Q-flex® 3 Ear Tags
Product Details
Livestock ear tag for well-suited for adult rams and ewes. Readable by most folks. Not too heavy for an adult animal’s ears.
Customized and shipped fast! Customize your tags with consecutive numbers, a farm or ranch name, or a logo. Logos and brands have a one-time setup fee of $25 per design. Most orders ship within 3 business days. See below for additional details.
Q-flex® 3 Ear Tags are Scrapie approved in all colors except blue.
USDA Information 
Specs
- Dimensions: 1-5/8" x 1-1/2"
- (20) 2-piece tags per package
- Tag colors in order of visibility and contrast of the printed numbers: Yellow, White, Spearmint, Salmon, Pink, Lime, Black, Blue, Fuchsia, Red, Green, Gray, Purple and Orange
- Weather-proof polyurethane
- Meets the requirements of the USDA Scrapie Eradication Program (except for Blue)
Customization
Follow the steps above to customize your tags online. (A digital preview is shown for reference. Final imprinting may vary.)
Customized text and/or consecutive numbering is included in the price of the tag. Logos and brands have a one-time setup fee of $25 per design.
Unless otherwise specified, we imprint both sides (male and female). Scrapie-approved tags are NOT available in blue. Flock ID number will be imprinted on the female side only unless instructed otherwise.
Custom-imprinted ear tags are NOT returnable.
Need a different customization option? Add special instructions during checkout or call us at 800-282-6631 to place your order.
How To Use
Use the Q-flex or Allflex® applicators to install the tags:
- The male and female tags will come to you slightly connected. You will need to tear them apart.
- Place the flag of the female tag under the metal spring finger. The printed side of the female tag will be against the jaw of the applicator. Slide the male tag over the metal pin. Be sure to push it all the way onto the pin. The printed side of the male tag will be against the other jaw of the applicator.
- Make sure the tag is correctly placed. Slowly squeeze the handles together to be sure the male pin aligns with the female opening (be careful to not put the tag together yet).
- Place the ear between the jaws of the applicator. While gripping the ear, quickly and firmly squeeze the handles together until the male tag is inserted through the ear and into the female tag.
Tag placement is critical to success!
Whenever possible, tag when the ear is dry and clean. Avoid the large veins in the ear. Tissue around damaged veins heals slowly—so it’s prone to infection.
For best results, apply an antibiotic, a fly repellent and/or a disinfectant to the ear tissue or tag.
Precautions
As the temperature drops below freezing, plastic becomes less flexible and forcing the male point of a tag through the female takes more effort because the female side must expand.
So if you care about your hands, it’s a good idea to keep the tags above freezing in very cold weather. It takes very little to do this. One method is to store tags in a small bucket, cardboard box or tool box with a lid alongside a sealed pop bottle full of warm water. The warm water will keep both the air and the tags warmer in the container.
Listed below are recommended optional components or related items. Your particular situation may require alternative recommendations. Please call and talk to our consultants if there are any questions at 800-282-6631.
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Applicators
Q-flex® Applicator
Item #630087 -Tool for applying all styles of Q-flex visual ear tags. Powder-coated aluminum won’t rust.
$44.00 -
Applicators
Q-flex® Pro Applicator
Item #630085 -C-clamp applicator for installing all styles of Q-flex® visual ear tags. Deep jaw accommodates livestock ears of different sizes and shapes.
$44.00 -
Applicators
Battery Powered Ear Tag Applicator
Item #630160 -Automatic ear tag tool for cattle, goats, pigs and sheep. Lightweight with an ergonomic, one-handed design that minimizes strain.
$218.00 -
Ear Tag Accessories
Marking Pen, black ink
Item #619500 -Make clear, readable marks on livestock identification tags. Useful for putting notes on tags.
$10.00 -
Ear Tag Accessories
Marking Pen, white ink
Item #619501 -Make clear, readable marks on livestock identification tags. Useful for putting notes on tags.
$10.00 -
Ear Tag Accessories
Z Tag Marker, black ink
Item #620126 -Make readable marks on Z tags. We like these for adding supplemental information other than I.D. number.
$10.00 -
Lambing and Kidding Aids
SuperLube™, 8 oz
Item #550800 -An all-purpose antiseptic OB lubricant for lambing and kidding. Very useful if a lamb (or kid) goes dry during birth.
$6.00 -
Breeding and Lambing
AMBUGREEN™ – Barrier Protection Gel
Item #556401 -An antibiotic-free topical dressing designed to promote healing in livestock. Shields the wound site from dirt, moisture and flies. 110 gram tube.
$45.00 -
Docking and Castrating
Pine Tar (squeezable bottle), 16 oz
Item #623200 -Cover wounds on sheep, goats, chickens and guardian dogs to repel flies and biting insects. Effective for several days after application.
$16.00 -
Docking and Castrating
Catron® IV, 10 oz spray can
Item #888147 -Used for treating sheep with fly-strike and as a preventative after docking, castrating or ear tagging. 10 oz spray can.
$12.00
Write a Review
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Jamie M from New York
I used to use the 1.5 Q tags for my replacement ewes. It was getting hard to see their tag numbers. These Q-flex 3 tags are much easier to see, especially if the ewe won’t let you near her.
Amber D from Florida
I ordered these tags before in green for our goats that are registered and purple for the ones who are not. So I know who is what. And they are easy to use.
Rhonda H from Idaho
Since there are so few options available for Scrapie tags, the Premier 1 brand is the easiest in our region to order. The tags are adequate, but could use some improvement. The two things that would be a big improvement:
First, would be if they were made of a different, more pliable type of plastic that is more flexible. They come with instructions to keep the tags warm for best results. They aren’t kidding when they tell you this! If they aren’t warm enough, you will have a heck of a time getting them to go through the ear! If they don’t lock good, they also have a tendancy to pop out at a later date.
Second, the printing is more of a grey than black, which makes them very hard to read at any distance. I have gone over the numbers on the tags of keeper lambs with a tag pen to darken the numbers so they are more visable from a distance.
Joe M from Iowa
Best tags. Bought some at my local farm store. Didn’t realize that a simple ear tag could be so superior. These simply work better in every way.
Jam B from Washington
I was previously using a much smaller tag for lambs but had not only retention issues, but also this required a separate scrapie tag with 2 different numbers to track (but helpful if the flock tag tore out to have a cross reference); however, these Q3 tags retain very well. So far I haven’t had one lost and our flock scrapie number is on the tag so no second tag is necessary. Yay!
One mistake I made this year was not requesting the number being printed on both sides (thought that was automatically done) and it’s a real pain out in the field identifying lambs to have one side blank. I will pay better attention next time when placing my order. Learn from my mistake. :)
