Premier Equipment Digital 2017

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Sheep Cattle & Goats
(Boer, Kiko & Nubian)
Tag
Placement
Cartilage
Vein
Tag
Placement
Arteries
Q. How can I reduce tag losses?
1. Don’t place tags close to the skull.
Doing so will increase both infection
and losses. Why?
• The tissue may become too thick
for the space between male and
female tag parts.
• The wound is less able to heal
(not enough air). 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 (below).
2. Avoid the large veins in the ear (see
diagram above).
Why? Tissue around damaged veins
heals slowly—so it’s prone to infection.
3. Don’t use cheap tags as long-term
tags. Why? They’re often made of
inferior plastic that may become brittle
from UV light.
4. Avoid double-button round tags.
Why? They’re more likely to snag and
rip free on vines, 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.
Ear Tag FAQs
Q. How do I keep track of an animal if
a tag falls out?
• Install 2 tags (one per ear)—with
the same number. Official tags
can’t be duplicated—but you can
use the same individual animal
number on the second tag if you
don’t add a flock or premise numbe r.
• Tattoo the animal. No animal ID is
more permanent (see p. 18).
Q. How long is the wait for ear tags?
A. Usually requires less than 2 business
days for us to print and ship them.
Then it’s up to the delivery service.
Q. What tag colors imprint the best—
and the worst?
A. The tag colors in the charts on
pp. 12–17 are arranged in order of
readability from a distance. As a rule:
• Light colors are the most readable .
• Dark colors are the least readable.
Q. What tag system do we use?
1. Tag baby lambs with 2 Q-flex tags
size 1.2 or 1.5 (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 details on p. 07).
2. For breeding sheep we replace the
size 1.2 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—and when we do we put them in
the holes left by the tag we removed.
Why? No stress. No risk of bleeding
or infection. And the healed scar
tissue ensures the tag will stay for a
long time.
Why folks like
our tags
1. Very fast printing—
it’s who we are!
Custom tag orders often leave
our door within 2 days, while our
competitors’ turnaround time is
often 2 weeks or longer.
2. Customized for you
You can choose any logo or
number sequence. Custom
brands or logos will have a one-
time $15 setup fee per design
(this is less than some others—
who charge up to $30).
3. No minimum purchase
requirement!
We’ll even imprint individual
replacement tags ($2.50 per tag).
4. Low prices
For some sizes our tags cost
only half as much as similar tags
from other sources. How are we
able to do this?
Most tag sales occur during
Premier’s “slow” months (for
sales)—so we price tags low
because our staff has more time
during that season. It’s a win for
Premier and for you.
5. Imprinted for the same
price as blank
Our customized laser-
imprinted tags with your choice
of consecutive numbers and your
premise number/name are the
same price as blank tags.
We can imprint tags with
brands, logos (one-time $15 setup
fee per design) or with individual
names and numbers.
To handwrite on a tag
Marking Pens
Handwrite
numbers or letters
on blank tags or
additional data on
already printed tags.
Writes on:
Q-flex Tags, Z Tags,
MiniTags, Neck Tags
and X Tags. Does not write on: Qwik and
other nylon tags. The Z Tag marking pen
has broad and fine tips.
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