REGISTRATION
Registration of both Babydolls and Elliottdales is with the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association (ASSBA).
When you register your sheep with ASSBA, the following applies. I will use Babydolls as the example, but the same process applies to all breeds, including the Elliottdales.
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The transfer/registration of your Babydolls is the obligation of the breeder from whom you buy them. The breeder will send in the Registration/Transfer paper for rams and Individual or Bulk Transfer papers for ewes along with the Transfer Fee to the ASSBA either electronically or by mail. The Babydolls then sit in the Registry until you join the ASSBA and register your Stud with your new Stud Prefix. Once this has been done and the fees have been paid ,the Babydolls will be transferred to your new Stud.
Transfers should be sent to the ASSBA within sixty days of the sale of the sheep and the new buyer has a further sixty days within which time to register their Stud Prefix and flock. After this time, the re-registration of these sheep is up to the discretion of the ASSBA Board, and will at the least require an extra fee. ASSBA is not totally strict with this, but don't expect to be able to keep the sheep for a couple of years before registering your Stud. A registry needs to be able to prove continuity of ownership and breeding details, so timelines are important.
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If you want to register your sheep, please make sure the person from whom you purchase is registered in the Babydoll Register, with the ASSBA. You can check this out online as the Flock Books are on the ASSBA page and the members are listed. We often see people selling Babydolls on Gumtree who say they are registered when they are not, so please check things out.
If you have crossbred stock, the ASSBA has a Grading up program whereby you register the progeny of a breeding as long as one of the pair is an ASSBA registered sheep. In this case it would be the ram as there would be little point in crossing a purebred Babydoll ewe with a ram of another breed, The progeny will be listed on the Appendix Register and if you breed the subsequent female progeny to a purebred Babydoll ram each year, by the fourth generation, the sheep can be inspected and if they meet the Breed Standard, they can be placed on the Full Register with AF next to their names, denoting they have come from the Appendix Flock. From then on the offspring are classified as pure Babydolls. We do encourage people to keep their ewes for breeding up but wether any ram lambs, as crossbred rams do little for any purebred breeding program. In the case of Babydolls, they still make lovely pets though or may still be small enough for vineyard or orchard work.
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When purchasing Babydolls, please keep in mind IF THE SIRE AND DAM ARE NOT REGISTERED IN THE BABYDOLL REGISTER OF THE ASSBA, YOUR BABYDOLLS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BE REGISTERED.
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The information regarding registration and the ASSBA Appendix can be found at the back of any ASSBA Flock Books, which can be found on the ASSBA web site.