Breeding animals, pairings and family trees

All of this is optional. If you sell a single group of young, you can skip it. Breeders use it to show buyers parents and health records, and to keep their own records. The menu names these pages after the animals you raise.

If you unticked "I breed my own animals" when you set up, these pages are hidden; switch them back on under Settings › Customize dashboard.

Breeding animals

Open the breeding animals page under Animals and listings and choose Add. Give each animal a name, sex, species and any details for its kind. You choose whether each one shows on your public profile (hidden ones are marked "hidden").

On each animal's page you can:

• add Health records (tests, certificates). Staff review certificates, and your page shows how many results PerfectPal has reviewed;
• set its parents to build its family tree: choose one of your animals, or name one from outside your program (with its line or breeder). You can then add grandparents on each parent's page;
• keep logs, a timeline and reminders (see Enclosures, records and printable cards).

Pairings

A pairing links two of your animals to the groups of young they produce. Choose the pairing when you create a group, and buyers can see the parents (and the family tree, if you tick Show the family tree on the listing). Ancestors you keep private stay hidden.

Before you pair: the breeding planner

Animals and listings › Breeding planner checks a possible pairing before you make it: how related the two are (with an inbreeding figure when there's enough family tree), shared ancestors, their health tests (on file, out of date or missing), and the breeding limits for their kind. Only you and your team see it. It depends on your plan.

The more parents and grandparents you record, the better the answer.