Parentage Verification

Parentage testing done via submission of a CLEAN hair sample with 30-40 bulbs. A hair card will be issued upon request for parentage or registration of a bull. Please allow about one-month for results. Samples need to be submitted to GENESEEK (Lab) by the 5th of the month to receive results the following month. Please submit early to guarantee results. Breeders will be notified of parentage conflict either by email or telephone call. All animals must be registered prior to request for a parentage or genomic kit. 

Males

All Males are required to be parentage tested via genomic testing at the time of registration.  For any male going to A.I., an SMA test is also required. The cost of the kit is included in the registration fee of $50.  Please notify the office if your animal is being genomic tested or you plan to test it through an A.I organization. This parentage test does not include receiving a complete genomic evaluation.  Receiving a full genomic evaluation requires an additional Council of Dairy Cattle Breeding fee, which is based on the herd's data quality. 

If you would like to receive a full genomic evaluation for your bull, e-mail kbrown-meier@brownswissusa.com with the animal's registration number, herd code and whether or not you are on BSA/PTPR and/or classify. 

*Note: These rates only apply for breeders in the U.S. For International pricing,  call 608-365-4474 ext. 16. 

Females

Parentage requests may be made for heifers/cows and genomics may be requested at the same time. A waiver with signature is required to designate whether the breeder prefers parentage only or genomics and parentage. No genomic results will be run without written consent of the animal's owner.  Parentage verification of females costs $50. This price is the same for BSA/PTPR & non-BSA/PTPR members. Any IVF or ET donor is required to have Parentage Verification before embryo recovery sheets/resulting offspring may be registered. When a cow is flushed, a genomics hair sample should be sent to GENESEEK for parentage verification. 

Ordering a Parentage Test Kit

The animal must be registered first. If there is uncertainty with parentage, with an application for registry include the options for possible parents and date of birth and tattoo number. The office must be notified of this uncertainty in parentage. 

If a bull is being collected, a female is being flushed or parentage verification is wanted on a registered animal, please provide the name and registration number.  A "waiver" noting whether genomics & parentage or only parentage is being requested. This "waiver" must be signed by the animal's owner. If this "waiver" is not returned to the office and signed additional results WILL NOT be published or received. If it is decided at a later date to receive genomic results on a female only the additional CDCB fee will apply. A new sample will not be needed at the lab. The signed "waiver" along with payment will need to be returned to the office prior to receiving a registration paper or results for the animal. Kits will not be sent that are not paid for. 

Samples must be submitted to the authorized lab to complete Genomic testing and be received by the 5th of each month in order to receive parentage results in a timely fashion. A letter noting the animal's parentage qualifications will be sent to the breeder after results are sent from the lab. To order a test kit and for questions concerning individual animals/processing of parentage, contact kbrown-meier@brownswissusa.com or info@brownswissusa.com.  Please DO NOT send samples to the Brown Swiss office. 

Random Parentage Verification

The Brown Swiss Association randomly parentage verifies every 1000th female registered using genomic testing. The Executive Secretary  may also request parentage verification on any animal at any time. Any animal selected for random testing is required to have a sample submitted to the lab.