are you sure you are missing veins? Are flies an issue?
That's a very good point. I do my best to miss veins of course, but with black ears and wriggly sheep, it's not that easy to be sure! That on its own could account for the one or two who have problems I guess? (flies aren't too much of a problem here).
Re the disinfection, I reckon that a sheep's ear must have far more bugs on it than any new tag would, hence why I asked about disinfecting ears as well as tags.
The infections so far have been worse than just crustiness, with significant swelling at the base of the ear, pronounced droopiness, and pus. They tend to clear up really quickly once the offending tag is removed though, although I did give last one's a shot of betamox 48 hrs later, since things didn't seem to be getting better, which sorted him out very quickly (bang goes this year's 'antibiotic free' claim for the meat!)
BJ - I did try to get you a photo this morning, but the lamb was having none of it!!