Research on RFID ear tags for animals

A system of electronic identification with ear tags for sheep and goats is evaluated for animal welfare, loss of ear tags and opportunities for use during transport and in slaughterhouses. About the results, Frits van Calker, Consultant in AIDC, reports.

For animal welfare

In two pilot tests the suitability of different types of ear tags are tested for a system of electronic identification with ear tags for sheep and goats. Those tests are evaluated for animal welfare, loss of ear tags and opportunities for use during transport and in slaughterhouses.

Field tests

In a field test four types of electronic ear tags were applied to 13,585 animals in 21 commercial farms. Identification and registration is essential for sheep and goat husbandry in view of preventing the spreading of contagious diseases and in view of food safety.
In the system, which is used today in the Netherlands, animal identification is based on ear tags with visual numbers and registration in farm registers. This system is not capable to perform a fast and complete tracking and tracing. Electronic identification of animals could be the basis of a system which facilitates tracking and tracing.

Asked by the Dutch government

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has asked the also Dutch university facilitation 'Praktijkonderzoek Veehouderij' (now: Applied Research, Animal Sciences Group, Wageningen UR) in co-operation with IMAG (now: Agrotechnology and Food Innovations, Wageningen UR) to investigate the practical value of ear tags with transponders for identification and registration in sheep and goat.

Many types of ear tags

All ICAR-registered manufacturers have been asked to offer electronic ear tags for this project. Six manufacturers offered 13 types of ear tags carrying a transponder. For the first pilot-test six types were selected, based mainly on physical properties and technical demands. The goal of the pilot was to test the ear tags on animal welfare and to select suitable types for a large scale of field tests. In this pilot the ear tags were applied to 581 goats and 519 sheep, both lambs and mature animals.

Four weeks

During four weeks the cure of the earwound and loss of ear tags was followed. That aspect is reported by IMAG.
For this test, a portable reader from a-Boca Benelux, applied with specific software for the data collection in this project, was selected. The reading of the transponders gave no problems, all tested types were recognised within acceptable time limits. However, it has to be mentioned that only one manufacturer was willing to develop the specific software for this project.

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