# Ear tag....



## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

Sage has an ear tag...










Ever since I got her the skin where it goes through her ear has been irritated (not sure if you can see it in the picture). She tries to scratch it with her hind foot, rubs it on her front leg and shakes her head a lot. She also rubs it on the inside of the hut and on the leg of the table in their pen.

I was thinking about taking it off. But I am not sure if I should. Would it be OK if I just removed it (assuming I can figure out how) and keep it with her paperwork? Then if I ever sell her I can send it with her? Or should I leave it alone?


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

Did she come from a dairy? I have seen several goats from dairies with those tags. I am not positive but I think its their number, the way they keep track of who is who since they don't give them names. I wouldn't remove it until someone else confirms this because it may be a scrapie's tag, which your not supposed to remove once placed.


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## kubileya (Apr 8, 2010)

It looks like the same kind of scrapie tag that my doe April has. Hers has MD and then a series of numbers inscribed on it, indicating the Maryland farm she came from.

Technically they are not supposed to be removed... but if it is causing her pain and irritation, it might "accidentally" fall out one day. Just be careful not to let her play with any wire-cutting *****. *wink wink* You didn't hear that from me.... :shades:


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## MiGoat (Apr 21, 2010)

Doesn't it make you wonder where freedom is when you needto worry about removing something on your own animal who is on your own land?


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

you could probably take it out and keep it with her paperwork, if it's causing her pain, remove it and keep it where you can find it later.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

kubileya said:


> It looks like the same kind of scrapie tag that my doe April has. Hers has MD and then a series of numbers inscribed on it, indicating the Maryland farm she came from.
> 
> Technically they are not supposed to be removed... but if it is causing her pain and irritation, it might "accidentally" fall out one day. Just be careful not to let her play with any wire-cutting *****. *wink wink* You didn't hear that from me.... :shades:


 :ROFL:


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

crocee said:


> Did she come from a dairy? I have seen several goats from dairies with those tags. I am not positive but I think its their number, the way they keep track of who is who since they don't give them names. I wouldn't remove it until someone else confirms this because it may be a scrapie's tag, which your not supposed to remove once placed.


she was a 4H project for a special needs girl who lost interest in 4H and the lady I got her from is the local sucker who ends up with most of the unwanted goats who show up around here. I'm pretty sure it is a scrapie tag.


kubileya said:


> It looks like the same kind of scrapie tag that my doe April has. Hers has MD and then a series of numbers inscribed on it, indicating the Maryland farm she came from.
> 
> Technically they are not supposed to be removed... but if it is causing her pain and irritation, it might "accidentally" fall out one day. Just be careful not to let her play with any wire-cutting *****. *wink wink* You didn't hear that from me.... :shades:


You know, I use a pair of those to trim their feet. I think I may have left them out by the goat pen. Oh no.



MiGoat said:


> Doesn't it make you wonder where freedom is when you needto worry about removing something on your own animal who is on your own land?


yeah it does. But you don't want to get me started on THAT, lol.

I wouldn't even worry about it, though, if it didn't seem to bother her so much.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

If you never plan on getting rid of her, then I'd put it with her paperwork. But if you ever consider that you might sell her, I dunno...

Personally I can't stand the tags. But I do understand why they have to wear them.


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## MiGoat (Apr 21, 2010)

HoosierShadow said:


> . But I do understand why they have to wear them.


Why?
I mean have you ever considered why we're told over and over and over that we must have just about all of everything living tagged? The Amish in Michigan are being raided by the Federal government because they don't believe in tagging their animals. But it's for our saftey right? Or is it?

Here's an article that is interesting:
http://unaskedadvice.wordpress.com/2010 ... or-cattle/


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## DPW (Mar 13, 2010)

Here in Oregon a goat must have some type of ID only if it is destined to leave the property. As of now it can be an ear tag or tattoo. Something to identify where it came from. Trust me, I'm no fan of government interference but personally if I sell a goat that turns out to have some type of contageous disease I want to know about it. In my opinion if the government wants to get information on you, there are a lot more efficiant ways to do it than tracking you down through your goats. 
We use the free scrapie tags. Not so much beacause of scrapie but so we can keep track of who's hooves have been clipped, who's been vaccinated etc. 
When we started out with just a few goats it was easy enough to just write down names. We now have 53 goats and rising so numbered tags are simply easier. 
If she's not going anywhere I'd remove the tag if I was sure it was causing the problem.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I believe... that if you have documents of where you got the goat from.... and say for instance... the tag gets lost off the ear.... then you may use your own tag to replace it..... to verify that ...I would call the scrapies office and ask to make sure.... But yeah... if she has infection going on... I wouldn't hestitate taking out the tag..... it is for health reasons..... :wink:


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

I would remove it and keep it with her paper work. IF she continues to scratch at it, it may come off eventually anyway. If that happens you may loose it, whever it fell off.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

so once I determined it WAS a scrapie tag i was able to search online and found this:



> USDA Official Scrapie Tag, tagged in either ear.
> 
> OR
> 
> USDA Official Scrapie Tag number tattoed in the ear or flank. If tattooed, the end of the Scrapie tag should be cut off so it cannot be reused. The cut Scrapie tag must be carried with the animal whenever it is moved.


She has the number in her other ear. So it looks like according to this I can remove it as long as I keep it with her if she moves and make sure the end is snipped off it can't accidently be used again.

I took a closer look at it and it looks like the issue is that when it was put on they didn't give her ear room to grow so the edge of the ear is growing around it and the pressure on the hole in her ear is all inflamed. It doesn;t look infected, just really irritated.

None of my other goats have them, Rosemary and Thyme have their ABGA number in their ear and I have no clue if Parsley has any marking at all.

Thanks for all the help you guys! Now I just need to figure out how to get the thing off of her with it so tight on her ear. With the way she scratches it with her foot i am afraid she is going to rip it right out one of these days.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

Karma's tag accidentally fell off after we got her because it was red, irritated, and the USDA wouldn't give me any information off of it anyway. I figured if they don't want to share, neither do I! :ROFL:


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

I took the tag off my sheep Dobbie. ( I also took the tags off my mattress and pillows) :greengrin: 

Gina AKA the tag bandit


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