Valais Blacknose Society Rules

  1. Membership Subscriptions

Gold: Breeders Annual Membership – £75 – Increasing to £80 if joining after 31/01

  • Full access to registry
  • AGM vote
  • List stock for sale on Grassroots
  • Welcome pack*

Silver: Associate Annual Membership – £50

  • Welcome pack*
  • Read only access to Grassroots registry

Bronze: Junior Annual Membership (Under 18) – £30

  • Welcome pack*

*Welcome Pack is presented in a folder which includes: Pen, Pin Badge, Window Sticker, VB Care Guide, Breed Standards, Society Leaflet and Chairmen’s Letter.

Additional merchandise can be purchased via the online shop.

Subscriptions are due annually on 1st January.

Subscriptions are subject to payment in full, regardless of when the membership is purchased within the year (i.e. Where a membership is purchased in October for example, full subscription fee stands).

Memberships can be purchased via the society website. Payment methods available are via BACS or PayPal. Where payments are processed via PayPal, automatic renewal option is selected by default. This option should be deselected by the member if automatic renewal is not desired.

2. Membership Application

Membership applications are submitted via the society website and processed by Grassroots on the society’s behalf. On receipt of membership payment, a welcome pack will be posted out to new members.

3. Entitlement to Membership

VBS welcomes all Valais Blacknose owners and offers subscriptions to suit various levels of membership.

Membership is also open also to those who do not own Valais Blacknose sheep but hold an interest, wish to be involved in the society or plan to own blacknose in the future.

Any Member who fails to comply with the Rules of the Association or, in the opinion of Council, acts in a manner that is detrimental to the standing of the Society shall at the discretion of Council be barred from Membership of the Society.

Gold members must have a UK address and have sheep in the UK registered with Grassroots.

Silver and Bronze members must have a UK address.

The Society is unable to offer international membership in line with DEFRA regulations post Brexit. VBS members must hold a UK address in conjunction with Grassroots registered sheep and a flock prefix in their own name.
Pre Brexit memberships from international origin, provided the above criteria is met, will be honoured.

VBS memberships are available only to UK (including Northern Ireland) residents.

4. Flockbook

The flockbook is maintained by Grassroots on behalf of Valais Blacknose Society.

Flockbook access is available to Gold members only.

5. Flockbook: Registry Rules & Conditions

The Valais Blacknose Society registry is provided by Grassroots Systems Ltd. Grassroots Systems Ltd are a speciality pedigree livestock company who provide software and support to over 130 pedigree breed societies, and currently manage twelve from their offices in Devon. 
Established in  April 2014 the Valais Blacknose  registry currently includes  over 400  registered owners. There were over 800 Valais Blacknose lambs registered in 2019.  The  registry is managed by Grassroots Systems Ltd on behalf of Valais Blacknose Society and access is available to Gold society members who hold a full breeder membership. The registry is accessed online here: www.grassroots.co.uk/valais.html 

The Valais Blacknose Society registry only accept applications for:
Imported animals from European Zootech recognised registries
UK born animals with two UK registered parents
Lambs produced by Embryo Transfer with two UK registered parents

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Flock Name – Members may register a Flock Name that will appear on the Pedigree Certificate of all lambs subsequently registered as being bred by that Member.

Registration of a Flock Name is conditional upon:

  • Payment of the Flock Registration Fee to Grassroots
  • The name not being already registered by another Blacknose owner

CPH Flock Number and Sheep Identification:

  • All sheep to be tagged with EID in the left ear (as viewed from behind) and second tag in right ear in accordance with Government legislation. All Imported sheep must be re-tagged in accordance with the government legislation.
  • In the event of any sheep losing its tag it must be re-tagged with the original number.

Imported animals – MUST be  registered with the Swiss or Dutch Valais Blacknose registries, or other EU registries which are Zootech recognised without discrimination on account of their country of origin. The application must be made by the importer within six months of importation, and must be accompanied by:

  • a pedigree import certificate which must include the full three  generation  pedigree
  • proof of purchase in the breeder country
  • copies of importation documents 

These documents are  required to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the registry.  Pedigree  information is  added to the Valais Blacknose Society registry and a UK registration number and certificate issued.

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UK born animals – which have two parents fully registered with the Valais Blacknose Society registry and which comply with the breed standard.   Applications  can be made  online via ‘manage your flock’ at www.grassroots.co.uk/valais.html  and MUST be made by the breeder.
There is and has never been any Grading Up, Appendix or Supplementary Register.

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Spitti

Spitti males are not eligible for full registration. Spitti males can be listed with the Grassroots registry as non-breeding animals and issued with a pink ‘Listed – Non-Breeding’ certificate if the breeder requests.

Inadvertently registered spitti males or their offspring should be notified to Grassroots or the Society for registry status to be corrected. This will involve being removed from the registry and allocated listed – non breeding status.

Spitti ewes may be fully registered. DNA profiling is mandatory to register spitti females.

Spitti females must be highlighted as ‘spitti’ in the registry.

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Lambs produced by Embryo Transfer which have two biological parents registered with the Valais Blacknose Society registry. 
An Embryo collection and implantation certificate/s should be lodged with the registry at the time of the collection and or implantation. It MUST be lodged with the registry  BEFORE the lambs are born.  Embryos sold frozen or in recipients MUST be notified to the registry at the time of the sale.  Failure to lodge these documents in a timely manner will result in a penalty of £25 per lamb.

The  embryo collection and implantation certificate will include: the identification of the collecting company, the identification of the donor ewe and the ram used for the mating.  It will include details of the number of embryos collected and number frozen or implanted.  The implantation certificate will include details of the recipient ewes.  Please do  make sure that your ET agents complete these forms accurately.  They should  include the full EID tag numbers of all the animals involved.  

All lambs produced by Embryo transfer from 1st January 2020 onwards will be DNA parentage verified.

Any lambs produced by Embryo Transfer prior to that date, and for whom no ET documentation was submitted before the 1st June 2019 deadline will also be subject to DNA parentage verification.

 

Payments: All payments to be made to Valais Blacknose Society: Sort Code 30-96-26 / Account Number: 77779568

Registry Access is available to Gold society members who hold a full breeder membership of the Valais Blacknose Society.

  • National flock number must be provided during application membership process.
  • If you have mislaid your password, please click on the ‘lost my password’ button on the Online Registry log in page and we will resend it – this is not an automatic process. A new password will be emailed to you as soon as possible. You MUST register your lambs BEFORE you sell or breed from them. 

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DNA parentage  verification – This is compulsory for all lambs produced by Embryo transfer and born in 2020 or later and all rams registered from 1st January 2021.

Kinship – Grassroots  provide a free kinship analysis to check the degree of relationship between the ewes and the rams you are thinking of breeding.   One third of all lambs registered in 2019  were by embryo transfer.  This means that the population is increasing rapidly but the amount of genetic variation remains very restricted.  Please be careful to avoid high levels of inbreeding when selecting rams to mate with your ewes.

Animals for sale or available for AI – If you have sheep available for sale, rams available for hire or semen for sale, please go to ‘Manage Your Animals’ in the Grassroots Online Registry and identify the sheep.  They will then appear under the ‘For Sale or Hire’ tab in the Grassroots Online Registry.

Sexed Semen – Valais Blacknose Society have prohibited the use of sexed semen within the UK & Northern Ireland, effective January 1, 2021.

Sexed Semen Already Used

The Society will permit the use of sexed semen collected before 1st January 2021 only, but not after this date.

Stored Sexed Semen

Sexed semen which has been collected and stored before 1st January 2021 must be used before 1st July 2021. The following also applies:

  • Permitted for AI use only.
  • Not permissible to be used for embryo work.
  • Must be used by the registered breeder only.

In the event you have sexed semen collected and stored, please notify the Society, and provide the following information:

  • Number of pellets stored.
  • Ram from which semen has been collected from.
  • Supporting documentation from AI centre.

If sexed semen pellets have been sold to another breeder, please notify the Society, and provide the following information:

  • Number of pellets sold.
  • Ram from which semen has been collected from.
  • To whom the pellets have been sold to.

In the event where sexed semen has been sold, it is the responsibility of the registered breeder to make the purchaser aware that semen must be used before 1st July 2021 and in accordance with Society rules.

Where semen has been sold after 1st January 2021, the breeder/seller is accountable in the event of any potential loss of earnings to the purchaser.

It is not permissible to collect sexed semen under society rules.

Breeders found to be in breach of the society rules and regulations will have their membership revoked and associated lambs will be de-registered from the flock book.

Registry Fees

Register Ewes £15.00
Register Ewes inc DNA (ET) £50.00
Rams inc DNA £54.00
Rams inc DNA (ET) £60.00
Listed (Non Breeding) £12.00
DNA Profile £28.80
DNA & Scrapie £36.00
Scrapie Alone £28.80
Late Registration (more than 12 months)

(for animals over 12 months of age, born after 1st January 2021 and birth not previously notified) Mandatory DNA verification also applies at the relevant additional costs to all breeders.

 £150.00