A Tattooing Tale

I don't want to see GREEN ink for a long time!

The American Dairy Goat Association requires that all goats in their registry be tattooed as a means of identification.  (See this link for more info.)  I finally sent in the registration information for the 2016 kids, so they needed to be tattooed.

Most goats are tattooed in each ear.  The RIGHT ear contains the herd identification number.  The LEFT ear is reserved for the "Letter-of-the-Year" (2016's letter is "H") and the order of birth in the herd (first kid, second kid, etc.).  It can be tricky to remember which ear is left and right, so thankfully the ADGA registration form has a diagram to help!

Hillbilly waiting for his turn...

Howdy is ready to go!

To begin the process, I loaded the tattoo pliers with the correct identification letters/numbers.  This can be tricky as they must be mirror image!

I tested the pliers on a piece of paper to make sure the sequence was correct!  Tattooing makes me a little nervous because there is no room for error!

I cleaned the tattoo numbers/letters with alcohol before using them.  

I also cleaned each ear with alcohol.  It is amazing how dirty their ears were!

I applied some green ink to a cotton ball...

...and I smeared it into the kids' ears.  I did all of the right ears first so I wouldn't have to change the tattoo.  (All of the right ears got "OBJ8" while the left ears got "H1," "H2," etc.)

I positioned the pliers in the ear and squeezed.  It didn't hurt the goats much (although I did have to get help restraining them).  It barely punctures the skin and they hardly squealed!  However, I am quite relieved that all of the letters seemed to be clearly punched and I didn't hit any veins.

Afterward, I rubbed more ink into the tattoo to make sure that it would be permanently in the skin.

And now I have green-eared goats!  The ink seemed to be everywhere!

Hilarious looks quite nice with her green ears!

The bucks like their new ear color too!

I enjoyed learning to tattoo my goats.  And, compared to the emotional "trauma" of disbudding, it was a relatively simple process.  Now all of the 2016 are registered, tattooed, and ready to their lives as "official" ADGA-registered goats!