I use bubblegum tags in my Soay. If anything the flat parts of the tag look quite wide, but once in place they're fine. Those buttons an the ends seem to help prevent the whole tag pulling through the ear and making a big hole which allows the tag to swivel. Since we changed to BGs we haven't had that problem, whereas with the rototags we used to use it happened every year with a couple of ears. The ends of the tag itself would also swing round and poke into the ear canal, causing irritation. For the BGs I don't cut through the tag, but leave it as a loop to avoid this.
Larger sheep's ears are thicker than you might think, and even Soay ears are fairly thick. The bubblegum tag does keep the pin part at a set width, ie it won't squash inwards and crush the ear. The worst for doing that are the metal tags which fold over the ear and are crushed in place with pliers. I hate those, and they are the ones the HebSoc issues for registrations.
In the bubblegum tag, the EID device is hidden away in the button and down through the pin, whereas in some other tags it sits outside the rest of the tag and can look enormous. Tags with thinner pins may look less intrusive, but they can cut through the tissue of the ear, leaving a split ear and nowhere to reapply the tag, not to mention the risk of infection, pain, etc.
I promise I have never seen a sheep even notice it's tags, except the lambs when the tags first go in, and they shake their heads to see what's been done. Sometimes they notice them going in and give a little squirm, but thereafter the tags rarely bother them. As long as you position the tags correctly between the rays of the ear then they will be fine.
We've not tried the leg tags - it will be interesting to find what other think about them.
Topic: Bubbelgum tags (Read 4523 times)
