DNA Exclusion Cases

The American Dairy Goat Association places animals with known DNA exclusions on hold in order to minimize the number of offspring and herds that would be impacted. No registrations, transfers, leases, or service memos will be processed for these animals or their descendants until the DNA exclusion case is resolved. These animals have not been removed from the ADGA registry; however, you will not be able to search for them or any registered offspring from them in your account until a resolution is determined.

Click Here for the list of DNA Exclusion Cases

Click Here for the list of DNA Cold Cases

To help resolve any of these exclusions, please contact Performance Programs staff by submitting a Performance Programs support request by clicking here.

What happens when there is a DNA Exclusion?

Once a DNA exclusion has been determined by the lab, ADGA staff takes these steps:

  • DNA Exclusions for Unregistered Animals
    • The owner of the sample is notified of the exclusion and asked if any additional potential parents are available for comparison.
    • No further action is taken unless more parents are provided, or the animal is registered to the parent that was DNA tested as an exclusion
  • DNA Exclusions for Registered Animals
    • Prior to sending the exclusion result, ADGA staff will determine if the animal has any litter-mates.
    • The owner and breeder (if a different person) will both be notified of the exclusion via email.
    • The owner and breeder will be given the opportunity to provide other possible parents to be compared.
    • The pedigree of the animal will be placed on hold until the DNA is resolved.
      (This means that offspring cannot be registered from that animal until the DNA case has reached a resolution.)
    • Once a resolution has been determined the pedigree is updated in our systems.
    • A registration editing fee applies, which will be billed to the breeder of the animal.
    • To receive a new registration certificate, you will need to send a copy of the DNA testing results along with the original registration certificate to the ADGA office at:
      PO Box 865
      Spindale, NC 28160

Sample Timing – How long does it take to get results?

Not all samples received at the same time will have their results determined at the same time. DNA samples with parentage comparison can take 2-8 weeks to determine the result at the lab. Faster turnaround times usually indicate the samples and parents submitted were a match. Each sample submitted takes a different amount of time to complete and you may not receive all results from the samples submitted at the same time. The turnaround times of another persons submitted DNA cannot be used to determine when you receive your results.

Resolution Timing – How long does it take to resolve an exclusion case?

Of all results, Exclusion cases take the longest to resolve. If there are multiple possible parents and none of the parents submitted are a match to the offspring, then the sample may not have a result for 60 days or about 8 weeks. If there is more than one possible sire and the two sires are closely related (sire and son, or litter-mate brothers) the lab may request the dam be added for comparison to help further resolve the parentage.

If you have any doubt about the parentage of a kid prior to registration, please do the following:

  • Submit a DNA request for the unregistered kid and provide the tattoos as the unique animal identification.
  • The DNA sample can be submitted along with the DNA of any potential parents.