Registration papers signify a great deal about the actual animal you own or are thinking of purchasing. The registration papers trace the ancestry back through two generations. If you look up the registration information online, you can explore each ancestor on the pedigree back another five generations. In addition to name and color you can explore relatives; the offspring produced by a grandsire or granddam on and on ad infinitum or at least as far back as our herd book details.
Studying pedigrees can allow you to make breeding decisions. For example, trying to duplicate a particular animal that is used by breeders in their own herds. When we recognize a superior animal out of one cow sired by a particular bull we may try to reproduce some facsimile of that superior creature by repeating the breeding or getting as close to that breeding as we can. Sometimes it works magically; every full sibling is a carbon copy of each other. Sometimes it fails just as dramatically; a single superior animal in a sea of mediocrity. That is the fun and joy of breeding livestock; to see what you can accomplish and hopefully learn from your mistake (and there will be many.)
Once you have purchased your registered zebu, make sure that the seller or you as the buyer has filled out all the correct information to transfer the animal into your name as the new owner. The animal’s value to you, as the new owner, is increased by providing important management information. Knowledge of the animal’s pedigree helps to manage inbreeding and genetic recessives.
Generally speaking, registered cattle are valued as much as 20 – 40% more than unregistered cattle, and can bring much more than that.