Sheep Identification

We started our flock of  Gulf Coast Sheep with just two ewes and one ram.  They were all only six months old when we brought them home and it was easy to tell them apart.  That was 2006.  Now we have three rams and 22 ewes and it is 2011.  I really thought I would never need to tag an ear or tattoo an ear as "I" would "always" know my sheep:  WRONG! 

I can assure you that as your flock grows, you will NOT be able to tell one young white ewe lamb from another; especially when you have 10 to 15 running and jumping around!  So, what to do....that really is the question.

Tattoos work if you can actually read them later.  Ear tags work if they don't get torn out.  And collars work if you don't have a horned ram.  So what do we use?  All three methods.

We let the first letter denote the year the animal was born.  To keep this straight, we just use the ADGA letter.  This is well documented and easy to find.  For 2011 it is the letter B.  So for any lambs born in 2011, the first letter of their identification is B.

Next comes the ram.  We have three rams:  Dodge, Blue and Joseph.  Dodge is denoted as 1, Blue as 2 and Joseph as 3.  So if a lamb is born in 2011 and Blue is the sire, then the identification starts with B2.

We have a record of our ewes in a special book.  Our first ewe on the place was Sunshine and so her letter is A.  So if we have a lamb born to Sunshine in 2011 and the sire was Blue, then the lambs identification is B2A.

The last variable that must be answered is what happens if there are twins or triplets born.  Since I don't like to do very many letters if we don't have too, if a single is born, then we just stop with the three letter designations.  However, if there is more than one, then we add a fourth letter.  1 is for the first born, 2 is for the second born, 3 is for the third born and so on. 

I like to tattoo this information in the ear of the baby that will not have a tag in it.  In other words, tattoo the ear that will not carry the tag.  This will help you retrieve the information in the future.  If we are tagging the lamb with this information, then we write this on the back of the tag and on the front of the tag we write the lamb's name.  The tag will either go in the ear or on a collar. 

Please remember, if you have horned sheep, do not use collars as they can strangle each other!  And remember to always identify your sheep because over time, you will lose track of who is who!