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Application for
Herd Letters must be made through the CSA office for your
exclusive use in tattooing and registering Simmental cattle.
In order to register Simmentals, you must have herd letters
registered in your name or membership name.
Table 1
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A |
1969/1991 |
M |
1980/2002 |
|
B |
1970/1992 |
N |
1981/2003 |
|
C |
1971/1993 |
P |
1982/2004 |
|
D |
1972/1994 |
R |
1983/2005 |
|
E |
1973/1995 |
S |
1984/2006 |
|
F |
1974/1996 |
T |
1985/2007 |
|
G |
1975/1997 |
U |
1986/2008 |
|
H |
1976/1998 |
W |
1987/2009 |
|
J |
1977/1999 |
X |
1988/2010 |
|
K |
1978/2000 |
Y |
1989/2011 |
|
L |
1979/2001 |
Z |
1990/2012 |
All Simmental
cattle must be tattooed in accordance with the Animal
Pedigree Act. A tattoo consists of herd letters, a serial
number, and a year letter. Herd letters are registered and
reserved for the exclusive use of the owner to tattoo his or
her animals. Herd letters must consist of 3 to 4 letters and
cannot include numbers or the letter "Q". Serial numbers are
chosen by the person making the tattoo, and the year letter
designates the specific year an animal was born. (see Table
I).
FOR EXAMPLE:
Bob Jones has obtained the Herd Letters "XXX". Only
Bob Jones can use that letter combination to tattoo his
animals. If he has three calves born in 1992 (year letter
B), he may choose to tattoo them as follows: XXX 1B, XXX 2B,
and XXX 103B.
No two animals born the same year can have the same serial
number.
This system ensures that each animal registered in the CSA
Herdbook has a unique tattoo. Every registered
Simmental must have a unique tattoo. Animals must also be
tattooed by the time they reach six months of age
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HINTS FOR SUCCESSFUL TATTOOING
Since
proper identification of animals is the basis
for a Purebred industry, tattooing is the most
important factor a breeder should consider.
Every year animals are turned away from shows,
sales, and for export purposes because of
improper, indistinct, or just plain erroneous
tattoos. Placing a tattoo on an animal should be
a simple matter, but it seems it causes many
breeders problems mainly because not enough care
it taken at the time the tattoo is applied. Read
these tips over, inspect your cattle’s tattoos
when you have a moment, evaluate your present
technique, and see if you can improve on your
own tattooing method. |
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DO |
DON'T |
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Firmly secure the animal’s head. If done as a
calf, you can sit on it or hold its head. Larger
animals require more restraint to avoid tearing
punctures when the pliers are being released. |
Don't
place the tattoo on the edge of the ear in the
hairy portion. |
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Clean
the ear thoroughly with a rag soaked in alcohol.
This removes the waxy coating from the ear and
cleans the ear of dirt and debris. If this is
not done, the dirt pressed into the tattoo holes
may cause infection or wax pushed in will later
develop into a warty growth which obliterates
that portion of the tattoo. The tattoo paste
will not set in a hole filled with wax. |
Don't
place the tattoo on a rib in the ear. Place it
between the ribs.
Don't
place any kind of tag into the area of the
tattoo. If possible, use the opposite ear for
tags. |
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Once
you've placed the necessary tattoos in the
pliers, check on a piece of cardboard to make
sure they're the right ones. |
Don't
confuse the 6's and 9's. Check on a piece of
cardboard to make sure. |
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If a
mistake is made, place the proper tattoo in the
opposite ear and record all tattoos in both ears
on the application for registration. |
Don't
store the tattoo letters in a pile at the bottom
of a container where the points will be bent or
dulled. Clean, sharp, straight needles make for
good tattoos. |
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Place
your registered Herd Letters in the top, running
between the first the second ribs. Place the
serial # portion below the second rib. |
Don't
place the paste directly on the tattoo needles!
This doesn't make as good a tattoo, and when the
paste dries in the needle, it's hard to get it
off. |
Naming your
Simmentals
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Each member may
use a unique prefix which will be registered and
reserved for the exclusive use of that member and will
be used as the first word in the name of a registered
animal.
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Herd Prefix must
not be confused with farm name. The Canadian Simmental
Association does not register farm names; this is done
through your provincial government. However, we will
register a Herd Prefix for your exclusive use in
naming your Simmentals.
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A Herd Prefix may
be requested only by active members of the CSA who
complete the standard membership form and send their
request to the CSA. For new members, the Herd Prefix is
mandatory and free of charge.
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When choosing a
Herd Prefix, please keep in mind that the full name of
an animal is limited to 25 combined characters and
spaces. Therefore, it is always wise to choose a short
prefix, made up of two letters or more with no spaces.
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For instance, a
member whose farm name is SUNNY DALE SIMMENTAL RANCH may
wish to register the Herd Prefix SUNNYDALE for
his exclusive use in naming his Simmentals when he
registers them. Please note that a Herd Prefix must be
registered as one word and, if made up of more,
the words must be linked by a hyphen (ex. SUNNY-DALE)
or by omitting the space between the words (ex.
SUNNYDALE). The Herd Prefix SUNNYDALE, having 9
letters, leaves the member 16 spaces for the rest of the
name he gives his animal. For example: SUNNYDALE PREMIER
2T would use up 20 of the 25 combined characters and
spaces allowed.
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The registered
Herd Prefix must precede any other name given to the
animal in order to ensure exclusiveness.
Ex. SUNNYDALE MR PREMIER is correctly
using the Herd Prefix, while MR SUNNYDALE PREMIER is
incorrect. SUNNYDALE MISS SUSIE is
correct, while MISS SUNNYDALE SUSIE is incorrect.
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You may also
choose to register your Herd Letters as your Herd
Prefix. For instance, a member whose Herd Letters are
XXX may also register XXX as his or her Herd Prefix, and
all his or her Simmental cattle would bear XXX in front
of their names.
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The purpose of
using a Herd Prefix is to make your cattle herd
identifiable and consistent. It indicates, by name,
where that animal was bred and by whom it was
registered.
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To ensure that
you are using the correct Herd Prefix, contact the CSA
office. If you have not registered a Herd Prefix, you
could be using one that you thought was yours, but was
actually registered by someone else. WHEN IN DOUBT,
CONTACT THE CSA OFFICE.
A Herd Prefix may be used by other family members, provided
written consent from the registered owner is on file at the
CSA office.
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