Yet another update on ear tags small enough for Soay lambs
Will the search never end? With Dalton’s wonderful little tags no longer available, options are limited. As I’ve said repeatedly on this blog, it is nearly impossible to find ear tags small enough and light enough to work in a lamb’s ear as small as heritage Soay sheep. Even the round white adult USDA tags challenge Soay sheep ears, as you can see in this picture showing one of our 2015 ewe lambs with her adult tag, and one of our ram lambs with his green baby tag.
Pollicott (ewe, left) and Horton (ram, right) illustrate the size difference between lamb and adult ear tags
The good news? I just got a note about a new source from Michele Owens, a former Soay breeder who is about to rejoin our ranks with a starter flock of British Soay from us.
By the way, I found little ear tags. They are on the Premier 1 website and in their catalog; they are called Q-flex 1.0. They are 1.25″ x .44″. I received my order yesterday, and I think they will work well for Soay lamb ears. HOWEVER, the web site lists them as, “While Supplies Last.” So, I think they are being discontinued, too! If anyone is looking for these, they will have to order them as soon as possible. (I ordered a hundred, so I shouldn’t have to find a new source for many years.)
The Premier website still lists these dandy little tags as available (as of September 14th).
Please let me know if you decide to use theQ-flex 1.0s (or any other small tags) and how they work out.
For now …