Posted by Jess on June 21, 2012 at 7:24pm in Goats 101
When I was giving my goats there spa treatment tonight I checked out there ears and neither of them have ear tattoos. Is it common for tattoos to fade or disappear all together? I know they are registered I have there papers, but i thought they had to tattoo registered does. Both have black ears and they are 1 and 5 years old. I'm a little confused
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We tried the flashlight behind the ear and it did work one year, but the following, we had the hardest time making out the V6. AOF came out fine, but the V wouldn't show up. They wanted to just tattoo the V again, but then I convinced them it was there and they let it go. Thankfully, the last year I showed, the vet they got didn't even want to check tattoos! :)
Actually, Fairy is the only one with black ears. Hansel has really light brown ones (really, really easy to see his!), Goose's are then a bit a darker, and Beauty has a dark chocolate, but Fairy is black as black can be.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I would say that your vet just doesn't know how to read them, except that they are finding them on the other two, and they all have black ears, don't they? My vet had no idea that you needed to put a flashlight behind the ear and shine it through the skin to read the tattoo on some goats. Judges always have a flashlight in their pocket to read tattoos.
WorkingGoats4 said:
I can attest to the fact that tattoos can have "fading" problems. My poor Fairy Tale has been retattooed at least twice now. I do not understand the problem. But, when I would take her to shows or try to get a health paper, the vets could never read them. The ink had disappeared. Which is odd, because Beauty and Goose were tattooed at the same time and by the same person (Deborah!), so something must be off about her ears, as I know Deborah would do it right. At any rate, we stopped shows about two years ago, so I haven't checked, nor had a problem since. Could just be the skin color too.
I would say that your vet just doesn't know how to read them, except that they are finding them on the other two, and they all have black ears, don't they? My vet had no idea that you needed to put a flashlight behind the ear and shine it through the skin to read the tattoo on some goats. Judges always have a flashlight in their pocket to read tattoos.
WorkingGoats4 said:
I can attest to the fact that tattoos can have "fading" problems. My poor Fairy Tale has been retattooed at least twice now. I do not understand the problem. But, when I would take her to shows or try to get a health paper, the vets could never read them. The ink had disappeared. Which is odd, because Beauty and Goose were tattooed at the same time and by the same person (Deborah!), so something must be off about her ears, as I know Deborah would do it right. At any rate, we stopped shows about two years ago, so I haven't checked, nor had a problem since. Could just be the skin color too.
I can attest to the fact that tattoos can have "fading" problems. My poor Fairy Tale has been retattooed at least twice now. I do not understand the problem. But, when I would take her to shows or try to get a health paper, the vets could never read them. The ink had disappeared. Which is odd, because Beauty and Goose were tattooed at the same time and by the same person (Deborah!), so something must be off about her ears, as I know Deborah would do it right. At any rate, we stopped shows about two years ago, so I haven't checked, nor had a problem since. Could just be the skin color too.
Tattoos can fade somewhat, especially if the person did not do a good job. I saw someone at a show punch the ear and then put ink on it -- and he was complaining about how his tattoos didn't last! Well, yeah, because you put the ink on and THEN punch the ear, which drives the ink into the skin. If you are not seeing any ink at all, then they probably were not done. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard of someone selling goats without tattoos.
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We tried the flashlight behind the ear and it did work one year, but the following, we had the hardest time making out the V6. AOF came out fine, but the V wouldn't show up. They wanted to just tattoo the V again, but then I convinced them it was there and they let it go. Thankfully, the last year I showed, the vet they got didn't even want to check tattoos! :)
Actually, Fairy is the only one with black ears. Hansel has really light brown ones (really, really easy to see his!), Goose's are then a bit a darker, and Beauty has a dark chocolate, but Fairy is black as black can be.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I would say that your vet just doesn't know how to read them, except that they are finding them on the other two, and they all have black ears, don't they? My vet had no idea that you needed to put a flashlight behind the ear and shine it through the skin to read the tattoo on some goats. Judges always have a flashlight in their pocket to read tattoos.
WorkingGoats4 said:
AGS registration and ADGA registration, as well as NDGA, are all different pieces of paper.
Jess said:
I can attest to the fact that tattoos can have "fading" problems. My poor Fairy Tale has been retattooed at least twice now. I do not understand the problem. But, when I would take her to shows or try to get a health paper, the vets could never read them. The ink had disappeared. Which is odd, because Beauty and Goose were tattooed at the same time and by the same person (Deborah!), so something must be off about her ears, as I know Deborah would do it right. At any rate, we stopped shows about two years ago, so I haven't checked, nor had a problem since. Could just be the skin color too.
Tattoos can fade somewhat, especially if the person did not do a good job. I saw someone at a show punch the ear and then put ink on it -- and he was complaining about how his tattoos didn't last! Well, yeah, because you put the ink on and THEN punch the ear, which drives the ink into the skin. If you are not seeing any ink at all, then they probably were not done. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard of someone selling goats without tattoos.