Breeders Assistant
Breeders Assistant (BA) is a specialist animal pedigree, record keeping and genetics analysis application for Windows-based computers1. At its simplest it is used to produce high quality pedigree certificates and store all breeding records in a private pedigree database held locally on your computer.
A good way to get started with Breeders Assistant is to dive in with our series of videos 
.
BA has many advanced genetics features, including very fast inbreeding calculations. With the Extended Edition it can prioritize prospective matings in a number of ways e.g. to minimize the inbreeding that would result from the mating, or to maximize the influence of specific individuals within the breeding population, or to minimize the loss of genetic diversity e.g. by minimizing mean kinships.
BA is supplied in several versions carefully tailored for the specific needs of breeders of pedigree cats, dogs, horses and many other species. E.g. the cat version knows about the names of cat breeds, breed numbers, EMS codes (including GCCF GEMS codes), can print mating certificates, sales agreements, and helps you manage cattery records. Likewise Breeders Assistant for Dogs knows about virtually all well known dog breeds and colors as recognized by leading dog registries.
There is also a 'Generic' version which can be used for any animal type where a specific custom version is not provided. E.g. for rare breed sheep, goats, etc.
No Annual Fee
When you buy a Breeders Assistant license it is a perpetual (i.e. not time limited) license to use the release of the software that is current at the time of purchase, and any subsequent releases that occur within your support period, on a compatible computer and operating system. You do not need to pay an annual fee or other recurring fee just to continue using the release of the software you obtained at the time of purchase. The support period is 12 months from the date or purchase. The available features also depend on which edition of the product you choose (see below).
Once the support period has ended, if you wish to use a later release of the software you can upgrade.
Editions of Breeders Assistant
BA is supplied in three different 'editions' - the Personal Edition, the Professional Edition, and the Extended Edition.
You select the edition you need when you purchase a licensed copy of the product. The price depends on which edition you choose.
If you are a breeder and you want to store your key breeding records - the animals and details of their ancestors and associated records such as details of matings and contacts - and to print pedigrees, but not a lot else, then the Personal Edition is probably all you need. More...
The Professional Edition builds on the Personal Edition by adding features including a much higher record limit, multiple tagging, customizable ancestor highlighting, prediction of inherited color according to the known genotypes of parents, and several other features.
It is typically used by breed clubs and other organizations and breeders for whom the Personal Edition is not enough. More...
The Extended Edition is the premium edition of Breeders Assistant, with all features enabled.
It builds on the Professional Edition in a number of ways but most importantly it includes a suite of advanced population genetics tools and permits commercial use. More...
The population genetics tools of the Extended Edition broadly divide into two groups: mate selection, and population genetics metrics reporting.
With the mate selection tools you can specify a set of sires and dams and rank the potential matings between them in some way e.g. to minimize the offspring inbreeding, or to maximize the influence of specific individuals within the breeding population (which may or may not be ancestors of the parents), or minimize loss of genetic diversity within the breeding population as a whole e.g. by minimizing mean kinship.
The population genetics metrics reporting tools let you compute compute various metrics such as inbreeding, mean kinships, founder metrics and genome uniqueness (the risk of a founder's genes having very limited representation in the breeding population) for a specified set of individuals.
1. Full version of Windows 11 or 10 required (not Windows 11S or Windows 10S).
