Repositories and getting new values for an aggregate entities / value objects

Question

I'm just starting out with DDD and have built a repository pattern using EF code first which so far is working very well. Now say I have an aggregate root call Animal which has an entity called Status.

Now if I need to populate a drop down list with Status objects, or I need to replace the Status object in animal with a new one. How should I access the Status collection. In this case Status is not an aggregate root and only has meaning by association with Animal, it will have an identity though.

Should I either create a new Repository for Status by making it an aggregate root (it just one of many such things so this might get out of hand), or do I allow access the Status collection via the AnimalRepository with something like GetStatusByID or GetAllStatuses?

This same question could equally apply to value objects such as color, breed, sex etc.

Answer 1

This sort of stuff I'd treat as lookup/reference data; I've found this answer useful in the past: Loading a Value object in List or DropdownList, DDD

But basically I'd have a separate repository.