Chinchilla Herd Records

INTRODUCTION

Since starting breeding chinchillas back in 1987, my father and I have produced a large number of chinchillas. Had it not been for the accurate recording of the pedigrees together with the matings and births within the unit, the use of line breeding techniques and the accurate tracking of health traits would be an impossibility. This means that any breeder wishing to produce show quality animals must ensure that they get as much data on the animals which they procure. In turn, they must keep this information safe and use it in order that any animals produced can be associated with their correct parentage.

There are two issues which I would like to cover in this article. The first is the way animals are recorded by their breeders, and the second is the documentation needed to ensure that the breeding herd functions effectively, and quality animals of the correct parentage are produced.

ANIMAL RECORDING

The first point which should be covered is the way in which new kits are registered in herd documentation. There are several ways of coding animals. One way is to name them, rather than to give them a number. A problem with this is that if you breed a large number of animals, finding and choosing names can become difficult. Also if an animal is sold, there is no distinguishing mark to a name which links the animal to its breeder.

The two most popular methods of registering animals is as follows:-

ED98003

This method uses Etherdale Chinchillas sort code, ED followed by the year of birth, and also the number of the animal of that year, so for instance, this animal ID is for the third baby of 1998. A letter is sometimes added between the year and the animals number to indicate whether the animal is a male or a female. The animal number is represented as a three digit number so that if more than 100 kits are born, they will be listed in the correct order by computer systems.

EDH003

This method is very similar to the above method, but instead, a letter H is used which describes the year, in place of '98'.

These methods are equally good for records, and at the millennium, we changed from the first to the second system. In the year 2000, the method which we originally used (the first method) would mean that the first baby born would be numbered ED00001, whereas for the second method, the animal's number was EDK001, which is much simpler and clearer.

Since the letter system has been suggested, the following list indicates the letters which correspond to the year number:-

One important item to consider is the breeders code which is used to identify the breeder of a particular animal. There are several long established codes, and any new breeder must try to adopt one which has not been used before, or is not too close in its resemblance to those which have gone before. Your herd ID should be concise, being no more than two or three letters, and perhaps should reflect your herd name or your initials... ID tags as short as one letter are easily lost, and ID's longer than three letters are unwieldy and cause confusion on pedigrees. Examples of these codes are as follows:-

These codes are important in identifying animals. If a pedigree is lost, the details of the animal concerned can be found by contacting the breeder, giving the number and year of birth of the animal. It is therefore useful to know who the breeder of the animal is.

DOCUMENTATION

The documentation which we use in order to keep our information up to date is expansive, and are outlined as follows:-

1. Chinchilla Herd Book.
2. Etherdale Chinchillas Computer Database.
3. Day-to Day Unit Book.
4. Chinchilla Show Records.
5. Cage Cards.

Chinchilla Herd Book

The chinchilla herd book is vital in assessing exactly what animals you have in your unit at any one time. The herd book should hold all of your breeding stock, and all of the kits born for the year. In our case this book holds all records of breeding stock used, and births recorded since 1988, allowing easy access to all of the relevant information.

At the start of every year, an audit of the males and females which are in breeding is made, and a list is made at the start of a double page in our A4 file. Space is left to allow for additional males and females to be added to the breeding herd, and the list of new kits is started. An example of the headings used are as follows:-

Breeding Males - 1999

Breeding Females - 1999

1999 Kits

This method of recording gives an overview at the start of every breeding year, of the stock held at this time. A table can also be made up in a similar manner to the above for all of the animals held in stock at the start of the year, i.e. a Stock List. This is not done in our records because the status of an animal, be it in breeding, sold, died or other, is written in the 'Remarks' column.

Etherdale Chinchillas Database

When it comes to recording your stock, it is most important that pedigrees are available for the animals from which you intend to breed. Pedigrees are not always available, but line breeding is only possible with them, and such line breeding techniques have been found to be very successful in producing top quality show stock.

An ideal pedigree will extend as far back as possible, but the most widely used pedigrees are five generation, which contain parentage dating back to great-great grandparents of the animal in question. The pedigree should also contain information including date of birth, colour (and the colours of the animal's descendants), number of kits in the litter, and essentially grading information.

Initially we used paper pedigrees, but it was soon found that this was inadequate with a large number of animals, so Etherdale Chinchillas joined the electronic age! We did this by using a computer database which had been produced in Canada, specifically for chinchillas, which had been adapted from Pig Breeding. This kind of system is ideal for chinchilla herds where the births exceed twenty kits per year, since once all of the information has been inputted (a large job), pedigrees can be produced at the press of a button!.

The database allows all of the relevant information to be inserted, and much more besides, such as show results, sales information, breeding records and weight records should they be taken. The advantages of this system also allow the user to see further back in the pedigree, beyond the usual five generations (although this is not always useful, since the sixth generation comprises 32 animals, the seventh, 64 animals etc.). It must be remembered, however, that a computer is only a box of switches, and the answers out of any program are only as reliable as the inputs (information entered) to it.

Day-to-day unit book.

Every year, the animals in our unit undergo a 'move-around', where matings are assessed with a view to finding the best pairings from the animals available in the unit. In our case this often affects a number of chinchillas. When the day of the move arrives, it is imperative that the date of the move is associated with the female, its past mate, and its future mate, so that if a mating has not been spotted and the resulting offspring are to be recorded, the correct father can be ascertained and an accurate record of the progeny can be made. The table used is as follows:-

When an entry is made, it is useful to write either an ST for a stopper mating, BB for a possible breed-back, and FUR for a suspected mating. It is important that this list is kept accurate, and is updated regularly, as this method of unit control allows you to see which animals are pregnant, and so when to expect kits. Often, females which you suspected of being on a breed-back will drop a stopper, and in this instance, the list must be updated, with any superseded entries crossed out.

This list, once started, should not be stopped, but simply updated. An example of the way in which this list operates is shown below:-

This book is a fairly rough affair, since it MUST remain in your unit, and is normally viewed every day. This book will contain a list of all animals moved in the front, and in the back, a list of all animals either confirmed mated, on a possible breed-back, or even females which have fur pulled out of their backs, indicating a possible mating. Once a female actually gives birth, the number of kits is written next to the ticked off date, indicating how many are males, etc., and an entry is made to indicate a breed-back on the date of birth, which of course will be 111 days later.

A coloured peg system is in operation in our unit, whereby females which are confirmed as being pregnant via a stopper, have a blue peg on the front of their cages, females which are on a possible breed-back have a red peg on their cages, and females which seem not to be pregnant have no peg on their cages.

Chinchilla Show Records

One of the best ways in which to find out about your animals is to exhibit them at shows. At these events, the animals are judged impartially, and a fair representation of their qualities can be found. Show records are important in indicating successful breeding lines, and the judges comments are also useful in identifying an animals strengths and weaknesses. It must be pointed out that due to the changing conditions of animals, a Show Champion one week may not win the week after. It should also be pointed out that although a Show Champion must be deserving of its awards, the judging of chinchillas is done through a method of comparison, and the best animal at a smaller show may not be the best animal where competition is stronger at a larger show. The recording of show results can be linked with the Chinchilla Herd book, where use of the front of a hard-backed book can be used for the herd record, and the back of the book for show records. This means that only one document needs to be taken to shows, where necessary information on the exhibits can be found, and the show records can be written. The method of writing out the show results is as follows:-

Date:-______ Region:-_______________ Judge:-__________

_____ Standard Breeders Award with ______ points.

_____ Mutation Breeders Award with ______ points.

This method of noting down the show results can be adapted in many ways, one of which would be to separate the area shown as 'Judges Comments' down into the sections shown on the 'Chinchilla Appraisal Form', issued with the 'Guide to Quality Chinchillas' booklet. Animals can then be graded by the owner of the chinchilla, according to what the judge indicates in his or her appraisal.

Cage Cards

Although it may seem basic, the use of cage cards is not universal, with many breeders relying on recognition of their animals rather than a written record which always follows the animal. This is probably the most obvious and necessary of records, and can be manifested in a number of different forms. In our case, every animal in our unit has its own cage, and on the front of that cage, the cage card holds the following information:-

1. Animals Herd Number (e.g. ED99001)
2. Animals Date Of Birth (e.g. 01-01-99)
3. Animals Colour (e.g. Beige etc.)
4. Animals Father (e.g. ED98001)
5. Animals Mother (e.g. ED98002)

Points such as the animal's colour do not have to be added at birth, and in our case, the bulk of our chinchillas are standards, and so we only list the colour of the animal if it is not a true standard (Sapphire and Violet carriers are indicated on their cards).

When producing these cards, they should be large enough so that the information is not cluttered and can be easily read, but should be limited so that they don't take up too much space. Our Cage cards are made from old Venetian blind strips, cut into lengths of around 4 inches (10 cm), with a flap at the top to attach them to the cages. These are made from aluminium which cannot be chewed easily, and have a coated surface which can be written on using a fibre marker. We currently use blue tags for males, and white tags for females to aid in identifying the sex of animals.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to say that although the system described herein sounds complex, it has been proven, and has been in continual operation in the breeding unit for five years. Audits are necessary on occasion to ensure that the written record ties up with the animals held at any one time, but the trick to the system is to do a little work, often.

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