I've been talking. To breeders and organizations in Canada and US about my beloved Kerry Cows. There is often a problem with rare breeds. Lack of population control. What that means is that there isn't a strong network of breeders in the different gene pool areas (UK, Canada, US and Ireland). There are Societies and the like, but we don't have a clear plan or vision. We don't even know who all of the players are!
What I had proposed to Jane Mullen in Canada and ALBC was the establishment of two things
1) a stronger network of breeders and
2) a better handle of the genetic resources that we have on hand.
Jeannette gave me an run down of the computer programs that can be used, organizations that use them and costs/tech support offered. I emailed the Cleveland Bay Cociety in UK to see what their experience has been with Sparks, a program from ISIS. Apparently they like it a lot. It has helped them control the gene pools in UK and US. Breeders Assistant is another program that appears popular, only it isn't very exportable into other programs - say if it becomes obsolete or something.
I hope to send a letter off to Ireland. We need their approval on anything we do. I'd also like to see if we can get bi-yearly inspections of herds by Ireland if we can and do more promotions/fundraising. Canada and US also need semen.
I started a Kerry Cow group on yahoogroups to see if we can get a discussion of breeders going.
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