[babysham]

I tagged all my lambs about 6 weeks ago and have noticed quite a few are very sore all around the tag - mostly on one ear. I have had to remove one tag on the Vets advice but left the other in and stored removed safely as she advised me not to tag the ear again for quite a while. I presume I will have to red tag when I do or if its before the year end could I put in a new set from my usual flock tags with it being a lamb? -

This morning I have noticed another lamb has completely lost a tag and its other is halfway through its ear and very sore - that's another set I need to remove - has anyone ever come across irritation from some types of ear tags?

[Foobar]

I avoid tagging in summer as there are too many flies to cause irritation.  I do it when they are very young as this seems to help - the ear grows more quickly then and seals up the wound nicely.


You won't need a red tag if they are lambs born on your holding.  Just take out the other tag and give the lamb a new pair of tags with a new number.

[Marches Farmer]

I tag 'em as late in the year as possible and make sure they're really dry when I do it.  Type of tag also has an effect. I use Allflex and split them after application as they're less likely to get caught on a branch when the sheep stick their heads through the sheep fence to eat the hedge.

[Fleecewife]

We don't tag ours until 4 months.  That's in August, but we live on a windy hilltop so often not a problem with flies. 
Are you keeping the applicator clean between applications?  This just needs to be physically clean, as for example wiping over with a baby wipe to make sure there's no blood or tissue from the previous ear.
Once the tags are in, keep a close eye on them, and as soon as you see early signs of irritation then clean up and use the blue spray.  Prevention is always better than cure.
Some tags are worse than others for irritating the ear.  Small breeds need something soft such as Allflex Bubblegum tags, which are what we have settled for after trying several different types.

Yes, as Foobar says, just take out the old tags, allow the ear to heal, then apply a new pair - after all, you are the only one who knows the lamb had previously been assigned a different number, so what they end up with is what matters.
The exception is if you have registered your lambs, in which case you need to notify your breed society of the change, and enter it in your flock record book.

(cross posted with Marches Farmer)

[Foobar]

I dip my tagger (loaded with the new tag) in Dettol solution immediately before tagging each ear.

[twizzel]

Mine are tagged at 24 hours as that's when we pick them up from the farmer as tame lambs. This year we only lost 1 tag- ear was torn and fairly irritated, sods law he lost it a week before slaughter!

I found purple spray made tag sores very very dry so put a good amount of sudocrem on after cleaning with hibiscrub if they are really bad- there's also a good cream called Summer Fly Cream, it's bright yellow and good for after flystrike but keeps flies off the wound and stays on for a good few days.

If it's just minor irritation though I would leave and let it heal itself.

[shep53]

As said you should NEVER  tag in the summer ,unless you really have to , fat lambs for sale or killing done as near to leaving home as possible  or for sale  as breeders etc ,   most tag manufactures should have got the design right by now and any tag would be a problem in summer .     Tagging at birth works well  .     I apply the first tags in august the day before store lambs are sold and repeat every couple of weeks as I sell them , my ewe lambs are not done until dec/jan before 9mths of age ,  loaded tagger is dipped in lambing lubricant , and so far not had to cut out a tag

[jaykay]

When I tag mine, which I do in July/August I pour surgical spirit onto the tag hole, after I've put the tag in, exactly as you'd do if you were piercing ears in humans. Never had a problem.

Given you are where you are, I'd gather them and spray each tag hole with blue antibiotic spray.

(The best mixture is a litre of surgical spirit with 10ml of neat tea tree oil mixed in. Put it into a plastic bottle with a fine hole/nozzle - clean washing up liquid bottle or similar).

[Hellybee]

We do same as Shep, they tagged as they go x

[babysham]

Thanks everyone - some fantastic suggestions:) I am going to sterilise the taggers in future before each lamb is tagged with surgical spirit as we do it for humans so makes complete sense. The couple I have removed have started to clear up fine now. I will retag with my next numbered flock ones when I do them again.