# How are your goats registered ?



## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

In Australia with Our Dairy goat society to ID our registered dairy goats they are tattooed in both ears. This method of ID had been used here for over 50? Years without any fuss or drama and is very traceable quick and easy to read. Now the powers that be Department of Primary Industries are forcing us to ear tag saying it is the best form of ID. Not sure when they are bringing starting this new rule but it will be soon. DGSA members are not happy Me included and it's another expense as well and some members will drop out of society,our members are in decline as it is now. So my question is how do you identify your goats ? Do you ear tag how do you tag? Earless goats?
I'm one of those members considering getting out of DGSA my goats cost a fortune as it is in fees rego. And feeding,they are very expensive here and I'm struggling to pay vet fees as well teejae


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

I register with ADGA and they require tattoos. Seems a lot easier to tattoo, no torn ears or possibility of removal. I wonder what the reasoning was behind switched to tags. Have you called and talked to them?


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

You can't call or talk to this GICA group ,it's all to do with Biosecurity departments to trace all movements of goats including rangeland goats.Hock straps were trailed but because they had to be removed as the goat grew did not give lifetime traceability. But wouldn't ear tags be the same? They are easy removed by human or goat.You can't remove tattoos unless you cut off the ears. To quote results GIGA continues to get more goats on more agricultural vet chemicals and work on this is ongoing.So what the does that mean??? 
Australian Meat industries Council do not support the use of subcutaneous devices and boluses like microchips and rumen boluses. But this is for MEAT not Dairy goats.
So it's now up to this taskforce to regecting or accept ( force) dairy goat producers or hobby farms like mine and the majority of DGSA members to stay or go. I just looked at the membership listed and yes it's dropped dramatically and fees have gone up yet again.


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

I don't know what that is? When we register a pedigree or full herd book Buck doe it's through the Dairy got sosiety,they issue a registration no. For that goat that's there for the life of the goat for example the tattoos my stud is TJ4 in one ear and the latest number in the other we are also given an offical pedigree paper and all money's is paid to DGSA. That has all this info on it.You most likely have the same?
So when we are forced to ear tag they will have to be printed with these numbers as well as our property identification number or pic for short that is issued through the Dep. of Primary industries. They will be a specific colour for whatever year that goat was born.If the goat is sold it will have to have another tag for its new property. As I said the cost is about $12.a tag and there is a minimum amount you can purchase,so what if you only have 1 or 2 kids to register? There are going to be a lot of problems is all I can see. I for one will most likely not rejoin and my 9 does and 1 buck will live out their days here and not be replaced.We husband and I I'm in my late 50s and he is in his 60s are looking at retirement I n the next 7 years and we won't be able to afford the upkeep of our goats.Even now when my dogs and cats pass we arnt replacing them, not happy teejae


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Wow. That is terrible. All about control. I'd drop out before anything is official.


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

We register ADGA and tattoo ears
You asked about earless goats
LaManchas get tattooed on the web of their tail


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I foresee that if a bunch of people drop out of the registry, there will be a bunch of non registered, non tagged or tattooed goats. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of identifying and tracking them?


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I see ear tags as a real problem in dairy goats. My girls can get pretty frisky. Torn ears and lost tags would NOT make me a happy goat mama!


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

Another topic on Registration 
There is a proposal with ADGA that all Bucks will have to have DNA samples to be registered
Currently only bucks collected for AI after a certain date have to have DNA samples
Will greatly increase the cost of registration


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

Membership fees for a year is $99,kid rego up to 6 months $13.50,over 6 months and under 12 is $20, buck rego is $40. then you have the cost of tags on top of that. Then every 2 years they are blood tested for CAE so if you don't test you can't show or sell.
Lamanchas are a very new breed to Aust. To date there is only 1 registered in our Nat. Herd Book tail tattooing is a brilliant idea and easy to see. A Aust. Melaan breeder was also tail tattooing as the ear skin colour is black and the tail skin is tan.There would be a big to do if tail Tatts we ok for this breed but not others! I think the DPI a government dep. is out to make a buck. I think the DGSA future is really going to suffer with more loss of members over this and yes I'll be one of them to drop out.
I'll not be buying any more bucks,the boy I have now is 2 years and will most likely be the last sadly,teejae a picture of Lamanchas from our Nat magazine winning Chmp doe kid


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

I agree goats rock,there will be a huge problem,people will still sell unregistered goats as milkers and they will all be untraceable,property ID numbers will be dropped and goats could be sold off a number of times . Thanks so much for your input I'll talk to our Queensland branch Comittee but I can't see any good co ing of this,teejae


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## ForeverBoerd (May 3, 2017)

That seems really impractical. I have Boers and we have to tattoo to register, but also have scrapies eartags identifying herd of origin.


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

We don't have scrapie in Aust. But yes Boars have to be both tagged and tattooed. I owned a commercial buck who came to us tagged. I put him in with my Togg. Bucks and checking on him later that day noticed his tagg had been ripped out most likely by one of my Togg. Bucks in a long L shape.Cleaned him up but he was left with a big ugly rip that took ages to heal I really hate taggs


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Tagging is really easy actually it's easier than tattoos are! My goats get tagged and microchipped which are much more expensive than just tagging a tattooing but it's a lot easier! So far I've not had a problem with tags getting pulled out


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

HATE tags! Tattooing is permanent (if done correctly) so I don't see why they need to be tagged as well. The only goats I tag are fair wethers and I'm always nervous until they leave with the possibility of tags being torn out. So sorry for your difficulty - hopefully they rethink this with enough feedback from producers - hopefully you all are swamping the office with your thoughts!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We raise a small herd of Boer goats and register our goats with the American Boer Goat Assn. In the U.S. we have the Scrapie tag, and unless things have changed, the Scrapie tag is free, you just have to set up your premises I.D. to get started. 
Scrapie tag is supposed to be mandatory, but in our state (Kentucky) as long as the animal is registered and is tattooed, they don't have to have the Scrapie tag.

With that said. I still use Scrapie tags in all of our goats. I have never had a problem with these tags, and it's a great way to identify them if for some reason the tattoo fades. It's an official tag, hard to duplicate the info, so it's a definite way to ensure that animal is who it says it is. 

We have one doe that doesn't have a scrapie tag that we bought from a breeder that doesn't use them - their scrapie info is their tattoo info. So she is the only one in our herd that does not have a tag.

In our state, in order for youth to show market wethers and commercial does in the 4-H/FFA club shows, there are 2 tags that are mandatory and a 3rd tag that is necessary!
They have to have a scrapie tag, and a state official inserted tag for showing. 
The third tag is a state program, $5 per tag. Without the tag if the kids attend a state funded show, they might only get payment up to 6th place and it won't be much $$. So with the tag, they can finish last in a big class and still get a decent payout.

You'd think they would find ways to make it simple. But, if things can be complicated.... that seems to be the way things go!


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

Tattoos on my Toggs. Are easy to read,at all Ag. Shows including Royals (like your Natianals) Tatts are checked by chief steward against entry's making sure the right goat is entered.
I can understand the possible need in a huge commercial herd like Boars or for rangeland (feral goats ) which are used for meat export,not many Boars are shown and because of CAE testing they have to be kept well away from dairy goats or children's petting pet displays.Ive only seen Boars shown At our Queensland Royal.No Ag. Shows that we go to,9 a year have them.
Anyway with dairy goats who are very hands on,bottle reared,or handled from birth are extremely easy to check Tatts. They are easy to do I do mine at 2 weeks and they grow in size with the goat the only way to remove is to cut off their ears. Wethers are not shown and most dairy breeders keep them for their own meat consumption.Or unwanted buck kids are destroyed at birth.If they are sold as kids for petting zoos they have to be tagged with breeders pic number and taggs have to be purchased from DPI( Department of PrimaryIndustries).
I once purchased a Togg. Buck kid from interstate and he had to be tagged even though he was tattooed because his rego hadn't come through,takes 10 days and breeder sent him to me before.She had to purchase tagg ,when he arrived here husband was horrified kid had a tagg and nipped it off he was so fast I didn't even see him do it! Yes goats are stolen for meat So how quick would a herd be nipped of taggs stolen then turn up with other taggs?How would prove they were yours no tattoos .
When many years ago milk goats were used for small property's or to feed the family they were registered with a metal collar with rego and owners then later tattoos were used. I hate taggs!
Our Queensland branch is starting a partition to have taggs stopped,they are also worried they will lose many members,teejae


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

Forgot microchips are not recognised in dairy goats as a form of I D


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

That's very interesting! Here in Kentucky it's the opposite, Boer goats are very popular. Our state is made up of counties, and each county has a fair - each fair usually has a goat show. There is a market wether/commercial doe show for Boer goats or Boer/dairy mix that are for youth only (shown by weight), then there are registered Boer classes for Fullblood does, Percentage Does, and Fullblood bucks shown in age groups.
There are dairy classes for does. Last year there were a lot of people showing dairy. But this year there doesn't seem to be as many. Mostly Saanen, Nubian and Alpine. 

I probably left out the part in my last post that with our Boer goats we do both - tag and tattoo. I believe there is still a place on the ABGA registration application for an external I.D. such as a tag and you can put the tag #. So along with the tattoo, you also have the tag to identify the animal.


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

So many people got out of Boar goats,us included,a good quality buck will cost thousands.When they were first introduced into Aust. New breeders were sold rubish,they were imported as embryos in Angora does via NewZealand because of our strick quarantine laws.We don't have foot and mouth,scrapie or rabies yes there is a type that can be from a fruit bat bite,it's extremely rare but can affect humans from a bite.There are now so many feral crosses way out in the desert areas. I think a few importers made a quick buck$ out of them along with alpacas and ostriches .I know of a few that had all 3 and now have none.One of my friends said to me that alpacas were just a money making rip off. 
So I guess we will just wait and see what comes of this ,I'll let all know the outcome and thanks so much for your thoughts and imput ,teejae


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Wow that is fascinating to hear. Is it like that with Boer all over Australia or just certain parts? I know they were supposed to be a big deal over in your part of the world. They are very popular here, mixed with dairy they can be meaty, hardy goats. Good, registered stock are very expensive. Market wether bucks and does - aimed to produce show animals for youth are also very expensive. The boer/dairy crosses are the lower end of the $$, but again, they are hardy.
Best doe we've ever owned as a kiko/cross type doe, then another one was a Nubian/Boer cross probably 2-3rd generation crossed on a Boer.

I sure hope things improve for your registry, and they can come to a better conclusion. Here in the US the American Boer Goat Association fees are going up, and it's hard for small breeders like my family to be able to afford to do it. If you don't get a membership the registration/transfer fees are double price. 
Buck's must be DNA tested otherwise you can't register their offspring. Rumor has it they want to make it so does have to be DNA tested at some point as well. If that happens, many breeders will throw in the towel...


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

Ok on talking with husband we have decided to not renew our membership I'll keep the few I have and sell any kids born this year including my 2 year old buck and not breed anymore. Our membership runs out in Dec. and our Accreditation for CAE is up next March. I also have maybe one more show in September but am thinking I'll skip it.
Once again thankyou for all your input,Teejae


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