Tattooing

Not wanting to highjack another thread...but a comment there caught my attention

this situation is about the best argument for tattooing everything in sight that I have ever heard.

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See I don't tattoo my kitsn on a regular basis.
The only thing I tattoo are the rabbits I show.

I raise breeds though that I know at a glance who is who.
If people want a tattoo I offer it, but otherwise I simply don't.

I just really dislike tattooing.

tattooing in the long run won't really help you tell who is who though.

without the pedigree you are just going by what the person who bought the rabbit says. That it is a rabbit of their breeding. It might not actually be right? Tattoo are just an indicator of who is who if there are two rabbits that look that same at the same location. There could be a ton of #17's out there.

So you can't really say "smith xyz" unless you actually know it was Smith's XZY that you purchased. It could have been Joe's XYZ that Smith just happens to have owned for a period of time.

I know there are people who tattoo everything, I'm just not one of them and I find it interesting to listen to people's conversations about the whole process.

Can someone convince me that it is something that I really aught to be doing on a more regular basis?

Ok, how about this, you have rabbits in your barn that are similar--to some folks a broken is a broken, a red a red, etc. even if you can tell them apart. You sell babies from your grand champ whatever for $xx, and pet quality for $yy. Someone buys a pet quality rabbit with no pedigree and, after looking on your website, begins using your grand champ pedigree, selling kits as your GC's offspring...If those pet babies were tattooed(especially with a word like "pet"), you would have a way of proving the deception, wouldn't you?

...Mostly I was trying to convince myself tattooing was worth it. Maybe someone can come up with a likelier scenario?

I Tattoo all of my Kits at weaning.
You never know exactly how some will turn out.
Sometimes one you have marked in your mind as a cull
may just turn around and fool you as it gets a bit older.
If you tattoo with a telltale mark, YOU will always know
the rabbits that came from your Barn.
I keep a record in my rabbit program of every rabbit and their kit
Tattoo numbers. The first two letters of each rabbit are the initials
of the Dame and Sire. This way I can look at a kits tattoo
and tell immediately who the parents are.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

One of the reasons I am considering microchips when things get going well for me-- a pedigree can always be falsified- the microchip cannot. Someone gets a chipped animal, buildsa pedigree for it, inserts the number of the chip (if they kow it) MY records will show the accurate information, since the chip registration will STOP with me-NO TRANSFERS- in other words, I will not release the chip number to the buyer... Sure, someone can take the animal someplace and have the chip read- BUT, hopefully. whoever reads it will want to know WHY-- the chips registration will lead to me- no one else...

How about this scenario...which is actually what happened with Amy Toll Bork's herd last year.
You have rabbits. Lots of rabbits. You are active in promoting the breeds; have many that are excellent quality, and some that suck. You have YOUR lines, and are incorporating other lines. It's all pretty much in your head. YOU can tell who is who. YOU can see at a glance of the weight record which group is growing well, which isn't. and then...you die.

The people who come in to help your husband sell the rabbits can't figure out which rabbit is which. Is this one the Grand Champion she bought? or is it this one? oh...this one has a tattoo which we can follow..right. THIS is the GC. oh my..these aren't tattooed so we don't know who is who...these are all littermates, but they're juniors and we've no idea who they came from. The husband is no help because he can't figure out what was in her head either.

That's a VERY true story. You can't keep track, for a pedigree or for breeders, who is who without the tattoos. If you only have 2 or 3 rabbits...okay. you can do it. But any more than that and my god it's a mess.

.....
It also puts YOUR stamp on a breedable rabbit. "yes, I bred that magnificent buck"..which many people like to say.

.....
Rabbits need a tattoo to be shown. You, as a breeder, can give your buyers a gift by tattooing so they, the individual, don't have to. I've recently been asked by a buyer if the rabbits are tattooed because they don't have a tattoo gun. Yes, if they really want to show, there is usually someone at a show that will tattoo for them..but....

anyway. there ya go A few of the reasons that I'm tattooing. For me, it's mainly for my record keeping. Gives me a way to say "what's it's tattoo number? ahhh...then here is it's pedigree and all the information" and just pull out a packet.

Good point, Ann. What a mess that was!

I have another scenario. I'm buying rabbits on Sunday from someone. The Cals are out of my lines (I was the only person to sell Cals to the Co-op last year). I sold them before I started tattooing. When I go to breed them, I either have to use a NZ buck or take a chance and cull very hard, since I'll probably be breeding them to a related buck. Since the buck is a NZ and there were a couple of us that sold NZ, I have no idea whos lines he is out of. If all of these rabbits had been tattoo'd, none of this would be a problem.

I can also add that I tattoo with a gun. I can tell if the tattoo is one of mine. I wish this were more common practice, but reality is that clamps have been the preferred method for years and will continue to be. I generally know what breeders I can trust and which ones I can't. I will say that breeding stock no longer leaves my barn without a tattoo. I don't tattoo fryers.

For those who are culls and will um, always be,
both ears get x's

I tracked down the breeder, and the pedigree, of my foundation buck via his tattoo because the breeder had the foresight to never let even just a pet rabbit leave without a tattoo. I do the same thing. If that rabbit is then bred or shown, MY tattoo is in their ear. My tattoo is such that it is not easy to alter and is immediately recognizable as being an animal of my breeding. Since I don't sell junk, I consider that a very good thing. If they want to breed or show the rabbit they buy, it is still recognizable as being a product of my barn on the show forms and on the pedigrees of their offspring.

I also like to be able to keep a record of everything I produce, so this is a good way to do it.

That's why nothing gets past 6-8 weeks without a tattoo around here, and certainly nothing leaves my barn without a tattoo.

oooo....small thread drift, but I wanted to share. I just found out that Artificer has ordered a tattooing kit for me. Human tattoo gun and stuff. I've been looking at them and decided I didn't need to spend the money yet. :bananadance2: Now...hmm...do I order Snot Green? or maybe "glow in the dark magenta"? oh...and a Nuclear Yellow!!

Go with a GOOD quality Black ink, and I think that only two colors are recognized by ARBA, one is black, and I forget what the other is, I was thinking of using the other colors that come with mine for the, er pets, that would be fun,
"sorry sir, there are two problems with this rabbit, the first is your tattoo is not correct, the second is, see that guy over there, he bred this rabbit and that's not his pedigree...)

Found this from an ARBA judge as part of a larger paper on tattooing:

Black is the most preferred color of ink; but, some individuals (in dark pigmented animals) use green ink with success. The color of ink is entirely up to the individual's choice.

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I'll certainly go with the black unless it's a dark ear. Just easy to get ahold of, and easy to read.

I still think a lovely Nuclear Yellow would be great in a black new zealand, tho

Anntann":1sxyn12x said:

Found this from an ARBA judge as part of a larger paper on tattooing:

Black is the most preferred color of ink; but, some individuals (in dark pigmented animals) use green ink with success. The color of ink is entirely up to the individual's choice.

Click to expand...

I'll certainly go with the black unless it's a dark ear. Just easy to get ahold of, and easy to read.

I still think a lovely Nuclear Yellow would be great in a black new zealand, tho

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Does that come in glow in the dark?! LOL

I saw an interesting thing somewhere about "fancy" tattoos, where the person embellished the lettering and made it "pretty". I don't recall, though, whether they ran into any problems on the show table because of it. Can't imagine they would, as long as it's legible.

Um, so, the judges and the standard say "clear and LEGIBLE"....
I'm sure a judge can chose to make fun of it, or if they have difficulty read it, boot the bunny.<br /><br />__________ Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:11 pm __________<br /><br />Oh, on having a consistent tattoo, I have to say, it's kinda been nice, as both Rachel(pulpfaction) and I have gone back to the rabbit's breeder and gotten the pedigree for rabbits we got second hand.