended to safeguard the purity of the breed.

I don't know who you would register with. There may be a sheep association, or an association for the individual breed of sheep. An internet search should reveal that. Your County Extension Agent or whatever they have in your state should be able to help as well. And for free.

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I don't know the difference between a pure bred sheep and a mongrel, and don't know if anyone cares. But in the dog world it makes a tremendous difference. Our puppies are top line, and fetch $2,500 a piece. Run of the puppymill purebred GSD puppies are probably worth $300. Cross breed puppies would be maybe $50 or free to a good home, and you can get a dozen of them from the pound. In the case of sheep, I'd look to see what sheep are selling for from purebred lines vs. any old sheep with a leg on each corner. That way, you can make a rational economic decision whether it is better to just raise sheep, or to breed the finest sheep in the county. I'd guess that the difference is not nearly as great as it wold be with my German Shepherds.

There is no difference in the cost of raising the finest animals vs. raising crap. The differences lie in the cost of your breeding stock, which can be significant, and any show costs. Does one show sheep? Does anyone care?

I hope this has been of some help.