[Rosemary]

I have two. Just wondered how others operate.

Shetland Cattle - both members and non-members of the society can register cattle but non-members pay more. £20 to join; £7.50 per calf. Non members £22.50 for the first calf and £10 per calf thereafter

Ryeland Sheep - you have to be a member of the Society to register sheep. £20 for an individual member; £5 per ewe and £15 per ram.

[HappyHippy]

British Kunekune Pig society - £14 per year for membership,  you must be a member to birth notify or register.
Birth notifications are free, registrations for pet/non-breeding pigs are £3.50, breeding gilts £8 and breeding boars £15.

[mowhaugh]

Excellent thread, but need to think before I can reply so I don't end up on a massive rant about 2 of the societies I am involved with!

[Scotsdumpy]

I was with the shetland sheep society but realised it seemed to me to be a very cliquey group and if you werent in the gang you emails were ignored etc plus the magazine featured articles from the select few. So, the cost of membership, the fact that I could get good prices selling lambs at the mart, I didnt renew my membership (I was a member for 8 years or so). Another concern - and might be the same with other groups - is that you can register an animal but there is no way that you can check if the seller is telling the truth. This occured to me when I was selling some ewe lambs and I was asked if they were registered. Ireplied that they werent registered but were from registered parents. It was thenI could have taken any lamb and said that it was from different parents and registered it. Im not saying this goes on but it seemed to me that if it crossed my mind then more unscrupulous folk may take advantage of this loophole. Now I have three tups - one of which is a melton mowbray rare breeds show winner, his son (mother registered) and another shetland types. My ewes are mainly registered ( not by me) some of their daughters and a few 'commercial' types. All of which give me fantastic colored fleeces for spinning, good meat to eat and are easy to handle - I dont need to pay a breed society to make me feel any better!
Im now off to hide behind the sofa!!

[Rosemary]

I think the issue of registration is important. Setting aside your concerns, scotsdumpy, about unscrupulous breeders (some of the big breeds DNA test now) an unregistered Shetland (sheep or cattle) is just a sheep and is effectively lost to the breed.

There were some startling figures at the Shetland cattle AGM this weekend about the number of Shetland calves notified to BCMS compared to the number registered with the breed society.

[Marches Farmer]

I'm a member of the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders Club, British Pig Association, Southdown Sheep Society, Turkey Club UK, Laced Wyandotte Poultry Club ..... the list goes on.  There is always a tendency for a clique to be in control.  Sometimes this can be a good thing and they run a tight ship and do lots to promote the breed, sometimes they exclude new and enthusiastic members and don't want to innovate "because thing have always been done this way".  It very much depends on the personalities involved.  I hesitate to moan, because I really don't have time to get involved in committee work let alone the travelling time to and from meetings, but sometimes things turn downright nasty and I hate it.

[Factotum]

There are a few animals missing from the SCHB that we have on the SCBA list - I've checked with Evelyn and she said they know about a problem in the HB database with some 13 and 14 animals not appearing. It's being investigated by the techies.

There's always going to be a gap between BCMS & the Herd Book & the SCBA list- we had 9 SH calves this year, but only 1 is registered as all 9 are males and only 1 is kept entire.

Since we've kept SH cattle we've had 22 males that haven't been registered and 19 females that are registered. I would expect this pattern to be repeated in other herds.

I thought the figure quoted was total SH on the BCMS, not calves born in the last year - but I may be remembering incorrectly.

Sue

[Anke]

I was with the shetland sheep society but realised it seemed to me to be a very cliquey group and if you werent in the gang you emails were ignored etc plus the magazine featured articles from the select few. So, the cost of membership, the fact that I could get good prices selling lambs at the mart, I didnt renew my membership (I was a member for 8 years or so). Another concern - and might be the same with other groups - is that you can register an animal but there is no way that you can check if the seller is telling the truth. This occured to me when I was selling some ewe lambs and I was asked if they were registered. Ireplied that they werent registered but were from registered parents. It was thenI could have taken any lamb and said that it was from different parents and registered it. Im not saying this goes on but it seemed to me that if it crossed my mind then more unscrupulous folk may take advantage of this loophole. Now I have three tups - one of which is a melton mowbray rare breeds show winner, his son (mother registered) and another shetland types. My ewes are mainly registered ( not by me) some of their daughters and a few 'commercial' types. All of which give me fantastic colored fleeces for spinning, good meat to eat and are easy to handle - I dont need to pay a breed society to make me feel any better!
Im now off to hide behind the sofa!!

I know where you are coming from with regard to the SSS... still a member, but as I don't show and am planning to reduce the flock anyway (lost some grazing land) I am still undecided as to if it is worth paying 30 quid per year.... not quite sure for what exactly.


With Goats you have to be a member of either the BGS or an affiliated breed society to register stock. Twice the price if you are not a BGS member. Also access to Grassroots database for BGS members, which allows you to do all sorts of searches, notifications and your own registrations. Brilliant piece of software.

The different goat breed societies struggle though for members, as well as the more local goat clubs.

[Fleecewife]

I was with the shetland sheep society but realised it seemed to me to be a very cliquey group ............Im now off to hide behind the sofa!!

Don't hide behind the sofa Scotsdumpy - it needed to be said.  I could add loads more to that, but I'm not as brave as you are 

[Rosemary]

I thought the figure quoted was total SH on the BCMS, not calves born in the last year - but I may be remembering incorrectly.

I can't remember either - I've tagged Dianne, Maggy and Mary on FB asking for clarification / confirmation.

[Rosemary]

To be honest, I was only looking for info about membership and registration ie whether non-members can register and if so, is there a differential.

Through the Festival, I contact A LOT of breed societies, inviting them to come and promote their breed. It's very variable. Some are very supportive and responsive; many are not.

In defence of breed societies, they are voluntary (for the most part) and to work, they need an active committee AND an active membership. It's very easy for members to carp on the sidelines about what the committee doesn't do but when volunteers are sought form the membership, everyone looks at the floor or oot the windae.

[pharnorth]

I am a member of two. The Ryelands Flock Book Society and the British Angora Goat Society. They both seem to do a good job managing registrations, encouraging showing and public understanding of the breed through showing. the Ryelands has a nice friendly Facebook blog, while BAGS has a sister group (Britsh Angora Mohair Marketing) which manages getting best prices for fleeces. To date I haven't got involved enough to say whether they are clique or not, but certainly the service they provide on info registration, and making breed stuff happen is down to a few people and a lot of unpaid time is I am grateful to them and it's great for contacts and help.

[Carse Goodlifers]

I was with the shetland sheep society but realised it seemed to me to be a very cliquey group and if you werent in the gang you emails were ignored etc plus the magazine featured articles from the select few.

Scotsdumpy - sadly you will get this with groups or clubs to some extent.  It drives me mad but this behaviour has led me to stand down from various committee's/society boards over the years.

To be honest, I was only looking for info about membership and registration ie whether non-members can register and if so, is there a differential.

I'm a member of the English Longhorn Cattle society and I'm also a newly signed up member to the Scottish Ryeland Support Group and plan to join the Ryeland Flock Book Society but................I have no sheep or cattle  .
As a result of this, my annual fee to the Longhorns is £15 - classed as an associate member.  If I want to register stock I then become a full member - £50/yr.  There is also a one off joining fee of £10 when someone joins the society.
Fee's for registering stock range from £20 up to £250.

[Rosemary]

Fee's for registering stock range from £20 up to £250.

 

[Carse Goodlifers]

The upper range of £250 is for bull registrations of 651-800 days old.
Obviously not every male will be registered and so before you register a bull, you really need to see what it is going to be like for conformation, growth rates etc.