By Steve Byrns
A switch from plastic to metal ear tags could spell trouble for sheep shearers and the animals they shear if the tags are incorrectly applied, said a shearing expert.
Dr. Reid Redden, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state sheep and goat specialist at San Angelo, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service recently quit providing free plastic scrapie program ear tags to the sheep and goat community as a cost-saving measure. They are, however, still offering the less expensive metal tags free to producers.
Scrapie is a prion disease of the central nervous system in sheep. Scrapie tags are used to trace the disease in sheep and goats to their point of origin anywhere in the U.S. While the metal tags are free, plastic tags still can be purchased from approved suppliers.
“This program has done a great job of cleaning up scrapie, and we are on the verge of eradicating scrapie in the United States due to USDA-APHIS’s work, so we applaud them for that,” Redden said.
Metal ear tags for sheep and goats such as the one pictured, can pose a threat to shearer and sheep if improperly placed.
“However, if ranchers switch from using a plastic tag to a metal tag, they do need to pay some attention to where that tag is placed, because metal tags inadvertently hit by sheep shearers while they are shearing do pose a risk,” he said.
“That handpiece is running at about 3,000 revolutions per minute and if that metal tag gets caught up in that comb, it can lock up and jar the handpiece out of the sheep shearer’s hand, which could cause injury to the shearer, sheep or both.”
Dr. Lisa Surber, with the raw wool services arm of the American Sheep Industry Association headquartered in Denver, Colorado, recommends the tag be placed in the animal’s left ear.
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