REGISTERING SHEEP

If you have any questions regarding your membership or your registrations, please contact:

NABSSAR
420A Lincoln
PO Box 231
Wamego, Kansas 66547

Telephone: (785) 456-8500
E-mail: (put NABSSAR in the subject line) Do not e-mail forms or photos to the ASR. These must be sent via post ("snail" mailed) or uploaded via the Electronic Submission Process (ESP).

You must be a member of the NABSSAR to register and transfer sheep (includes the Open Registration Application process).

Before submitting any applications for registering or transferring sheep, please become a member and obtain your membership number. You will receive a welcome letter with your membership number and other information from ASR within 12 days of their receipt of your application, not including mailing time, usually sooner.

• The sire and dam must both be registered with us.
• The owner* of the ewe at the time of the lamb(s) birth is the person who must register the lambs born. A lamb's buyer cannot register it.
• If a ram was leased OR the ewe was pregnant when you purchased her, include a Ram Lease Certificate.
• Make sure your sheep meets our breed standard. We have both a print version and a photo version for your review. We do not accept spotted sheep (see breed standard for "blemish" exception). Do not register spot carrier sheep with us.
• The sheep must have an ear tag in its ear to apply for registration with us. Effective August 1, 2021, only official ID tags (in the US these are the scrapie tags) will be accepted. Personal farm tags cannot be used to register sheep. Check with the authorities in your country for information on official ear tags.
• Take a head shot / ear tag photo. The photo needs to show the mouth/nose/muzzle, both eyes, both ears, and the piece/side of the scrapie tag with the COMPLETE ID number. The COMPLETE ear tag ID number needs to be in the photo and be READABLE. Click here for examples. Send us color photos, not black and white.
• Fill out the Application for Sheep Registration or Transfer Form . If you've sold the sheep and want to have the transfer reflected on the Certificate of Registry (CoR) issued for the sheep you are applying for, fill in the Seller Transferring to line and include the proper payment for the transfer in addition to the payment for registration. The CoR will be mailed to you, by the ASR, and you are responsible for giving it to the person you transferred the sheep to. We allow either the seller or the buyer to initiate the transfer of the sheep. If you are not taking care of the transfer for your buyer, please explain to them what they need to do to transfer the sheep into their name. A transfer must be completed for a person to "own" the sheep, per the registry.
• Fill out a Work Order & Fee Schedule.
• The photo(s), the application(s), the Work Order, and any other paperwork may be printed and sent via post ("snail mailed") to the ASR (address on the forms and above ^^^). We also have an Electronic Submission Process (ESP) to use to upload forms and images. Forms must be saved as PDFs before uploading and the head shot / ear tag images must be saved as .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .gif file extensions.
• Payment Options:
• A check may be mailed to the address on the forms.
• Credit card (CC) info can be filled in on the bottom of the Work Order.
• Call the ASR at 785-456-8500 with your CC info.
• Use PayPal.
• Full payment must be received by the ASR BEFORE any work will be completed. Turnaround time, not including post time, is 12 days, or less.

Additional Information:
I. The required color photos (not black and white) for the Open Registrations Application process must still be mailed with the entire required packet following the instructions in the next section ˅˅˅. Do not use the ESP for Open Registration Applications.
II. Examples of proper photos. Questions & Answers regarding the printed head shots showing ear tag numbers.
When taking head shot / ear tag photos for registrations/transfers:

• We need to see the COMPLETE ID number (the flock ID & the sheep ID, ex. KS1234-0001). ALL of the letters/numbers on the tag need to be visible AND readable.
• The photos need to be looking directly at the sheep, not over the sheep, not looking at the side of the face. We want to see the mouth/nose/muzzle, both eyes, both ears, and the piece/side of the scrapie tag with the COMPLETE ID number. Like these
• 
• The wool needs to be moved away from the tag so it is not covering the tag information.
• The tag needs to be clean. If necessary, use a baby wipe, Isopropyl alcohol, or similar to clean.
• We need to see the COMPLETE ID number (the flock ID & the sheep ID, ex. KS1234-0001). ALL of the letters/numbers on the tag need to be visible AND readable.
• If necessary, take a photo of the sheep's face and then a zoomed in photo of the tag with enough of the sheep's face still in it so we know it is the same sheep.
• If necessary, move the ear so the tag is facing forward.
• It may help to focus the camera more on the tag rather than the sheep.
• Take the photos in natural light if possible.
• We need to see the COMPLETE ID number (the flock ID & the sheep ID, ex. KS1234-0001). ALL of the letters/numbers on the tag need to be visible AND readable.

III. Regarding ear tags:
a. If the sheep is ever re-tagged, for any reason, the owner of the sheep MUST send the ORIGINAL CoR to the registrar, along with a new head shot of the sheep with the new ear tag in its ear. The ear tag information updates will be made on the CoR by the registry.
b. You MUST be the last current owner already listed on the CoR for the sheep in order to request the ear tag information of the sheep be updated by the registry.
c. A sheep may not be able to be registered and/or transferred if the paperwork or the CoR ear tag number information does not match the ear tag on the sheep. When purchasing a sheep, filling out paperwork on a sheep, etc., please check, double check, even triple check the sheep you have is the sheep listed on the paperwork or the CoR.
IV. All applications being presented for registration of lambs bred through artificial insemination or embryo transfer, either with imported semen or domestic semen/embryos, must be accompanied by NABSSAR's Certificate of Artificial Insemination &/or Embryo Transfer Breeding, properly completed and signed by the appropriate personnel. ONLY NABSSAR registered rams & ewes may be used for semen and embryo donation. (International members contact us for information on suitable donors.)
V. If you have any questions about filling out the registration/transfer form, please click here for a step-by-step guide. Please feel free to contact the Registrar if you need further assistance with your forms.

* Owner = a sheep's Certificate of Registry (CoR) lists the owner of the sheep. It is either the owner listed on the front; OR, the last person the sheep was transferred to, listed on the back of the CoR the NABSSAR registrar has signed off on. A transfer of a sheep making a person an owner is only valid if the Approved by and the Approved date lines have been filled in by our registrar and the NABSSAR's official records reflect the transfer.

HOW TO UPDATE AN EAR TAG WITH US

Only the registered owner of the sheep may update an ear tag. An registered owner is the person listed on the front of the Certificate of Registry (CoR) or the last person listed on the back, in the transfer section, the registrar's signature and date indicates a transfer to a new owner has been completed.

If the sheep has lost the ear tag it was registered with, apply a new one, if you are the registered owner. The tag number the sheep was registered with is listed on the CoR in the NAME line of the sheep. The tag in the sheep's ear and the tag listed on the CoR MUST always match. Use your official ID tags with your flock # on it. In the United States, this is the "scrapie tag". if you do not have your own scrapie tags, see this page. If one of our international members, use the tags required by your government.

• Attach the new tag to the sheep's ear. The USDA/APHIS requests the tag be applied to the left ear to comply with a request by shearers. The left ear is not mandatory. See this image for proper tag placement. To aid in taking your head shot / ear tag photos, on two-piece tags, place the piece with both the flock ID & the animal ID on the inside of the ear. On the one-piece loop tags, place the side with the flock ID & the animal ID facing forward. By doing this, the ears don't have to be twisted to take photos and typically only one photo of the sheep would need to be submitted.
• Take a new head shot / ear tag photo (see examples) after the new ear tag is attached.
• Fill out a Work Order and Fee Schedule. You'll be marking D. Duplicate Certificate/Ear Tag Update. The cost is $5.50.
• The ORIGINAL CoR must be sent via post to the Associated Registry in Wamego, KS. Their address is noted at the top of the Work Order and Fee Schedule.
• The photo and the Work Order and Fee Schedule can be printed and mailed with the CoR; OR, you may upload the Work Order and Fee Schedule (PDF only) and the head shot / ear tag photo (.jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .gif only) using our Electronic Submission Process - ESP.
• The sheep's record will be updated in our database and the new tag will be listed on the CoR. The updated CoR will be mailed to you.
• If you purchased a sheep with only a farm tag and the farm tag was used to register the sheep (prior to August 1, 2021 when our new policy went into effect) keep the farm tag in the ear. In addition, please attach one of your scrapie tags and have the sheep's records updated as outlined above. Scrapie tags are required by federal law to be on a sheep when they leave their farm of origin (where they were born).
• In the United States, the mandatory National Scrapie Eradication Program requires records be kept for 5 years.
  

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