[Foobar]

I need to get some spray markers for marking particular sheep, I was going to get Ritchey Super Spray ones as they claim to last a long time which is what I need (and they do it in white).


Thing is ... my sheep are black.  Has anyone had any experience with spray markers on black sheep, and if so what colours will show up?  I know with raddle paint (or blocks) I can use yellow, orange and green, but anything else just doesn't show.  Am I limited to the same colours with the sprays, and will green spray even show up?


Any comments welcomed .

[Rosemary]

I know this doesn't answer your question directly but I find a marker crayon better than the spray. It fits neatly in my pocket (the can I have is huge) and I find it easier to just put a mark on the head or back of the sheep after I've dosed it or whatever.

My sheep are brown and I have an orange crayon that shows up fine.

[Foobar]

Yeah I've tried crayons, and use them as temporary markings when dosing etc.  The crayon mark lasts about a day on mine, I need something that lasts several weeks at least.

[Pedwardine]

Yellow. White ones are always crap in my experience (Have Gotlands). Yellow on top of white is pretty good too. None are BRILLIANT on dark/black sheep.

[Old Shep]

we got ritchie sprays on recommendation and they wore off really quickly compared to cheaper versions!!

[Foobar]

Which one shep? I think they do two sorts.

Would say a marksman spray be better?

[Old Shep]

ah that might be where we went wrong.  Can't say which we got at the mo.

[SallyintNorth]

Richie ones do not last as long as Carrs Billington ones.  The latter will last happily from scanning to lambing and beyond - two months and more.  They give a good solid blob of colour if you give it a good long press.

Richie do nice handy small tins, so very useful to keep by you for a temporary mark.  But they wash out much easier than the Carrs ones, and you can't get such a good blob of colour no matter how long you press - so not as good for your black sheep.

Downland is between Richie and Carrs for longevity.

I haven't tried Marksman.

Rosemary, what brand of crayon do you use?  I tried some, thinking they'd be handier in a pocket, but I couldn't ever get a mark you could see from more than 3 paces, and to get any kind of mark I would need to hold the sheep still while I scribbled on its bum - not always possible out in the field!

Back to the OP - I've no experience of marking black sheep but I'd be inclined to try Carrs' orange or yellow.

[Foobar]

Can't get Carrs stuff down here, or at least not that I've seen.  My local shop sells Ritchey Super and Downland, so I've grabbed a yellow Ritchey to try out before I commit to getting any other colours.  Didn't go for Downland out of principle as I've never been impressed with any of their products (most are just re-branded main-brands anyway which just confuses folks!).


My stick markers are Net-tex I think.  They are very waxy, don't last and don't work on wet sheep (better as children's colouring crayons really!!). So I'd be interested to hear what type Rosemary uses too...

[SallyintNorth]

Can't get Carrs stuff down here

I haven't tried using it. but they have them in their online shop

[Foobar]

Yeah but at £8 postage it ain't worth it .

[shep53]

No one mentioning marking fluid, lasts longer than any spray and works out cheaper

[Foobar]

I had in my head that marking fluid will last ages, do you know how long it generally lasts? (ideally I'd like whatever I use to have disappeared in 6 months, I don't want to have to wash it out of the shorn fleeces)
Also, I'd need a few colours, so in the end fluid would work out more expensive and I'd only use a teeny bit of each one.

[shep53]

Depends how much you put on  ,i apply in the autumn heavily and most gone by shearing. Seems to be 6 colours  circa £10- £12 for 2.5 litre ( i thougt you could buy 1 litre but can't find any, just a picture ) lasts years , spray cans  circa  £3-£9

[SallyintNorth]

No one mentioning marking fluid, lasts longer than any spray and works out cheaper

If you mean the 'branding paint', this should only be used for the owner's brand or other necessarily permanent mark.  The Wool Board take a dim view of over-use of non-washable paints 

Plus, if you want your fleeces to go to handspinners, be aware that the branding paints do not come out at all in home processing, so a handspinner will have to discard any fleece so marked.