Charolais has four registration tiers, plus the Charbray composite for Brahman crosses. There's also a color rule and a sex-based threshold that trip people up, so read carefully if you're breeding up. Here's how it works.
The Four Tiers
Fullblood Charolais. The top tier — 100% Charolais. You get this from a Gen 0 founder (100% Charolais) or by breeding two Fullblood parents together.
Purebred Charolais. The registered purebred tier, with a few requirements that all have to be met:
- Both parents must be AICA-registered Charolais
- Body color must be white, light cream, or light straw
- Bulls need 31/32 (96.875%) Charolais on paper
- Females need 15/16 (93.75%) Charolais on paper
That sex split matters — a heifer can reach Purebred a little sooner than a bull. If an animal misses the color or the threshold, it falls through to the tiers below.
Charbray. The Brahman composite: 5/8 to 13/16 Charolais AND 3/16 to 3/8 Brahman, or two registered Charbray parents. This is how you register Charolais × Brahman crosses.
Percentage Charolais. 50% or higher Charolais on paper, non-black. To register, you need either one Purebred Charolais parent, or both parents recorded Charolais at ½ or higher.
The Black Rule
Black cattle cannot be recorded in any Charolais registry — at all. This applies to every tier including Charbray. Charolais is a white/cream breed, so any black animal is excluded outright, no matter its percentage. Keep this in mind when crossing with black breeds like Angus.
How the Tiers Stack
The game checks them from purest down:
- Fullblood → Purebred → Charbray → Percentage Charolais
An animal slots into the highest tier it qualifies for.
Things to Know
- Percentages round to 1/32. Charolais uses a fine 32nds grid, which is why the purebred thresholds land on values like 31/32 and 15/16.
- Brahman ancestry is carried forward. When you register a Percentage Charolais that has Brahman blood, the Brahman fraction stays on the paper. This is what lets you breed up from an F1 (Charolais × Brahman) toward the 5/8–13/16 Charolais window to reach Charbray.
- It's paper percent, not genetics. Everything keys off the parents' registration papers, not raw genetic makeup. Register your foundation stock first.
Summary: Breed up toward 100% for Fullblood, or 31/32 (bulls) / 15/16 (heifers) white-bodied for Purebred. Cross with Brahman in the 5/8–13/16 Charolais range for Charbray. Anything 50%+ Charolais and non-black can be a Percentage Charolais. Black animals are excluded from everything.
edited 6/13/2026 7:31 PM