Ritchey Autotagger® applicator - Ministry Approved sheep ear tags, automatic livestock tagging solution, eid

Our Baarry was a mere spring lamb when he learned the art of tagging from his father, a prize-winning tup born in the heart of Yorkshire. While young Baarry soon picked up the skills he needed, he always felt that he could do better. He just needed the right tool.

"Since we've had to lay off the sheepdog, we seem to have less and less time to spare. I think we should invent a tool that will take more than one tag at a time," he told his father.

The breakthrough finally came when father and son were attending a 'Mutton Dressed as Lamb' competition at the Black Sheep Brewery, in their home town of Masham. They were on their fourth pint of Black Sheep bitter, when Baarry had a 'Eureka' moment.

"We'll develop a tagging tool that works like a staple gun," he told his father. "That way, we can load up to 10 tags at a time."

The rest, as they say, is history. Putting their horns together, Baarry and his dad made a machine they called the Autotagger. By replacing the standard blade with a staple gun action, their tagger improved safety for both the operator, and for their colleagues being tagged. Their invention used an angled tag, which improved the line of sight, and gave greater access to the centre of the ear.

"Dad, the Autotagger has been a great success, mainly because it's so straightforward and easy to load. We should seriously think about diversification, and look for other ways of making livestock management simpler and quicker.
"I have a great idea about developing a zip-up fleece, to speed up shearing time. Let's go down to the
Brewery and talk about it."