[Paul and Caroline]

Hi

We are going to be sending 3 hoggets to the local market to sell and I am getting myself tied up in knots trying to understand how they should be tagged - can anyone tell me in 'idiotspeak' what tags they should have please?

1. I bought them in as Cade lambs and they currently have the birth holdings single non-eid tag in
2. They will be over 12 months old when they go
3. I have spoken to Scoteid, rural payments and SAMU and they have all given me different answers, and none of them sounded particularly knowledgeable or gave me confidence that they were telling me the right thing

Do I remove the original tag and replace with my own tag? (Not keen on that one for obvious reasons)

Do I leave the original tag in and add my own tag plus put my own electronic tag in?

Should my tags be the red replacement tags or just the normal (in my case) orange and yellow tags?

I have had variations of all of the above suggested to me - 

[twizzel]

If you’re replacing any tag in England it has to be a double red tags if the sheep wasn’t born on the holding you’re on. Not sure if this is the same for Scotland or not. I would think you might be cutting it fine to send them with a single slaughter tag, as technically anything over 12 mths old should be double tagged, but hogs up until May the following year of birth can be single tagged i think? Again for England. But before you send them as hogs check their teeth- if they have cut their first 2 teeth they will have to go as culls not hogs as the carcass will require splitting. This has a knock on effect on price. Around this time of the year is when hogs start to dry up and markets stop selling them. Your best bet is to ring the market you’re taking them to and ask- they will be able to advise. If they have cut their teeth then they will definitely need to be double tagged.


http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/02/08120157/7


This link suggests they will need to have the single slaughter tag cut out and 2 new double red tags put in as they are 12 mths of age. Don’t leave that slaughter tag in, cut it out and start again.

[SallyintNorth]

They really have only one non-EID tag?? 

If so, can you get the farmer you got them from to supply you with the paired EID tag?  That would be by far the simplest.

Did you send off paperwork when they came to you?  (As recipient it is up to you to send off the top copy.).

[Scotsdumpy]

You might be best advised by the mart you are sending them to. I would think you would need at least an eid tag as most marts use this method to scan sheep in.

[Paul and Caroline]

They really have only one non-EID tag?? 

If so, can you get the farmer you got them from to supply you with the paired EID tag?  That would be by far the simplest.

Did you send off paperwork when they came to you?  (As recipient it is up to you to send off the top copy.).

Hi Sally yes just one tag as at the time I got them they were destined for slaughter and yes I did the movement form on receipt and sent a scanned copy to SAMU (in Scotland). And I get your suggestion re going back to the farmer.... I am horrified at the thought that I should cut the original tags out and can't believe the authorities would set up a system that required that action..... it seems to me that even the staff of the movement units are not 100% clear on the 'correct' process - I was always going to put an electronic tag in but was a bit flummox see when it was suggested it should be a red replacement tag..... I am not actually replacing the eid tag I am just what they termed upgrading.....

[SallyintNorth]

If they were destined for slaughter they should have had a single electronic tag. Which the mart may well be prepared to accept even though they are not coming from the holding of birth - you would need to ask the mart.

If as you say they have a single non-electronic tag, then the farmer should still have the electronic pair to those, and putting those in would be the simplest solution. 

Otherwise, as twiz says, in England you would need to put red replacement tags in and note the original and new numbers in your flock book. If you cut out the original you can use the same hole.

[twizzel]

I'm not sure why you're horrified at cutting a tag out? Get a pair of snipper pliers (I think the ones we use are wire cutter type), snip between the tag and where it goes into the ear, then pull out and replace in the hole with the new tag. We don't mean that you need to cut the ear to get the tag out. We have done this with snippers hundreds of times before both with cattle and sheep. Quite often you can get the new tag into the hole where the old one was. You can't send in a sheep with tags with 2 different flock numbers so you really do need to cut that one out and then replace with double red tags. On a side note, what colour is the single tag it's got in at the moment? If it's yellow then it's an EID tag, all EID tags must be yellow in England and recommended to be yellow in Scotland although not compulsory. If you cannot get sense out of authorities or market, the safest bet is to take out the single tag and replace with double red tags with your flock number on, then note in the flock book tag replacement page the old tag number you cut out and the new tag number you've put in.

[Backinwellies]

Easiest legal action.....

1) cut out old tag if not yellow EID tag ....  (useless unless farmer has the other to go with it)

THEN

2)  replace with pair of  Red tags with your numbers on. (or whatever colour is used as replacements in Scotland)

Do Not  put in ordinary tags with you number in.

[shep53]

TAG CONFUSION YET AGAIN , I am selling hoggs at the moment all on a single slaughter tag unless its lost and then they have double tags , refered  to as an upgrade .  ALL I do is clip their tails ,back of legs and their bellies then take to  market  ( the market can do it for you at a cost maybe a £1 ) .  IF they have their lamb teeth then good, if the are missing a tooth or have adult teeth showing then this  affects the price , maybe a £2o difference at the same weight ( can still be sold on a single tag )  These hoggs should be on a yellow single eid slaughter tag which only shows the flock number and no individual number .  You have until the 31st may and then you must upgrade to double tags as they are then classed as 12mth old . Speak to you auction as they sometimes have their own interpretation of tagging rules