After a series of bulls posted on this forum that are obvious culls for various reasons I can't help but wondering...
Who enforces the various breeds' minimum standards? Do you have breed inspectors classifying purebred animals before being taken up in the adult animal registry? Or is it simply the owner/breeders choice?
In SA it works as follows:
When a cow calves, the calf is registered in the calfbook of the breed. Should the breeder doubt parentage, or the calf is an obvious cull, you still give notice of the birth, but mark the calf as "not for registration". That way the cow's reproductive record stays up to date.
Before a calf can be taken up in the permanent registry he has to be liniar classified and passed by a breed inspector (between 12 and 36 months of age) to make sure he meets the breeds' minimum standard. If an animal is failed by the breed inspector, it is a cull, there is no way the animal can be registered, regardless of what the owner sees in the animal.
Obviously some faults take a heavier weight, like scrotal faults, leg and feet faults, jaw faults, etc, are culls, capacity, muscle and other traits are given marks according to a liniar classification system. Even the in-herd index of the animal is taken into account.
Don't get me wrong I don't think our system is flawless, but you won't see registered bulls of the major breeds with twisted testicles, a split scrotum, posty hindlegs or weak pasterns.
How do your system work?
Who enforces the various breeds' minimum standards? Do you have breed inspectors classifying purebred animals before being taken up in the adult animal registry? Or is it simply the owner/breeders choice?
In SA it works as follows:
When a cow calves, the calf is registered in the calfbook of the breed. Should the breeder doubt parentage, or the calf is an obvious cull, you still give notice of the birth, but mark the calf as "not for registration". That way the cow's reproductive record stays up to date.
Before a calf can be taken up in the permanent registry he has to be liniar classified and passed by a breed inspector (between 12 and 36 months of age) to make sure he meets the breeds' minimum standard. If an animal is failed by the breed inspector, it is a cull, there is no way the animal can be registered, regardless of what the owner sees in the animal.
Obviously some faults take a heavier weight, like scrotal faults, leg and feet faults, jaw faults, etc, are culls, capacity, muscle and other traits are given marks according to a liniar classification system. Even the in-herd index of the animal is taken into account.
Don't get me wrong I don't think our system is flawless, but you won't see registered bulls of the major breeds with twisted testicles, a split scrotum, posty hindlegs or weak pasterns.
How do your system work?