Choose and apply your tags correctly
Dear A. Producer
Thanks for your great question.
With mandatory sheep and goat eID coming into effect nationally on 1 January 2025, it’s important for producers to be tagging their livestock in preparation for the deadline.
When purchasing tags for the first time, producers need to be confident they are choosing species-specific tags for their animals and that they understand how to place the tags correctly. It is important to remember sheep tags for sheep and goat tags for goats.
Choosing your tags
The guide ‘Ordering approved NLIS electronic devices for sheep and goats’ provides all the information you need to ensure you are choosing an approved device for sheep and goats.
If you have a mix of animals you’ve bred on-farm and those you’ve brought onto your property, it’s important to note the difference between breeder and post-breeder tags.
Breeder tags are applied to animals born on your property.
Post-breeder tags are applied to sheep or goats that are no longer on their property of birth or to introduced animals that have lost their original tag.
NB: If you need to apply a post-breeder device to an animal that already has a visual NLIS tag, ensure you leave the property of birth tag in the ear, as well as applying the NLIS post-breeder eID device.
How to tag your animals
Step 1 Secure the animals
Step 2 Tag placement for young animals
(Figure 1: Tag placement lambs and kids)
Step 3 Tag placement for older animals
(Figure 2: Tag placement for older animals)
Step 4 Insertion
NB: Tags are uniquely designed and must be applied with their own tag applicator, otherwise tag losses can be quite high.
Conduct post-tagging checks
It’s important to make sure you conduct regular checks to ensure tags are in place, not causing issues for the animal or becoming infected. You should also monitor your animals’ behaviour for any signs of discomfort or distress and take action if you identify problems.