In order to legally register the goats with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA), they must be tattooed. The easiest place to tattoo them is in the ear. The left ear is for the year identification letter (this year is "F") and the goats "birth order" number (Frankincense was born first in my herd, so he was #1 and Fritz was #2). The right ear is for the herd identification letters/numbers. Tattooing goes along with disbudding in my list of goat herding dislikes. It makes them cry, which makes me feel sad too!
First some green ink is rubbed into the goat's ear.
The number/letter combination is placed into the tattoo pliers. When the prongs squeeze into the ear, it permanently presses the ink into the ear's skin.
After that, more ink is rubbed into the ear and the tattooing is over. And the goat is left with green ears for a while!
Green ears!
It is quite funny as the newly tattooed goats rub on the other goats and everyone ends up with little green streaks on them! It will soon fade and disappear, but for now...
"Go Green!"
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