Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Registration
Bull (including DNA test) up to 12 months of age £46.00
Bull (including DNA test) 12 - 24 months of age £66.00
Bull (including DNA test) over 24 months of age £176.00

Does anyone know if it is harder to do the DNA testing for an older bull or is it simply the DCS encouraging breeders to register early ie is it nearly 4 times more expensive to register a bull over 24 months than up to 12? More paperwork, longer more complex testing procedure?

If not is there a route to appeal?

Thanks.

DNA testing is not harder from an older animal!! The point is, sorting out the mess that,having an older bull that is being used on cows is a problem. A pedigree animal by definition means it's lineage is fully traceable.
Unregistered bulls have been used on cows, ( or on unregistered cows) then their offspring sold off. Purchasers try to register. Owners have tried register a couple of generations down the line. All sorts of scenarios turn up. This for me is totally wrong.
It not enough just to have a green card. If I buy a pedigree animal I EXPECT that animals pedigree / ansestery to be true and correct.
A bulls future starts years before it is actually born. It starts with selecting a proven breeding cow i.e. A cow whos mother,daughters and granddaughters, have all bred excellent offspring.
Choosing the right mother, will produce a bull that you know will go on to breed good offspring therefore no need to wait to DNA test and get the animal registered.

Bull registration costs

The increased cost of registrations presumably began long before any form of parent verification was available. The effect would be to reduce the chance of errors because the longer it was from birth the more likely it was that mistakes had crept in. Now we have DNA verification, very reliable, no difference to do regardless of age, and we are trying to breed to a breed standard using characteristics which are not evident until an animal, male or female, is a lot older than 30 days. Perhaps we should be encouraging later registrations, but subject to stricter adherence to breed standards. Not an easy issue to resolve.

Duncan

The over 24 month fees are out of proportion to the market price of the bull. The reason people register at an early age is perhaps that buyers do not want to pay a lot of money for a bull and prefer to take a chance on how it will turn out - at the end of the day they can always beef it if they buy early and it doesn't turn out as expected. I think too much is made of the bull (perhaps it is a 'man' thing) whilst important it really is only half of the equation - it is the offspring that need inspecting. I agree the bull's mother seems to be a very important consideration.

Happy Christmas

xxx