Colorado Sheep ID Project

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Colorado Sheep ID Project
Sheep RFID Trials 2004-2005
Jay Parsons Cleon Kimberling Geri Parsons Wayne
Cunningham
Thanks to funding from the Colorado Department of
Agriculture and the National Scrapie Eradication
Program
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Colorado Sheep Goat Identification Pilot Project

• Phase I Discovery phase
• Phase II Implant and Tag phase
• Phase III Tracking phase
• Phase IV Evaluation phase

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Preliminary Trial Jan. Feb. 2004

• Evaluation of the caudal fold of the tail as an
  FSIS approved site for RFID implants.

12mm Implant Single shot syringe
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Phase II Implant and Tag
300 lambs x 3 producers 900 head
USDA Scrapie Tag in right ear --------------------
--------------------- Treatment 1 12 MM Digital
Angel RFID implant in tail Treatment 2 12 MM
Avid RFID implant in tail Treatment 3 12 MM
AllFlex RFID implant in tail
Treatment 4 Digital Angel RFID button ear tag in
left ear Treatment 5 AllFlex RFID button ear
tag in left ear Treatment 6 Y-Tex RFID button
ear tag in left ear
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300 lambs with three different producers
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Phase III The Tracking Phase
Implant dates Apr. 12 Jun. 10, 2004
At lamb processing 900 Head
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ID Performance

• EID Implants 344/359 95.8
• EID Tags 343/367 93.5
• Scrapie Tags 600/649 92.4

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ID Performance (by site)

• EID Implants 344/359 95.8
• Site 1 96.9
• Site 2 92.5
• Site 3 97.1
• EID Tags 343/367 93.5
• Site 1 95.4
• Site 2 98.0
• Site 3 88.1
• Scrapie Tags 600/649 92.4
• Site 1 97.7
• Site 2 95.8
• Site 3 86.1

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ID Performance (by type)

• Scrapie Tags 600/649 92.4
• One-piece metal 364/375 97.1
• Two-piece plastic 236/274 86.1
• EID Tags 343/367 93.5
• High 117/122 95.9
• Mid 113/119 95.0
• Low 111/121 91.7
• EID Implants 344/359 95.8
• High 110/112 98.2
• Mid 120/125 96.0
• Low 114/120 95.0

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ID Performance (over time)
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Tracking Movements
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Labeling Blood Samples
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Bar code label with 15-digit EID goes on the
tube and is shipped to the lab
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• The lab enters the samples electronically.
• Results are returned electronically.
• Results are downloaded into the laptop
• The tag is read and results appear

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Sorting
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• Using EID
• Ave. time to collect
• Samples 200/hr.
• Ave. Lab. Time
• 5days
• Ave. time to read
• Brand and sort
• 420/hr.

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Concluding Comments

• There is more than one way to ID animals.
• Long-term retention will be an issue.
• On-farm value-added management tools will
  continue to grow with implementation.
• Moving at the speed of commerce is easier said
  than done.