[Luce747]

Hermione the nanny goat has managed to rip out an ear tag.

What should we do ? 

[plumseverywhere]

you'll need to order a replacement tag. How is her ear? is it badly torn?
I hate ear tags soooooo much!! am still traumatised from tagging my lot.

[Luce747]

It is awful. She has a long albeit very neat tear and is bleeding still. I will have to try to clean it for her.

I found the tag by the hay rack.

Can it be put back in and if so how? I wasnt expecting to have to do an ear tag!

I have only had goats for 2 days and already my first mini crisis LOL

[plumseverywhere]

I'm no expert (someone better will be along soon I promise!!) but in the mean time, my only knowledge suggest that tags once tagged are not able to go back in? the ones I used are tightly clamped together. and you'd not want to put it back into the wound at the moment either.
keep it clean, dry and watch it for signs of inflammation. maybe some ice/cold water to help stop the bleed?
I'm sure even the happy peeps at defra would understand that Hermione needs a break from that tag while her ear recovers 

[Luce747]

Couldnt agree more. There is no way I am putting a tag back in until her ear is completely healed up.

Having had a look at the tag - it won't open so will def need a new one and I'm guessing some kind of brutal appliance to put one in with 

[katie]

Spray the wound with purple antiseptic spray. Leave the eartagging till it's healed. Goats and eartags do NOT go together. I wish DEFRA would recognise the fact.

[plumseverywhere]

well said katie  in fact (don't tell anyone...  ) but mine remained untagged until a local lady got rumbled for similar and I panicked.
you will need an applicator and depending on the tags you choose, your applicator will need to be matched to your new tags. if/when you have kids you'll be needing an applicator to tag them too so its sort of a neccessity anyway.
we bought a metal one but it kept getting stuck in the goats ears while tagging, most horrible, hopefully there will be some recommendations from other goaty peeps soon

[Luce747]

It is barbaric. I have cleaned the wound with Iodine but it looks so sore and she looks very forlorn.

What a shame the rules are so strict. Even for backyard pets who don't honestly need such contraptions.

At the end of the day - its not the act of tagging and the fact they have to put up with lumps of plastic hanging off their ears - its the RISK. Poor Hermione only caught hers on the hay rack by the look of it.

[plumseverywhere]

by the very nature of goats, as browsers, it seems daft for them to be tagged  not to mention that they seem far more curious and likely to stick their heads in all sorts of strange places than say, a sheep.
goats hate having their ears touched at the best of times (my 2 always nip each others ears when competing for food so I assume its what they do?) so having some thing like this is such a shame. poor little girl, hope it heals quickly for her 

[plumseverywhere]

just looked at your pics. the tags look like the ones that have sealed ends? in which case perhaps they'd be more likely to get pulled.
savannah and reggie have tags that are 2 parts but not sealed on the outside (only where they are punched into the ear) if that makes sense. might be worth looking at different tags when you replace x

[Luce747]

Thank you very much for that. yes these tags are loops so I think you are right about them being easier to catch.

Will definitely look at all types available before re-tagging.

[Luce747]

Found these http://www.countrysideservices.com/livestock-id/index.php

A few places seem to do these button tags. They look a MUCH better option. Can't see them snagging on anything 

[jinglejoys]

If I had the looped together type I just cut them so they were free swinging.I found the silly little thin ones they sold for sheep slid through and got lost sometimes I always used the ones that were wider.
The trouble is nowadays you can't just go in and browse and choose because their aren't the farm supplies around anymore.I went in to the only one in the area last week (Monopoly so who cares anyway and most of the staff have only seen livestock over the hedge)and was pointed to a board hidden behind tthe counter which they had to search out for me and only one brand on it...give me a choice!

[Anke]

Has your goat come with only one tag? How old is she? All goats born after 01/01/2010 need to be double tagged, before that one tag.

I have so far not had any problems with any of my tags, either in sheep or on the goats (famous last words methinks). I use Shearwells, but not the button tag. Any new tags you are buying now are made to also be EID, so will be bigger, unless you can still get metal type tags (I did have problems with those in my sheep, they keep coming out, but that is probably due to me not pushing hard enough when applying. But they do not rip their ears, just come apart).

However until healed don't do anything, and if AH comes round to complain you should be able to point out the animal welfare implications of the tear etc. After it is healed you can either use the second ear, and if the tear is very bad (I.e. you cannot safely apply another tag) and she should have two, I would keep one safe and have one in the healthy ear. Again on the basis of animal welfare.

[Brucklay]

I'm sure you can get tags that are not IED and therefore smaller - which is what we use for our pygmy's. Like plumseverywhere we snip any tags that are the loop around version and after one of my girls came with button tags and they stayed in fine (still great 3 years) I decided to give these a go then the 3 wethers only have two tags left in a few months between them - two days later Cole's ear was ripped in half - I hate tagging, the wethers nibble each others ears all the time no wonder they get pulled out