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Ear Tags

S

Smoking_44

Joined Feb 2011
178 Posts | 0+
Cameron, TX
My buddy has his deer tagged in the following way...right ear is bucks, left is doe obviously. The color denotes the sire and the number is the specific deer.



Is this standard? I see some pics that people post where the tags are in different ears, or same colors and different sires.



Maybe they change them as they get older and seperate them?



Do you change tags when you bring in new deer to your pens?



just trying to get an idea since I will be getting my does soon.



I just thought about too that sometimes they get ripped out and have to be moved to the other ear.
 
this is our first year but i have done mine as like this left ear buck,right ear doe ,color is year and number is individual deer info.
 
Why do some of them (in the antler thread pics) have 2 different tags at the same time? Is that for bigger operations?
 
Illinois requires 2 forms of ID. If not I would have only one as they seem to get snagged on something eventually.
 
NY is the same way! We must have 2 seperate forms of id.I use the steel state tags and one plastic farm tag. I wish we didnt have to use tags at all as they either get ripped out or some get infection!!
 
Smoking_44 said:
My buddy has his deer tagged in the following way...right ear is bucks, left is doe obviously. The color denotes the sire and the number is the specific deer.



Is this standard? I see some pics that people post where the tags are in different ears, or same colors and different sires.



Maybe they change them as they get older and separate them?



Do you change tags when you bring in new deer to your pens?



just trying to get an idea since I will be getting my does soon.



I just thought about too that sometimes they get ripped out and have to be moved to the other ear.
Click to expand...



Won't they already have tags when they get to your place.
 
I put (blue goat tags) on my AI Fawns at 200 to 210 days,bucks on right ear and does on left ear . After that I use yellow goat tag on the ones bred to the buckup buck. Works good for me !!!!
 
We use a different color tag for each year, bucks right ear and doe's left. That way we can look out in the pen and tell what year each animal is. The RFID tag goes in the other ear of the fawn.
 
Smoking_44 said:
Yes, but should I replace them with my own?
Click to expand...

A tag is a tag. wright down the info in your book ,your done. after new born deer arrive change, change the system on them.why risk something bad happening , because of a handling.
 
Oh Scott, The Amish around here say does in the left, even numbers and odd numbers in the bucks right ear cause EVERYONE knows the ..............Buck is ALWAYS.........Right!

I don't think the tags should be changed when u get a new animal brought to your farm becuse of some deer may become super doe or super sire and when DNA is done can just add to the confusion. We use a different color tag every year and a metal tag before one year old for a second form of id for our state and we also have a tatto in each deers ear as a back up incase somebody looses thier tag and EVERY deer get thier own name that we use on thier DNA papers along with thier tag number. Like Buela W-30 or Tiny R-56 it works for us. Good Luck
 
Thanks everyone for your comments, it is highly appreciated. I should be getting my does the first week of july, the permit starts the 1st of july. Getting nervous and excited
 
Over at my deer ranch we do left ear Bucks, right ear Does. We also do odd numbers Bucks and even numbers Does. Different colors to specify the year. Then we write who the Dam and Sire is on the back of the tag, just in case.



Kind of funny because every year, we always mess up on the very first newborn fawn and we put the tag in the opposite side ear. NEVER fails! :)
 
Hopefully I can offer some ideas from a small farm perspective. I always put numbered ear tags on the deers left ear, male or female. The kidding reason is we have big enough antlers to tell bucks from does already. (<---humor) The serious reason is, so you can see the last digits of the number, which in most series is most important. Plus, my handling facility seems to expose that side toward the doctor when we must do inventory, etc.



Also, like Mike, I use metal tags here too. I use two tags because of NY's two permanent and unique ID rule. Plus, this is a very lightweight and easy tag for the fawns. Ill catch up to them when we handle them in the fall and assign them the larger visible tags then, when theyre bigger. Less damage that way. If you MUST use bigger visible tags from the get-go, try getting sheep tags and cutting them down, its so much easier on those new fawns.



Hope this might help some of you.
 
I have to use an EID tag and the metal ones in mine. But I'm classified as an Exhibition.

What kind of punch do you guys use for your fawns? I was told you can find a punch for swine and its a bit smaller. Does this matter?
 
We use a regular paper punch, then trim with a small sharp pair of scissors. When I say trim, I mean the paper punch seems to cut all but about 1/8 of the hole, not sure why this happens but it only takes a second to trim the rest out. The original skin is still attached at this point so you can push that out of the hole making it easy to trim the remaining skin and you end up with a perfect round circle of skin. I add this citrcle of skin to the hair sample I have just pulled and keep that for my DNA sample. Then we rub iodine in the hole, plus we put antibiotic lube on the male end of the tag. Has worked very well for us.



I should add that I have never asked the DNA companies if this was a proper way of saving the samples, this is just what I have been doing.
 

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