Rules of Registration

The San Clemente Island Goat Breeders Association (SCIGBA) Registry has adopted the following Rules of Registration as a guideline for registering goats. These rules have been approved by the members of the SCIGBA and are designed to make certain all animals are registered in accordance with SCIGBA guidelines.

1. What Registration Means

Registration documents a goat's purity and ancestry. It does not prove or enforce ownership.

Only goats registered with SCIGBA appear in the registry database. If a goat's parents are known but unregistered with SCIGBA (including parents registered only with an outside registry), they will not appear on the goat's registration record or certificate. If an unregistered parent is later registered, the goat's owner can apply for an updated certificate.

2. Registering Your Goat: The Basics

For most breeders — registering a goat whose sire and dam are already SCIGBA-registered — here's what you need to know.

Naming your goat. A goat's name includes its breeder's herd name. The whole goat's name, including the Herd Name plus the Individual Name, cannot be longer than 30 characters. See our page on Naming a Goat and Herd Names for more detail.

Who is the "Breeder" vs. the "Owner"?

• The Breeder is the recorded owner of the dam at the time of conception (assuming the dam is registered); If the dam is not and cannot be registered then the “Breeder” will be the person submitting the goat’s registration.

• The Owner is the owner of the dam at the time of birth (assuming the dam is registered); If the dam is not and cannot be registered then the “Owner” will be the person submitting the goat’s registration.

If the sire belongs to someone else. If the sire is owned by someone other than the dam's owner at time of birth, a Breeding Service Certificate — signed by the sire's owner — must be submitted along with the registration application.

Signatures. Registration Applications, Transfer Applications, Breeding Service Certificates, and similar documents require signatures from goat owners. You do not need to be a SCIGBA member to sign. If an owner has died, the estate's executor may sign on their behalf.

Disputed ownership. SCIGBA will honor court orders and judgments regarding contested ownership and will update registration records accordingly.

3. Which Herdbook Does My Goat Belong In?

If both the sire and dam are already registered in SCIGBA's Main Herdbook, your goat qualifies for the Main Herdbook too — this covers most new registrations. The paths below exist for goats that don't have that straightforward, fully registered parentage.

Main Herdbook (Proven Purebred SCI Goats)

A goat also qualifies for the Main Herdbook if any one of the following is true:

• A Breed Analysis Test (if one becomes available) confirms purebred status — sire and dam may or may not be known.

• The goat comes from an Approved Purebred Herd (APH) - a herd recognized by the broad SCI Goat breeder community as having consistently maintained a herd of purebred goats for a long time — with completed and signed documentation from the APH herd manager. (APH status is granted for 7 years from application, reviewed annually, and can be revoked if ownership or husbandry practices change.)

• The goat is already registered in an Approved Source Registry (ASR) - a registry SCIGBA recognizes as having sound identification and registration processes for purebred SCI Goats; (currently IDGR is the only ASR) - with the following documentation: 

  • a) copy of the IDGR/IGSCR Registration Certificate listing the applicant as owner, and

  • b) the goat must be noted on the Certificate to be in Fullblood, Fullblood-R (Recovery), Purebred or Experimental Herdbook. All other designations will be rejected as they must follow another process. (See instructions.)

Recovered Herdbook (Suspected Purebred SCIs Not Yet Fully Proven)

This is for goats with limited or missing parentage documentation. A goat qualifies by any one of the following:

• Both parents are registered in the Recovered Herdbook — or one parent is in the Recovered Herdbook and the other is in the Main Herdbook.

• The goat is already registered in an ASR under that registry's equivalent of the Recovered Herdbook.

• The goat is a suspected purebred SCI and is accepted through a Recovered Herdbook Inspection — an application with supporting origin history and pictures, reviewed by two SCIGBA inspectors. If both approve, the goat enters the Recovered Herdbook; if not, it's placed in the Crossbred Herdbook (or the owner can request a fee refund instead — see Section 6). If the goat doesn't pass inspection, the owner may choose to register it in the Crossbred Herdbook instead, or receive a refund of the registration fee

  • Owners are encouraged to use DNA parentage testing to identify sire and dam where possible.

  • If a parent can be identified but isn't registered, it's preferable to register that parent first, if possible. An identified but unregistered parent will not appear in the registration record or certificate.

Moving from Recovered → Main Herdbook. A goat can move up when:

• The previously missing parent(s) become registered in the Main Herdbook (with the owner's signature to add them to the goat's record) - once both sire and dam are Main Herdbook registered, the goat moves up too.

• A Breed Analysis Test (if one becomes available) proves the goat purebred. This can cascade: if genetic parentage verification also exists for one or both parents, those parents move to the Main Herdbook as well - which can in turn make other related, verified goats (parents or offspring) eligible to move up too.

Crossbred Herdbook

For goats that are:

• a cross between an SCI goat and another breed,

• goats that failed the Recovered Herdbook Inspection process, or

• goats from herds where crossbreeding was known to occur and individual identification/record-keeping wasn't maintained.

Moving from Crossbred → Main Herdbook. Only possible if a Breed Analysis Test (if one becomes available) proves the goat purebred. "Breeding up" is not accepted - a crossbred goat cannot work its way to Main Herdbook status through successive purebred breedings alone.

4. Breed Standards

Registered goats should meet the SCI Goat breed description.

It's recommended that goats with the following genetic faults not be registered or used for breeding: cryptorchidism (undescended testicle), hernias (scrotal or umbilical), undershot or overshot jaws, cleft palate, hermaphroditism, or a split scrotum beyond 2 inches in bucks.

5. DNA Requirements

Natural cover: DNA analysis is not required at registration for goats conceived through natural cover — however, breeders are strongly encouraged to collect and store DNA on all their goats for future use.

Artificial Insemination (AI):

• DNA markers on file with SCIGBA for the buck (fresh or frozen semen).

• DNA parentage analysis submitted to SCIGBA for each offspring, confirming the sire.

• Note: because SCI goats have limited genetic variability as a breed, DNA markers may also be required on the dam to confirm offspring parentage.

Embryo Collection (EC) or In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF):

• DNA markers on file with SCIGBA for the buck (sire).

• DNA markers on file with SCIGBA for the donor doe.

• DNA parentage analysis submitted to SCIGBA for each offspring, confirming both sire and dam.

(For all of the above: every buck and doe contributing genetics must already be registered with SCIGBA.)

Exception — Historical Genetics Repositories (HGR): Some SCIGBA-registered goats died before DNA markers could be recorded, but their semen/eggs/embryos are preserved by a recognized HGR. The only recognized HGRs are the Smithsonian Institute (holding genetics collected by the Swiss Valley Foundation), Plimoth Plantation, and the USDA.

• AI using HGR semen:

  • written proof from the HGR that frozen semen from a specific buck identified by SCIGBA registration number was acquired by the breeder, 

  • DNA markers on file for the inseminated doe, and 

  • DNA marker analysis/parentage submitted for each offspring.

• IVF using HGR eggs:

  • DNA markers on file for the buck (or written HGR proof of acquired frozen semen from a specific buck, identified by SCIGBA registration number), 

  • written HGR proof of the number of frozen eggs acquired from a specific doe, identified by SCIGBA registration number, 

  • DNA marker analysis submitted for each offspring, and — 

  • if HGR frozen semen wasn't used — DNA parentage analysis confirming the sire.

Ownership of DNA: DNA is owned by the animal's owner at the time of submission. Through SCIGBA's affiliate designation, SCIGBA is granted irrevocable rights to use a goat's DNA to determine offspring parentage and for other research.

6. Identification

Every goat must carry a form of permanent, USDA-approved identification - an ear tattoo, ear tag, or microchip - in order to be registered. See our Identification for Goats page for approved ID methods, tattoo letter/year codes, and requirements for transporting goats across state lines.

Questions?

Contact the SCIGBA Registry Committee or Registry Coordinator at registry@scigba.org.