[suziequeue]

I don't use the pedigree society tags at all as ours have a reputation for falling off so I just register the ewes and keep the tags in an envelope.


I like to use a different coloured tag in the right ear each year so I can keep track of the age of our breeding stock at a glance although I notice that this year there seem to be much fewer colour choices.


Having to buy multiples of ten means that I have had to buy twenty tags for eleven lambs. Fearings have got my numbers on record and they won't start the numbering where I left off last year as they only do numbering starting at the 0

[YorkshireLass]

Fearings have got my numbers on record and they won't start the numbering where I left off last year as they only do numbering starting at the 0

Surely they've got that wrong? Else you'd have lambs each year with identical numbers? I had a couple of sheep of a different breed on an existong holding, and had to start that "flock" on number 378 or something.

[Womble]

Fearings have got my numbers on record and they won't start the numbering where I left off last year as they only do numbering starting at the 0

I'm not sure I understand?

Are you saying that you used numbers 1 to 11 last year, and still have 12 to 20  in a drawer unallocated but with the wrong pedigree letter for this year's lambs? In that case Fearings are right to give you numbers 20 to 40 this year to avoid potentially having two animals tagged with the same number. That's why in my case I plan to erase the pedigree info from tags 12 to 20, and use them for the freezer boys, who won't be registered.

(Incidentally, it isn't a Fearings database, it's a national one so that you can buy tags from different suppliers without fear of duplication.)

[suziequeue]

I don't have pedigree numbers on my Fearings tags. The sheep society issue them separately when we register the lambs. I don't put the breed society tags in - I just make sure that the stock number is married up with their breed code.


I am up to 80s and 90s this year on the Fearing tags.


Like you I only register the ewe lambs initially. The ram lambs only get an EID tag but at least they have a number so that I can record their weights and scan details.


We only normally keep two ewe lambs a year to breed on. However, this year we have only had three ewe lambs so we may just select the best one.

[Womble]

Ah, so it's the colour you're trying to year match, rather than anything else?  I get it now!

[suziequeue]

Yes. So it's quick and easy at a glance to see who they are. Then I would have to catch them and check their tag number to get the exact details and then the tag number relates to their registration number which is what Signet need for the breed improvement programme.


All seems very complicated but it works for us.

[SallyintNorth]

in your position, SQ, I might look into some small plain coloured tags to indicate year on the keepers, and give all the females the next EID pair, just all the same colour from year to year.  Would work out a lot cheaper, I think, than throwing away SET pairs each year.

When I first went to the moorland farm, one of the BFL tups had a small metal blue tag in his ear, along with his pedigree and flock tags.  Ketchum do these tags, as turkey wing tags. 

[suziequeue]

Yes - the tagging situation continues to evolve and it does bug me that I'm not using the numbers consecutively so definitely something yo think about for next year.......

[suziequeue]

Right - well I've thought about it and it is absurd to carry on the way I've been doing.

I just need the small plain coloured tags - something like the ultra-R Management tag or the Ketchum track-back tags with just the flock number and year on it. Or not even the year since we've got all that on the spreadsheet and the Signet database

To be honest SitN and Womble - I feel like a bit of an idiot  ……. now that you've pointed out the bleedin' obvious.

Very grateful though 

[SallyintNorth]

glad to help!  Let us know which management tags you choose, and how you get on with them, please.