[egglady]

ermmmmm...i think i'll just double tag everyone...sounds far far easier all round!

thank everyone

[shep53]

IF you look inside your movement document pad there is a flow chart for tagging

[Rosemary]

I HAVE tags for mine but keep them in individual bags with their names on. The tups will be tagged as they get on the trailer to the abattoir. The others will get tags if / when they need them. All my three originals have ripped ears so I'm not tagging them to have that happen again. I did tag the two of the three white ewe lambs though - otherwise I can't tell the difference but I can identify all the coloured ones.

[Fleecewife]

A useful way of identifying young lambs, esp when you have quite a few, is to put in 'turkey wing tags' at birth.  These are 1cm sq metal padlock-shaped tags, which can be sterilised and re-used each year, with whatever individual number you want put on them.  Ours have 3 digits on.  The pin is thin metal so the lambs barely notice them going in - no applicator needed.  Very occasionally one will fall out, but rarely enough that it's not a problem.  Then when you come to tag your lambs with the correct big tags at, say, 4 months, you have no problem in knowing who is who and if you wish you can cross-ref birth tags with official tags in your private records.  If your lambs are just going for meat then of course this isn't necessary, but if you are breeding stock for registration it works well.  I think they come from Roxan in Selkirk, Scottish Borders www.roxanid.com  and he doesn't want to know they are for lambs      I don't know what officialdom would think of this method but if it means accurate registration info and no torn ears then it's a winner for me.

[Anke]

I HAVE tags for mine but keep them in individual bags with their names on. The tups will be tagged as they get on the trailer to the abattoir. The others will get tags if / when they need them. All my three originals have ripped ears so I'm not tagging them to have that happen again. I did tag the two of the three white ewe lambs though - otherwise I can't tell the difference but I can identify all the coloured ones.

If you get an unannounced visit from AH or Trading standards they may not see it that way... I would at least have one tag in per animal. I must say I use the SETtags from Shearwell and have yet to loose one - however on the bought in ewes (and goats) the tags have disappeared, none of them SETtags though.

One problem would be if your ewes escaped, then no-one would know who they belonged too, and they would immediately be destroyed. With tags in, they are usually traced and returned to their owner!

[VSS]

Statutory Requirements.
1) All sheep born on or after 31st December 2009 must be identified according to the
current rules. Older sheep are covered by earlier legislation.
2) All sheep kept beyond 12 months of age must be identified with one electronic
tag/bolus and one visual tag.
3) Any sheep intended for slaughter before 12 months of age can be tagged with a single
slaughter tag which can be electronic or visual, although they may also be identified as
per point 2). However, in Scotland, any slaughter tag MUST be electronic.
4) In England and Wales, electronic tags MUST be yellow and visual tags must not be
yellow. Scotland is different in that although SEERAD recommend yellow as the colour
for EID tags, it is not compulsory and is also permitted as a colour for matching visual
tags.
5) Red is the colour reserved for replacement tags where the animal IS NOT on its holding
of birth. Where the electronic identification is a ruminal bolus, rather than a tag, the
visual tag MUST be black. Red and black are reserved for these purposes only.
6) If an animal is tagged with a slaughter only tag, and is still on its holding of birth, it
may be upgraded to full EID (double tagged) by removing the slaughter tag and inserting
one electronic tag and a marching visual tag.
7) Rules covering replacement tags are the same for animals born since the introduction
of EID and older animals. Where the sheep is on its birth holding, a lost tag can either
be replaced by a replacement identical to the lost tag OR the remaining tag can also be
removed and a new pair of tags applied. Where the latter option is used, the old and new
tag numbers must be cross referenced in your flock record book.
Replacement tags for animals not on their holding of birth are as per 7) except that
the tags MUST be red.
9) Where a sheep has lost a slaughter tag, it can be replaced with another. Where the
animal is not on its birth holding, the new slaughter tag must be red.
eg:
Full EID - UK number & Individual Number Double tags for animals kept for more
than 12 months.
Slaughter only - UK flock number only. Can be electronic or electronic. Must be yellow
if electronic.

[Rosemary]

One problem would be if your ewes escaped, then no-one would know who they belonged too, and they would immediately be destroyed. With tags in, they are usually traced and returned to their owner!

I know what you mean - but the tags have just fallen out Hopefully, they'll live up to the breed standard and not "do" escaping 

[SallyintNorth]

One problem would be if your ewes escaped, then no-one would know who they belonged too, and they would immediately be destroyed. With tags in, they are usually traced and returned to their owner!

In these parts, each holding has its own paint mark; all sheep-keepers mark their sheep with 'branding fluid' which identifies the flock to other local sheep-keepers.  BH's mark is any colour right shoulder, our neighbour to the east is blue stripe mid-left-flank, my previous farm was blue spot between the shoulder blades and the neighbour had two marks, red and green left shoulder.  Up on the hills I think some farms still use ear notches; the old breed yearbooks gave the earnotches along with other flock details.  Some farms still brand horns; my previous farm branded the farm initials into one horn and the year of birth into the other.  And some farms use coloured tape on horns.

The point is, we really don't need DEFRA (or its Scottish equivalent) to tell us how to identify our sheep.  We've been doing it without them for hundreds of years.

[robert waddell]

sallyinthenorth      what you have said is exactly why we need these rules and regs      that is only local knowledge        take a numptie from a non farming background in that area and he can tell you diddly squat about the sheep other than     they are sheep
 

[SallyintNorth]

sallyinthenorth      what you have said is exactly why we need these rules and regs      that is only local knowledge        take a numptie from a non farming background in that area and he can tell you diddly squat about the sheep other than     they are sheep
 

That's fine.  He can ask one of the local farmers then.  Simples.

[egglady]

thanks everyone, i am sorted