Breeders who wish to maintain the pedigree status of their flock should enter the details of ALL lambs born on the Grassroots Pedeweb system. Sheep must be birth notified in numerical order.

The breeder can then decide which animals they wish to notify with the Society and mark the web notification accordingly.  All data is to be submitted to the Society BUT NO CHARGE WILL BE MADE FOR LAMBS THAT BREEDERS DO NOT WISH TO NOTIFY. Breeders should submit the relevant details, with the correct payment to the Society by the dates indicated below.

For lambs born by a sire not in your ownership, Grassroots will send an email to the ram owner advising them of the notification. Any owner who receives such a notification and does not believe it to be correct, should contact the Society office.

IN ORDER TO BIRTH NOTIFY LAMBS WITH THE SOCIETY THEIR SIRES MUST HAVE A DNA TEST RESULT LOGGED WITH US. Also remember if your lambs are the product of AI or ET then you will need signed and dated paperwork from the veterinary surgeon carrying out the work, confirming the details.

Birth notification submission charges

The Society recommends that breeders birth notify all their lambs within the 60-day period. This is the cheapest way and saves penalty charges later on (see below).

*All prices + VAT

Payment must be sent with all birth notifications unless you have elected to pay by Direct Debit. Payment for emailed notifications must be sent by return.

• Birth notified rams are eligible for entry into official Society sales.
• All birth notified animals must be the progeny of full pedigree registered sires and dams.
• All sheep at the Worcester Premier Sale must be full pedigree registered.
• All female sheep must be full pedigree registered prior to entry into an Official Society Sale.
• All service sires of in-lamb ewes entered for official Society sales must be full pedigree registered.
• All sheep entered for shows must be birth notified with the Society.
• All rams and ewes must be full pedigree registered prior to the birth notification of their progeny

Upgrading

Female upgrade to full pedigree registered charges (all prices + VAT): –

EWE LAMBS > 12 months – £8.00

SHEARLING EWE > 24 months – £12.00

RAMS anytime anytime – £20.00

Scrapie and DNA testing for rams

All rams born on or after 1st December 2013, upgraded to full pedigree, must have a test result for Scrapie genotype  and a dna sample, submitted to the office. This information will be entered onto the sheep database and appear alongside their ear number on pedigree certificates and in Society sale catalogues.

The Society can provide a kit, which involves taking a small blood sample from the ram’s nose and it is sent to a the NEOGEN lab for analysis. The costs associated with this service are shown below (all prices + VAT) : –

DNA Parentage and Scrapie Genotyping – £23.50

DNA Parentage only – £18.00

Scrapie only – £14.00

Nose pricker and blood cards – £3 each

Charollais lambing year

The official start date for the Charollais breeding season will be 7th July each year. Pedigree Charollais sheep should, therefore, not be artificially inseminated nor run with the ram prior to this date. The lambing year for Charollais runs from 1st December to 30th November.

Names for full pedigree rams

We encourage members to give rams a name at the time of upgrading. 
2022 born ram names begin with the letter ‘A’ 
2023 born ram names begin with the letter ‘B’ 
2024 born ram names begin with the letter ‘C’
2025 born ram names begin with the letter ‘D’

The naming of females is at the discretion of the breeder. This information is not logged on the pedigree database (except for those sold at the Worcester Premier sale).

Embryo transfer and artificial insemination

Applications to register lambs born by embryo transfer and / or artificial insemination must be accompanied by a certificate signed by the veterinary surgeon carrying out the work. This must ­certify the identity of the sire and dam and recipient ewe where applicable.

Tail docking

When docking lamb tails, breeders must leave sufficient tail to cover the anus of males and the vulva of females. New breeders should consider that Charollais tails move up as the lamb grows.  Trading Standards do check this at shows and sales and do have the right to request the removal of incorrectly docked animals from the venue.