Well, it's that time of year again - babies will be hitting the ground pretty soon, and that means lots of little ears to tag. I know I've given a lot of advice for Kidding Season in the past, but the other day I was thinking back to when we started raising goats (I can't believe it's been over a decade!). I still cringe at some of the silly mistakes we used to make while tagging, but I hope this blog will help you avoid our mistakes.
Tagging kids doesn't seem like it should be that hard. All you do is grab the kid and pinch their ear with the applicator - but if you do it wrong, you'll be kicking yourself for as long as you own the animal. If the tag is too low, it will rip out. If it's too high, it may be hard to see (or even worse, it could damage the ear). So where's the best place to tag a goat's ear?
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I'd better use one. As you can see, the tags in this little goat's ears as just about dead center both top to bottom and left to right. In my opinion, this is usually a pretty good way to do it - but it depends on the circumstances. Like people, not all goats are exactly the same.
Some may have big veins running down the center of their ears. If you can miss them, you always want to avoid veins. Not only does it decrease the chance of infection, it also just hurts less when you poke the hole (it seems like the areas without veins have less nerves).
Others goats may have ears that are very thin and prone to ripping. You may want to take this into account by tagging a little bit higher. But don't tag too high - it gets easier to hit a vein the higher you go.
Another problem we've had with goats with short "airplane ears". The little boogers have ears that stick straight out like an airplane. It makes them very cute, but when they get older and the tags are no longer heavy enough to bend their ears down, it makes them hard to read at a distance. With goats like these, you may want to tag a little lower - but not too low, otherwise it might tear out.
Now it may not seem like it could be that hard to get the tag in the center of the ear, but goat kids learn quick. Especially if you're using a system that puts a tag in both ears, you may get off easy with the first tag, but the baby will be ready as you grab their other ear and prepare to "bite" it. Baby goats are very good at shaking their head right before you tag them. The best solution is to grab a second person to help you - that way they can hold the baby's head still. Just ask your helper if they want to come hold some baby goats this afternoon - they'll be dying to come along!
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