Premier 1 - page 9

1. To indicate sex
Benefit:
1. Allows rapid sorting by sex while
sheep and goats are moving down a
chute or in a holding pen.
2. No need to get your hands dirty or
spend valuable time to “check the
plumbing” of each animal.
To do this:
• Ears of males: Insert primary tag
in left ear.
• Ears of females: Insert primary
tag in right ear.
2. To indicate year of birth
Benefit:
No need to catch them to check
teeth. A tag will tell you the age from
25 ft away. Faster decisions when
sorting for culling or breeding.
Two ways to do this (we do both):
a. Use a different color for each year.
b. Begin tag number series with the
year of birth. Example—tag 12275
indicates lamb is the 275th lamb
tagged in 2012.
How ear tags can help you…
3. To indicate sire (and dam)
Benefit:
No need to check records.
Three ways to do this:
a. Use a different color second tag
for each sire (blue tags = Sire XYZ;
purple tags = Sire ABC).
b. Have sire name printed on the tag
of its progeny.
c. Handwrite the ewe’s tag number
with a marking pen (p. 8) on the
lamb’s tag. If space is limited write
it on the inner surfaces of the tag.
Note: Since tags can be lost, we strongly advise
using 2 sire/dam tags (one in each ear).
4. To indicate problems
Benefit:
Allows rapid, positive culling of
animals with foot problems, dystocia,
mastitis, prolapse, etc.
Two ways to do this:
a. Snap a black tag into every
problem animal.
b. Use an ear notcher (see p. 19) to
mark the animal for culling.
Q. How can I reduce tag losses?
1. Tags placed too close to the skull
are more likely to become infected.
Why?
• The tissue may be too thick for the
tag to go through.
• The wound is less able to heal (not
enough air).
So try to insert tags midway
between the skull and the outer
end of the ear. Note: One-piece loop
tags for sheep/goats only fit in the
lower red spot (see above).
2. Avoid the large veins in the ear (see
diagram above).
Why? Tissue around damaged veins
heals slowly, thus prone to infection.
Ear Tag FAQs
3. Don’t use cheaper tags as long-term
tags. Why? They’re made of cheaper
plastic that may become brittle from
UV light after a year.
4. Avoid double-button round tags.
Why? More likely to snag and tear on
grass, vines, wire fences and feeders.
5. Avoid low-fiber diets. Why? Sheep
on these diets are desperate to chew
on anything. When one lamb starts
chewing tags, its pen-mates will copy
the behavior.
Q. How do I keep track of an animal if
a tag falls out?
• Install 2 tags (one in each ear)—with
the same number. Official tags can’t
be duplicated—but you can use the
same individual animal number on
the second “backup” tag if you don’t
add a flock or premise number.
• Tattoo the animal. No animal ID is
more permanent (see p. 19) .
Q. How long does it take to get ear
tags from Premier?
A. Usually less than 2 business days for
us to print and ship them. Then it’s up
to FedEx, UPS or USPS to deliver.
5. To indicate single, twin or triplet
Benefit:
Speeds up sorting for breeding
and sale purposes. Reduces need to
consult records.
To do this:
Use a different color for each lamb
type. Repeat these colors every year.
Premier’s code is:
• blue = single
• green = twin
• orange = triplet
Premier Tip: If you use
tags in your breeding flock, it’s
wise to install a tag in both ears
when they are baby lambs.
Why? Because tag wounds
in lambs heal quicker with less
infection risk than tag wounds
in adult animals—and it thus
provides a pre-existing, clean,
firm hole when a larger tag
needs to be installed.
Q. What tag colors imprint the best—
and the worst?
A. The tag colors in the charts on
pp. 13–17 are arranged in order of
readability from a distance. As a rule:
• Light colors (white, yellow, salmon,
spearmint) are the most readable.
• Dark colors (red, purple, green) are
the least readable.
Q. What tag system do we use?
A. We are always experimenting. So we
use many tags. Currently Premier’s
preferred system is to:
1. Tag baby lambs with two size 1
or 1.5 Q-flex tags (same numbers
for each tag) within 4 weeks of
lambing. We select tag color,
numbers, placement to indicate
twin-single-triplet/year of birth/
sex (see information below) .
2. For breeding sheep we replace
the size 1 with a size 5 Q-flex tag
(much easier to see). The original
tag hole is reused for this.
3. We rarely install official scrapie
tags until the animal is ready to
leave the farm.
www.premier1supplies.com • 1-800-282-663109
Sheep Cattle & Goats
(Boer, Kiko & Nubia)
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