# Tattoo question



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Binkey had triplets...1 died, I know that birth order determines wether they would be tattooed B3 B4 or B5....The buckling that passed was the third born, so since he was last born and deceased, the first would be B3 and the second B4..Right? :whatgoat: Also, even though the third passed, when filing papers, I still need to have the correct number in the birth as 3 :? 

Penny's girls are B1 and B2


Even though Baileys buckling isn't registered, can I put my herd name in his ear to show where he came from? It won't be documented anywhere but my records.


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## TinyHoovesRanch (Jan 16, 2010)

You still count the baby that passed, I know that for sure, not sure on the rest. Sorry for your loss


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

The kid is still counted in the number in birth and you can tattoo any kids even if not registered


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## ()relics (Dec 25, 2010)

It does not matter, birth rank that is, unless you are concerned about it. As far as a stillborn goes, again it is up to you, wether you include it in your count or omit it, just note it in your records with a * or something. Actually you can give ANY number at all, in ANY order, your association suggests you start it with B this year, or A in my case, But it is not required. You can start with B72 as your first kid, It Makes No Difference. As long as the tattoo match your herd records. I sometimes have Several kids on the ground in the morning. I barely can determine the proper dams much less birth order. But for your own record keeping purposes, most breeders follow the suggested letter and then start with 1 every year, starting with their first kid born or at least their first set of kids and proceeding from there. Obviously I never tattoo % bucks or wethers so they just get a kid number that follows my other kid numbers...


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## Bellafire Farm (Jan 5, 2010)

I've actually asked this NUMEROUS times (and to some very high-end breeders) and oddly enough...always get different answers. :? Some breeders are adament that you only number the one's that get registered/live... some breeders are adament that you number every one including those that do not get registered/survive. 

For example: Triplets, #1 wethered, #2 doeling, #3 died.... some people would only number/tattoo the #2 doeling and move on. Some would number/tattoo only the first two kids & not the one who passed on. And some would give numbers to all three.

I'm sure the registries actually have a "rule" about this, but I still think there is a lot of confusion about it. I think some of it depends on how you personally run your program.... for example, do you want to know that exact number of kids born on your farm (ALL kids no matter what). Or would you rather just record the one's that live/get registered...

I'm interested to know what others say here too....

Our first year we were told to just number the one's that got registered and not the wethers (none died). But we've since switched to numbering all, although now that I think about it I've only had one that was stillborn (last year) and I do not believe I included her.... would have to check to be sure...


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## ()relics (Dec 25, 2010)

Ok so in my state all animals that are transported ANYWHERE have to be indentified with either a tattoo or a tag. Intact non-registered breeding animals must have a scrapies tag. Wethers that are/will be shown must have a county ID tag....confusing...essentially every animal on my farm has an ID number. Some have registeration tattoos, with matching paperwork, some have county tags, my show/potential show wethers, and some have scrapies tags. REALLY confusing. All these sets of identificaion methods are trackable back to my farm and match my herd/brith records...When a kid is born I decide how I am going to identify it...scrapies tag, county tag, tattoos. If I were to tattoo and number every kid, I would end up with kids that have multiple ID numbers, a B or A number and a county or scrapies tag...EVEN more confusing. The best idea is to essentially run 2 or 3 sets of number sequences. Now that sounds EVEN MORE confusing, but in reality its the simplest, at least for me. If I do tag a kid and later decide to register it I _can_ always go back and tattoo it but it will always keep the same number.
Then add the potential of buying a kid with a tattoo number that matches one of yours, the kid number not the herd ID. You might have 2 kids with a B5 tattoo...It really makes no difference how you do it as long as your records match your animals, tags/tattoos. Same goes for your registration paperwork...as long as the tattoos match the paperwork....Call your Association...Several years ago I bought a buck that had a tattoo that didn't translate into what I thought I should be, the letter in the ear didn't match the Suggested letter for the year the buck was supposedly born. I called My association and they said as long as the tattoo matched the paperwork He was OK to Go.


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## 4hmama (Jan 9, 2009)

Not sure about the right answer, but here is what I do.... I give all babies a number - deceased babies also. If the baby dies, the number still goes with it. My thinking is that you have to put down on the reg. applications how many animals born in the 'litter', so if they are going to count numbers there - the number should be counted when figuring tattoo numbers. If mama has babies B1, B2 and B3 - and B3 dies, the next mama that delivers will have kids starting with B4. Thats how I do it - right or wrong.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

On the paperwork it says...number of kids in birth. It doesn't matter if you had 4 and 3 died...2 and 1 is a non show wether...etc. You just put the exact number that were born to that litter.

As for tattooing. I don't number the deceased kids when tattooing. It is up to you though. I find it just gets to confusing if I number any deceased kids...but I have a big herd and a lot of kids born each year.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Thank you all so much for the input...Since I do have a smaller herd than most, each Nigerian will get a birth number and since this was my first year to have 2 ND does kid, and my first loss of a born, viable kid just 10 hours after he was born, I wasn't sure if he should/would be counted...I hope I don't have to question this again but if I do, wether alive or not I think it would be easier for me to "count" them since they do count in "number in birth"


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

relics my state has the same requirments. I got my ADGA herd name to be attached to my scrapies number so I can just tattoo everyone with EOTL and it works for scrapies too. Saved me a whole hassel! 

When I sold goats to the Baltimore MD Zoo I had to have them all tattooed adn they were only Wethers. So yeah I tattoo everything that needs it so I leave the numbers available because you never know who will purchase and if its out of state well then you are out of luck if you skip their number. I guess you could just give them the last numbers available but I like to keep tabs and for record keeping.

Thats just me


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## ()relics (Dec 25, 2010)

My herd name is attached to my scrapies tags as well.I could tattoo IN in front of my herd name and it would suffice for a scrapies ID as well BUT that means any time you want to check a doe/kid number you have to catch them, where as tags are easily seen. and I Hate Tattooing. I don't use as many, tags as I do tattoo numbers or county tags. It is a logistical nightmare to sort through scrapies tags to try to find the exact number that would coincide to the kid number that I am looking for....So for awhile that worked, until I had a kid that happened to be born with a tag number that was already taken ie: 2 years ago I had market animal that I used DBV 009 on now last year I had another animal that would have required the same # DBV 009 to follow my tattoo sequence but it had already been used ..Long story short...All 3 of my numbering systems are independant of each other. Now my tattoo # folow in sequence and my scrapies tags are random as are the county tags, all following the 37xxx pattern could be any number, but noted in my records and appear in my spreadsheet's current totals...Again I don Not count still borns...If a kid stands up and nurses then he is counted wether he lives even another full day. Stills are included in the total kids for that doe, eg: twins trips quads....


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