How to Microchip Your Goat for Easy Identification

By Cheryl K. Smith from Raising Goats For Dummies

If you live in a state that doesn't require identification, you don't have to permanently identify unregistered goats. If you get a registered goat, it should already have a microchip or tattoo, and if you want to register a goat that is eligible for one of the registries, you will be required to permanently identify it to prove that the goat is who you say it is. You also may want to permanently identify your goats even if you aren't required to. You never know when you might have to prove that they're yours — if they get lost or stolen, for example.

Microchips come in sterile, individual injectors that look like a large syringe and needle. Each is sealed, has a unique number, and includes several stick-on labels imprinted with the number. The microchips can be read only with a special microchip reader.

The best place to insert the microchip is in the tail web (the loose, hairless area under the tail on either side of the anus). Always use the left side to make finding the microchip easier.

You need a cotton ball, some rubbing alcohol, a microchip in its injector, a microchip reader, and registration papers and/or another form to record the number. (A reader is not required for microchipping, but by having one, you avoid the small chance of error in recording the number.)

Here are the steps you take to microchip your goat:

Get your supplies together.

Remove the microchip injector from its container, being careful to keep the needle up so the chip doesn't fall out, and scan it. Confirm that the number scanned is identical to the number on the stick-on labels.
Secure the goat on a milk stand or have a helper hold the goat on her lap.

If you're using a helper, have her hold the goat with the head to one side, the legs secured between her legs, and her arm wrapped around the goat's side holding the tail up. She can hold the legs with the other hand for more stability.
Clean the insertion area with alcohol.

If you have a goat that may have been microchipped previously, scan the area several times to verify that no chip is implanted.
Insert the needle just under the loose skin for several inches, pressing upward at a nearly parallel angle.

Press the plunger until it stops.
Remove the needle and apply pressure for a few minutes at the injection site to prevent the microchip from coming out and to stop any bleeding.
Scan to locate the implanted microchip.

Verify the number against the stick-on labels. Place a label on your form and registration papers, if applicable, and record the animal's name.