Posted by Nat on December 08, 2000 at 15:08:08:
In Reply to: tattooing and ear tagging posted by ray on December 08, 2000 at 10:19:23:
A system that I have used to tell who's kid is who, is color coding the mother and offspring by coordinating color collars (dog collars for the does, and the little cat ones for the kids). It's easy to sort kids that way, and find momma fast. If you have too many does freshening, you can buy those disposable "paper collars" from one of the goat catalogues (either Caprine Supply or Hoggers- forgot which on had them) and write on them with perminant markers, and put them on the kid as soon as they are born, without problems.
As for tattooing, I usually do this at dehorning time. Not sure how other farms time this, but I figure I might as well get all the pain over in one session, plus they're easier to handle early on and get less head shy. Usually done sometime in the first week of life (for me anyway).
I know of many shepards that use "paint brands" on their sheep, and I don't see why this system wouldn't work on goats - At birth, after the lamb is dried off and doing well, they take a "branding iron" and dip it in a special marking paint, and it transfers the number on the lamb for id - like a stamp (Usually the number is the order of birth) so you just keep record of which ewes have which number lambs. I assume that the special paint would work on goats, I know that it was made specially not to stain the fleece for shearing later on so I assume it is safe for goats too. Just thought it was a neat system to mention. Hope I gave some ideas to everyone :-)
-Nat
Little Bit Farm