ECBC Quality Registration

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Zoaea

O.o
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
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Seattle, WA
So I had seen some time ago that there is currently a phase 1 of this program going on and was curious. I haven't seen people talking about it here on CnH. I thought the concept was thrilling so I was surprised at the lack.

http://empresschinchilla.org/MemberServices

How long has this been in existence and do many breeders try to get their high quality chins registered? Do you guys think it might impact future sales when breeders sell to each other? Do you think people in the pet market will want chins that are "registered". Are many breeders trying to get their chins placed and registered?
 
Interesting! This is the first time I've seen anything about it. I personally have mixed feeling about it. But I am curious on some of the answers to the questions listed in the post above. As far as pet people go. Most of them around here could care less for a pedigree let alone a quality certificate.
 
Zoaea said:
So I had seen some time ago that there is currently a phase 1 of this program going on and was curious. I haven't seen people talking about it here on CnH. I thought the concept was thrilling so I was surprised at the lack.

http://empresschinchilla.org/MemberServices

How long has this been in existence and do many breeders try to get their high quality chins registered? Do you guys think it might impact future sales when breeders sell to each other? Do you think people in the pet market will want chins that are "registered". Are many breeders trying to get their chins placed and registered?
Click to expand...

It has been in existence for a while. If you see an ECBC show that announces it is a "registry show" this is what it is referring to. Many breeders do register their chinchillas when there is time for it at the show. It is only $5 to register each animal.

I don't think it really impacts sales between established breeders since what we are looking for is not just placings, we all have a good idea of which qualities we need in our animals and sometimes you can find that in lower placing animals. For new breeders, it is a very useful tool. You have a guarantee that the animal you are purchasing has been certified as 1st place quality or higher.

I have heard that some pet owners do appreciate the certificate that comes with the chinchilla. There are a few breeders out here that get their animals registered because the certificate makes the new owners happy.

At our past registry shows, we have had anywhere from 2 to 20 chinchillas registered. It just depends on what the plans are for those animals at the show and it is also dependent on extra time after the show. The judges each have to sign the certificate and I remember one show the judges hands got cramped from having to sign so many certificates.
 
The animals have to have been placed 1st or better by two judges at ECBC shows also. Most shows in this area only have one judge so the animal would have to in most cases place 1st or better in 2 shows. Nationals has three judges so the registry would be available there.
 
A certificate is provided, but I'm not sure if there's a "database" for it anywhere. I'm sure the records are kept on paper somewhere with the show results.
 
Wow very interesting replies. I know as a pet owner in the past I would have been swayed by a chin with that type of registration. I really do wonder how the dynamic will change once they reach 'phase 2' and breeders then have to have a registered parent too.

This seems like something that will either become worthless or change how chinchillas are bred 20-30 years from now, or at least how quality lines are traced. ^^
 
At a registration show, the fee is paid for an animal who placed first or higher, the certificate is signed and the animal is eartagged with a number matching the one on the certificate.
 
There is a database of the registered animals that is maintained at the national office. With all of the recent moves for the national office, I am not sure how complete the records are. If you have an animal with an ECBC eartag in the left ear, you can always email the national office and Maxine can look up the record on that tag.

When you get your animal registered at the show, they are tagged in the left ear (a ranch brand tag should be in the right ear of the animal) and that tag number is recorded on the certificate along with the animal's information. The certificates are then sent to the national office shortly after the show by the show chair or a designated member. When they get to the national office, the general manager will record the information and send the original certificate back to the owner.

I hope it can be a more utilized feature, but not enough people know about the program and the big ranchers don't really have a use for it. They keep their own records on their pedigrees so a certificate is a little redundant.
 
IMO, it is silly. If you belong to either organization, you know how an animal does, because the magazines list the results of all of the shows. Yes, the animal has an ear tag to prove that it is the right one, but I don't buy animals from people if I dont trust them.

Truthfully, a certificate and ear tag mean nothing to me, and I don't believe that it means anything to at least 95 percent of the people out there. I did buy one animal that had been graded. She died from malo about a year later.
 
I agree that some uncouth breeders could falsify this by switching eartags and whatnot, but like others have stated, most of us only buy from breeders we know and trust, and we know what we are looking for when we buy an animal. But I will say that I think it is a great effort on the part of ECBC to improve the quality of the chinchilla. You can't fault ECBC for taking action on that. I know that when I was building my herd, having this certification on a few animals I purchased did give me a reaffirmation that I was buying a quality animal as I was developing an eye for quality.
 
I do believe this system will help to a degree. But I do believe this system has faults by leaving out second place animals. Although now we do not put into breeding anything less than a first, unless there is a reason that we know why that animal is not getting a first place other then genetics (if that makes sense to anyone). A lot of our top animals come out of a second place female, including national color section winner. There is a place for breeding second places but with your system, if or when it would hit phase three would mean all second places would be sold to pet homes, back yard breeders, or pelted to keep ranchers animals all certified.
 
Obviously, you need to trust the breeder of the animal in terms of health. Even with that, you still get an odd chin here or there that will develop an issue. Those kinds of things happen because we are dealing with live animals...you can't predict which animals will live to 15 and which will develop a congenital problem before 3 years. The quality registration for ECBC is just for quality. It doesn't give any guarantee on the animal's health, only that the animal is of 1st place quality or higher.

As Seachin pointed out, it is nice for those starting out in breeding. If you are just starting out and you have NOT had the opportunity to go to a show, the certificate can give a nice gauge of what you are getting. Not everyone that attends the shows and breeds is a member of either organization. On top of that, only the top of each class/phase/show is reported publicly. Yes, you can still find out how an animal placed by contacting the people in charge, but I have never seen anyone do that.
 
When I started my herd I studied the yearly show books of MCBA and ECBC to see who was doing well at the shows to see who I was interested in buying from. Both of these show books show all animals shown in the show regardless of placing they took. If it was a first it showed first, if it was off the table it showed no award. I did not just look at the ones that had a few of the very top animals but looked at how all their animals did as a whole over several years. It takes a little research but after a while you can see who has consistently done well and who is just a flash in the pan. I know for fact of a few that bought animals to show as their own to make their show results look good so they could sell their stock as top breeders, which it was not, and is why they are no longer around. Word gets around quick in the chin world when you are not honest or try to take unfair advantage of others.
 
I'd be more inclined to buy an animal who is certified...I'd still buy animals who weren't too but what does it hurt...I think it is a good idea. Wished MCBA had something similar.
 
Out of three of my animals that did really well at nationals I had 2 certified (third one was sold at the show, otherwise I would have tagged her too). I figured if they get 1st or better at heartland and do well at nationals I want to have the certificate not necessarily for other breeders but I can show it off to my friends and coworkers who think I'm crazy anyways for showing chinchillas. I was also encouraged to get them tagged by a few ranchers too.
 
Seems like a way for Empress to raise funds. Not that this is a bad thing as there need to be dollars for shows and expenses...

I agree with Kyle that there are plenty of good 2nd place breeding tools that would face an uncertain market because of this. Some chins are just shown young, maybe rolled in their shavings, etc. and to have to wait for the next show to show them may not be feasible. And let's be honest, part of placing at a show is your competition that day. An animal that's a 1b at one show on another day might be just a 2nd...just how it goes.

Interesting, but not sure I'd pay that much attention to it - quality you can see with or without a piece of paper and an ear tag IMO.
 
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