Tattoo virgin.....

[Jessykah]

I just bought my tattooing equipment. I bought the "Grand Champion II outfit", pictured here:
http://grandviewrabbitry.com/store/prod ... -II-outfit

I have never tattoed before. My biggest question is, how early in age can I start tattooing? I know I need to fit the digits between the veins easily. What is an approximate age? Also, can I tattoo a doe that has a very young litter? Will this stress her out too much?

Does anyone have any advise for me that won't be in the instructions? I will do an internet search later as well, but I value the advise from you all at RabbitTalk.

Thank You!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

How young to tattoo would depend on the size of your letters in relation to the size of your breed's ears. The clamp is fast and easy, none of mine screamed, and only a few jerked when it was clamped, so I doubt it would upset your doe too much. But if she is very nervous, why not just wait and do her when you tattoo the litter?

Tattooing is a subject that comes up frequently- here are a few posts about it:

post47821.html?hilit=Tattoo#p47821
questions-about-tattooing-t6094.html?hilit=Tattoo
new-to-this-couple-of-questions-t4964.html?hilit=Tattoo
question-about-tattooing-t5514.html?hilit=tattoo
question-about-tattoos-t4500.html?hilit=tattoo

That should keep you busy for a while! :lol:

 

[Jessykah]

Thank you so much! I will read these. And re-read them. Then take a deep breath, and get the nasty job done hopefully it won't be that bad. I have tagged calves' ears before, and burned off the horns from goat kids. But a rabbit looks so much more delicate. :s

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I don't think the calves really notice the ear tag- then again, they are roped, castrated, branded, and ear tagged, so that is the least of their worries! :lol: Disbudding a goat is MUCH worse! At least the rabbits don't faint!

My tats using the clamp turned out very faint, so I redid my tattoos using the pen, and the older rabbits are much better behaved- the little guys seem to have more sensitive ears. I may try the clamp again on the babies using my new ink- then if I have to redo them later with the pen I can trace the letters and numbers.

 

[Jessykah]

I know it does hurt the calves, even if it's not as bad a branding and castrating. When I do it, some of them bawl and shake their heads. But I agree, disbudding is much worse. Never had a goat faint though. Maybe Fainting Goats would faint easily while disbudding.
Yes, I would definitely give that tattoo clamp a try again if I were you, they are just too expensive to be sitting on a shelf. I will make good use of it if it works for me. If I don't end up liking it, I will sell it to try to get some of the cost back.

 

[AnnClaire]

Since I am raising meat rabbits right now, I decided to "try" some different things in preparation of handling my pedigreed litters. One thing that another meat rabbit breeder suggested was to begin marking the kits ears with a sharpie ... it will wear off in a few days, but if you are selling one or two kits from the litter, it is a good way to mark them when they all look so much alike :lol:

Anyway, it gets the kits used to you handling their ears, it doesn't hurt, and you can number them at a younger age than you would want to tattoo them. I started with a fine point sharpie, then graduated to the regular fat one ... and they have to be marked every few days :lol: I also find it is a 2 person operation, no matter what age the kits are :lol:

And, it doesn't really work for black/dark kits :x

 

[Jessykah]

Great, thanks for the tip! I have white kits usually, so that will help for sure. I had bought a pink livestock marker kind of like a cross between chalk and pastels) and it didn't show up very well on rabbits' soft fur. A sharpie will be better.

 

[AnnClaire]

I mark the inside of the ear ... but tried the outside of the ear last time and it was gone even faster

They might act like they have ear mites for a few minutes after marking, but they will soon get over it and get back to playing

 

[MamaSheepdog]

When I got my ears pierced as a teen it hurt a bit too!

I have used a fine tip sharpie to mark very young kits, and I can do it alone. I only use 2 digits because their ears are so small. I mark them D for doe followed by a number, and B for buck followed by a number. That way you can identify them when taking individual weights. It is pretty faded after about 5 days and has to be remarked.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

When I got my ears pierced as a teen it hurt a bit too!

I have used a fine tip sharpie to mark very young kits, and I can do it alone. I only use 2 digits because their ears are so small. I mark them D for doe followed by a number, and B for buck followed by a number. That way you can identify them when taking individual weights. It is pretty faded after about 5 days and has to be remarked.

Mine must be super duper ear cleaners, because I could not get sharpie to last more than two days!

 

[AnnClaire]

:lol: Yep, mine act like they have ear mites and wash, wash, wash until I get 2 or 3 back in the corral, then they are distracted with playing ... but sometimes the new ones will not only wash their ears, they will lick the inside of the other's ears too :lol:

I can do the little ones by myself, but at about 6 weeks, they are too much of a handful to do by myself :lol: Squirmy, wriggly, what-are-you-doing I-need-to-know babies

 

[Rae]

I use Sharpies too. I use black for does and bright green for bucks, that way I only have to try and get one number into the ear while they wiggle around. I haven't had to try and mark anything but whites since both of our black kits are does and the sole castor is a buck. I've found that needing to reapply the numbers every 4-5 days has made them much calmer. I just trimmed their nails for the first time yesterday and they all were quite happy to sit still for me. Of course the small pile of oats did help.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I just bought my tattooing equipment. I bought the "Grand Champion II outfit", pictured here:
http://grandviewrabbitry.com/store/prod ... -II-outfit

I have never tattoed before. My biggest question is, how early in age can I start tattooing? I know I need to fit the digits between the veins easily. What is an approximate age? Also, can I tattoo a doe that has a very young litter? Will this stress her out too much?

Does anyone have any advise for me that won't be in the instructions? I will do an internet search later as well, but I value the advise from you all at RabbitTalk.

Thank You!

As long the clamp can fit in the ear you can tattoo . There is really no age ,just when ever. Some wait until they sell the rabbit or wait until the ears are big enough to do. Bigger the ear easier it is.
It will stress the doe a bit. As long you dont do the first one on her. One advise tho
Make sure you press hard enough or you will be doing it again.
If you think you need help. Just email me and i come over and show you.

 

[Random Rabbit]

I wish i could find the marking pens they gave us at Convention. All rabbits there needed to have their coop number marked in their ear. That marker actually stayed in (on ?) the ear for up to a month still readable ! If i could find that kind... i would buy a bunch !

 

[Jessykah]

Thanks Mary Ann! I may take you up on that offer. I will try it first on that other doe you sold me. BTW, the NZ doe and her kits are doing great! She has a lot of milk, they are SO well fed.
....I should rub the ink in circular motions with the brush, right?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I am glad she is doing great.
Yes you can do that. I always put the ink first where you are going to tattoo .Then clamp,then i put a little bit more ink to make sure it goes in the holes. It is messy,so make sure you wear gloves. YOU wondering were all the ink is coming from

 

[Jessykah]

LOL ok I will wear gloves, painting coveralls, etc...Thanks for those tips! I def want to do it right the first time.