Sheep and Goats Identification

There are many forms of identification you can use that are considered official in sheep and goats.

Some identification is only official in specific situations. For example, tattoos and microchips are not official identification for most livestock markets (unless your animals are sold in a registered or breeding stock sale).

For registry tattoos in your sheep and goats to be official, your breed registry must be accepted by the National Scrapie Eradication Program. Your animal needs to have the registry-assigned herd ID tattoo and the unique animal identification tattoo to be officially identified.

Scrapie Flock ID tattoos can be used as official identification in both registered and unregistered sheep and goats. Your animal needs a Scrapie Flock identification number tattoo and a unique individual identification tattoo to be officially identified.

Tattoos are official for moving your animals between farms, including interstate movements. Tattoos are NOT official for selling your sheep or goats in general auction sales. Your animals need an official eartag at those sales. There is no exception for slaughter-only animals.

Exception to the livestock market official eartag ID requirements:

• You can sell sheep or goats at a registered animal auction using registry tattoos as official identification if (and only if) the buyer receives the registration papers.
• You can sell sheep or goats at a breeding stock auction using Flock ID tattoos as official identification if (and only if) the animals arrive with a CVI or an owner shipper statement that includes the tattoo numbers.

The auction that hosts that sale must keep their records of the official ID, seller and buyer for five years, just like they would for official eartags. 

It is possible to use microchips as official ID if you are fulfilling specific requirements.

The only official microchip accepted as official identification in sheep or goats is a USDA 840 microchip.

It is your responsibility to have a scanner available that can read the microchip in order to consider that microchip official.

For microchips in your registered sheep and goats to be official:

• Your breed registry must be accepted by the National Scrapie Eradication Program.
• Your animal needs a tattoo indicating where their microchip is located (E = base of ear, ET= base of tail).
• The registry papers with the full microchip number on them must be with the animal.

For microchips in your unregistered animals to be official:

• Your animal still requires a Scrapie Flock identification number tattoo in their ear or tailhead.
• The microchip number must be written on any CVI or OSS accompanying the animal.

Microchips are official for movements between farms, including interstate movements. Microchips are NOT official for general auction sales, and animals need an official eartag at those sales. There is no exception for animals sold slaughter-only.

Exception to the livestock market official eartag ID requirements:

• You can sell sheep or goats at a registered animal auction using official microchips as official identification if (and only if) the buyer receives the registration papers.
• You can sell sheep or goats at a breeding stock auction using Flock ID and microchip as official identification if (and only if) the animals arrive with a CVI or an owner shipper statement that includes the microchip numbers.

The auction that hosts that sale must keep their records of the official ID, seller and buyer for five years, just like they would for official eartags. 

There are multiple options for official scrapie tags in sheep and goats:

• Animal Identification Number (AIN) tags (15-digit tags, with or without RFID capability),
• Flock ID/individual ID tags, and
• Serial scrapie ID tags.

Suppliers are listed on the USDA Scrapie Identification webpage. Scrapie eartags are considered official for all movements unless they are blue slaughter-only tags, which are official for movement within slaughter chain only.

AIN tags come in multiple different formats and from multiple suppliers. For sheep and goats, AIN come with and without RFID capability. Your AIN tags that you order are uniquely linked to your own flock. You may not share them with another flock or herd. If you move, all official ID should move with you, as they are associated with your flock, rather than your physical location. If you move between states, your Flock ID will change and these tags will no longer be associated with the correct flock in the USDA database.

All 840 tags will have:

• Fifteen digits beginning with “840"
• The US shield
• “Unlawful to remove”
• A manufacturer logo.
• Some of these tags will be Electronically readable.
• Visual-only tags are allowed in swine.

Scrapie Flock ID tags contain a Flock ID and an Individual ID portion, most commonly on two separate lines on the tag. While flock IDs may have different format depending on the specific state and tag shape, these tags all have a two-character state code as the first two letters of the Flock ID. For animals born in New York, that code is “NY”.

Scrapie serial tags start with the two-character state postal code. They are 8 characters long, and the last 4 are digits. For animals with serial tags applied in New York, all tags will begin with “NY”. These tags may be metal or plastic. In New York they are currently metal.

Slaughter-only tags serial tags are applied to sheep or goats which come to a livestock market on an Owner Shipper Statement if they do receive a post-entry CVI. These animals remain in the slaughter chain and must be processed within six days of entering New York State per New York state regulation. A blue slaughter-only scrapie ID is only official for movement direct to slaughter. Animals with blue tags should not be found on farms, and are not allowed at fairs as these events are not in the slaughter chain.

Between state and federal requirements, almost every sheep or goat requires official ID of some kind when it leaves your farm. Additionally, if your animal is going to a livestock market and is not going to a breeding animal sale or registered animal sale, it needs an eartag as that official identification.

New York requires official ID if you buy, sell, give away, or donate your sheep or goat, unless it is going direct to slaughter (1 NYCRR 62.5(a)).

If you sell an animal for slaughter and it goes to any person who moves sheep or goats between states, it will also require official identification unless your animals are kept separate from all other sheep and goats until slaughter (9CFR79.3(a)).

We do not require a health certificate to move sheep and goats within New York unless you are going to a state sponsored County Fair or the New York State Fair. If you bring animals the State or County fair, you will need an intrastate certificate of veterinary inspection (AI-61) filled out by your veterinarian. The official identification of your sheep or goats must be on that CVI. Please see the Fair Guidelines to make sure you have all the correct information on requirements for your animals to go to a fair.

Shows or sales may require health certificates when the state does not require them. They are permitted to do this.

Identification for Sheep and Goats Entering and Leaving New York

All sheep and goats entering New York state must have official identification unless moving directly to slaughter as a group. Official Tattoos, Official Microchips and Official Eartags are all acceptable forms of identification unless animals are moving to a livestock market.

For sheep and goats leaving New York, check with the state they are headed to determine what official Identification they need.

Documents for Sheep and Goats Entering and Leaving New York

If you bring sheep or goats into New York, they need a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) with their official eartag ID. You can bring animals to a farm, a dealer, show or market as written on the CVI.

If you bring sheep or goats from another state directly to a USDA-approved New York Livestock Market or to a slaughter facility you can use an Owner Hauler Statement (OHS) instead of a CVI as long as their eartag is written on that OHS. These are the only legal destinations for a sheep or goat coming from out of state on an OHS. Your animals will be sold slaughter-only unless you have followed all the requirements to get a ‘post-entry’ certificate of veterinary inspection and the sale has a veterinarian available to write that ‘post-entry’ CVI. Sales are not required to provide post-entry CVIs, check in advance if you are moving animals and intend to use this pathway.

You can read the complete regulations for sheep and goats brought into New York livestock markets with only an Owner-Hauler Statement (OHS) here. 

To be able to get a post-entry CVI at a livestock market, sheep or goats must:

• Come from a state that borders New York (Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont);
• Have an official eartag written on the OHS;
• Have origin Premises ID on the OHS (not a livestock market or a dealer premises ID)
• Be examined by the category 2 USDA accredited veterinarian at the market. The market veterinarian can then write a post-entry CVI to a New York destination.

Visit the Department’s Animal Import & Export page for more information.