Sheep Identification
By: Melissa Mitchum, Kyle Riggs, &
Josh Chastain
Introduction
Identification is a very
important tool in the management of sheep.
Every successful business operation must have accurate records, and in
the sheep industry this starts with proper identification of the sheep. There are several types of identification
systems used in the sheep industry. Some of these are permanent where others
are used to temporarily identify the animal for treatment or sale. There are also a few semi-permanent systems
used like ear tags, for example, which can be occasionally lost or ripped out.
We will cover a brief summary of most of these forms of identifications.
Permanent or Semi-Permanent Forms of Identification
Ear Tags
Ear tags are the most common
used form of animal identification. They
come in many forms and colors. Most ear
tags are made from either plastic or metal.
The plastic tags come in many sizes and a couple of different shapes. The plastic tags come per numbered or blank
so you can use your own numbering system, and are a fairly cheap source of
animal ID. Ear tags are applied to the ear
using an ear tager which pierces the button of the
tags through the ear. Pictured below are
some common types of ear tags and ear tagers.
Scrapie Tags
Scrapie tags are now required by law for all sheep entering
interstate commerce. This is part of a
nation-wide effort to eradicate the scrapie disease,
and allows every sheep to be identifiable to the original flock it came
from. This law applies not only to
sheep, but also to goats and any other animal that has resided with sheep. Scrapie tags are in
the form of a premise ID tag with a unique animal number and statement from the
owner. These tags are applied with the
use of an ear tag gun.
Electronic Identification
Electronic identification is
the use of microchip placed in an ear tag, which is placed in the animals. The microchip has the number on tag programmed
to it, and is read using a computer and a reader device. This is the form of identification that the
Tattoo
A tattoo is a number and
sometimes a letter or a herd mark placed in the ear of the sheep. This method of ID is commonly used by
purebred associations as it is one of the most permanent forms of ID. A tattoo gun is use to place the numbers
and/or letters into the ear. The numbers
and letters are made of needles that place small holes in the ears in their
shape and than ink is applied to the holes so that the number is readable.
The down fall to this system
is can be ripped and sometimes the holes become filled with dirt or grow over,
but biggest disadvantage is that the small number in ear is hard to read from a
distance.
Ear Notching
Ear Notching is used two
different ways in sheep. Some producers use it to identify the type of birth in
one ear and the week or year of birth in the other ear depending on the system
being used. The other use is to identify
sheep that they are going to cull from their herd. This method is used more in the commercial
sheep industry to identify those ewes that have bad udders, are poor mothers,
or any other reason they might want to cull these after lambs are weaned and this
way they can be IDed in the lambing barn. This also can be used to mark younger ewes who had rectal prolapses for cull
before breeding. The ear notch is just a
V shaped notch placed somewhere on the ear.
Nose Prints & Retina Scans
Every sheep has a unique nose
print like humans have thumb print. This
is mainly used to help identify show sheep and prevent people from swapping
sheep. This is done by placing ink on
the lambs nose and than pressing paper or index card
to lambs nose to so print is place on the paper. Some places are now using retina scans used
in some human security systems to replace the nose print due to the ease of it
and technological advantages.
Temporary Forms of Identification
Paint Brand
Paint brands are used mainly
for a farms own use or sale use and is a painted number that is placed on an
animals back or side. This allows for
quick id of animals during breeding season from a further distance, or any
other time animals might need to be id quickly from a distance such as
lambing. Auction and sales use these due
to the easy read factor for buyers and recoding sales.
Neck Straps
Neck Straps are very similar to
a dog or cat collar but is made for larger animals. They are used mainly in dairy animals as well
as sometimes used to identify animals with a number for judging contest. They are probably the least used form of
sheep ID.
Auction Tags or Hip Tags
An action tag is a stick tag
that is sometimes place on sheep when they are sent to an auction barn to id
the sheep and where it came from for the sale. It is use with other forms many
times and is mainly use for the auction barn record and is a quick, easily seen
form of id for them to use during the sale.
Chalk, Paintstick, and Sprays
Paintsticks, Chalks, and Sprays have many uses for temporarily
marking animals and come in many colors so you can use them at the same time
for different IDs. Sheep are commonly
marked with these on the back or head.
They are commonly used to mark pregnant and open ewes during pregnancy
checks, as well as to mark animals that need treated or have been treated or
need sorted off from a group and about any thing else you can think of.
References
http://www.pipevet.com/articles/Identification%20Options.htm
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/asc/asc130/asc130.htm