[Jacob-list] sheep identification

[Kate Shirley]

I have used tags for about 8 years now.  I used Allflex,  Duraflex,
Rototags, and lamb rototags.  The best success I have had was with the
lamb rototags from premier.  They don't seem to bend the ear as much as
the bigger, heavier tags.  The one problem is that eventually some tags
are going to fall out or get ripped out.

This year I did an experiment.  I tagged all lambs when born.  I also
took one polaroid picture of their left side.  Since individual lambs
have different spotting patterns I thought that this would help with
i.d.'s.  Wow!  what a difference!  Next year I will not be tagging the
lambs, just using photos.  On the back of the photo, I used an address
label and wrote birthdate, dam, sire, sex of lamb, and lambs name if
named.  This was also helpful for my roomate who simply sees spotted
horned sheep.  If there is a problem I get "well, it is one of the
spotted ones with 4 horns".  I currently have 58 sheep, 30 of whom fit
this description : )

I will be tagging ram lambs for market.  Makes it easier when customers
come to choose their ram.  I just have to tell them look for the red
tag....  I will also tag animals that are sold as breeding stock if the
new owner would like a tag.

Kate Shirley, Humbug Farm