# Boer tag and tattoo ?



## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Ok so I just got our first boer baby for our herd. My uncle had them when I was growing up but I was so young I do not remember how he handled tagging and tattooing. OK so I have a few questions


1: One tag is the scrapie tag, the other is a thinner tag with just a number on it. Can you tell me what this second tag is for? 

2: Where in the ear or ears(if one goes in each, not sure) should I place this on a boer goat in order for the tattoo to be able to be read?

3: On the IBGA form it has for the tag number so I planned to use the scrapie tag number since the other tag has a little different number system.

4: At what age is best to put the tag(s) in the ear? Do I need to let her ears grow a little more? I will be having her disbudded most likely Monday or tuesday at the latest. Since we gas them a little bit it is the perfect time to tag if you think her ears will be developed enough at that time. 

5: I guess a big question since she is a forever member of the herd is, since she will never be used for meat herself (but her babies will be) should we even put the tags in her ears? Will it hurt her "show quality" in case we decide to show her?

Ok sorry for the 5 question long post. I have just never had a boer of my own before and dairy goats are different then meat goats. 

Thanks for your time :wink:


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

You do not need to put the second tag in her ear. The second tag is for identification purposes. I hate tagging. IMO its worse then disbudding. I only tagged one batch of kids. The whole process was clean and we cleaned them up after the tag was in, but over half of them got infected and we had to take them out. They were the small rectangular yellow ones, I know of a few other people in that time frame that had problems with their tags getting infected. Infact I went to buy a doe and her ear was infected...he had convientley left that out when emailing him.

Tags need to be placed higher in the ear to leave room for the tattoos. Probably about 3/4ths way up the ear? Best way to do it would be tattoo first, and then tag above it.

I am not sure about scrapie tags, I was never on that program...


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks. Well I know with the scrapie program you have to tag and if they rip it out then tag the other ear (at least in sheep). But since we are just going to be using this one girl as a breeder not an eater do you think I could just get by without tagging her? I really dislike tagging (in our sheep) but its like disbudding in goats a necessary evil that must be done since our ram lambs that are not sold as breeders will end up in a freezer somewhere. I really don't want her to get an infection or rip it out on something.


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

If you are planning on keeping this doe you do not need to scrapie tag her. We only scrapie tag our goats when they leave our property. You do not need the other additional tag, if you do not want. The other tag is just used for management purposes and keeping track of which goat is which. You can tag the goat as young as you want. Like goatmygoat said you just need to be sure you leave enough room for the tattoo.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

If the Doe came with a scrapies tag when you purchased her and was sold unregistered... you will have to leave it there..... the other tag... is an identification.... so ....you can view the tag and know what Doe it is......that tag can be removed ....if she isn't registered...
If she is registered then.. the scrapies tag... is not needed....but keep it in a safe spot....do not throw away....the other tag... if mentioned on the registration papers ....states... that tag #.... you will have to leave it in there..... unless she has an infection going under it ...I remove it...so they can heal... :wink:


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you both!



toth boer goats said:


> If the Doe came with a scrapies tag when you purchased her and was sold unregistered... you will have to leave it there..... the other tag... is an identification.... so ....you can view the tag and know what Doe it is......that tag can be removed ....if she isn't registered...
> If she is registered then.. the scrapies tag... is not needed....but keep it in a safe spot....do not throw away....the other tag... if mentioned on the registration papers ....states... that tag #.... you will have to leave it in there..... unless she has an infection going under it ...I remove it...so they can heal... :wink:


The breeder gave me her tags in a bag, so they are not in her ears yet. She will be registered with IBGA. Is it safe to say that unless we turn into a meat production farm then I can leave her tagless? If at that time we do add more to our boer herd and need to we could then use those tags and tag her at that time?



BareCreekFarm said:



> If you are planning on keeping this doe you do not need to scrapie tag her. We only scrapie tag our goats when they leave our property. You do not need the other additional tag, if you do not want. The other tag is just used for management purposes and keeping track of which goat is which. You can tag the goat as young as you want. Like goatmygoat said you just need to be sure you leave enough room for the tattoo.


BareCreekFarm: yes we are planning on keeping her as a breeder and she will stay in our herd. Now we plan to sale all of her babies at this point, unless we end up with a boer bug (as the hubby called it) and get a boer buck later on :laugh:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> The breeder gave me her tags in a bag, so they are not in her ears yet. She will be registered with IBGA. Is it safe to say that unless we turn into a meat production farm then I can leave her tagless? If at that time we do add more to our boer herd and need to we could then use those tags and tag her at that time?


 Yes... leave her tagless if you are registering her.... If you go ahead and sell her down the road ...as unregistered...or take her to an auction ...you will have to tag her with that tag...if she is registered ....it is not necessary...because they can track back where she came from....that way.... :wink:


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you so much! That is actually what we needed to know.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:thumbup:


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