Welfare implications of sheep ear tags

The damaging effects of ear tags used to identify sheep were studied by exa mining the ears of sheep after slaughter in three different abattoirs and t he ears of sheep on a farm. In total, 1040 ears with tags were examined. Th ere were six types of ear tag: metal 'Ketchum' style loop tags; two-piece r igid plastic tags; 'Allflex' style flexible plastic tags with a male and fe male part; golf tee-shaped plastic ear tags; one-piece rigid plastic loop t ags; and one-piece flexible plastic: tags with a flap. The metal loop tags and plastic loop tags caused the most lesions, and the majority of the seve re lesions. Ear tags placed near to the tip of the ear appeared to cause mo re damage. Some of the Ketchum style metal tags and two-piece rigid plastic tags appeared to be relatively new, as if recently fitted. These tags were more often associated with ear lesions, particularly moderate or severe le sions. The Allflex style flexible plastic tags caused the fewest problems, and the golf tee-shaped plastic tags also caused significantly fewer proble ms than the other tags.