Implanting electronic identification transponders under the scutifon cartilage of beef cattle is inappropriate under Australian conditions

Abstract

Poor readout and recovery rates of electronic identification (EID) transponders at the slaughter of feedlot steers raise doubts about the suitability of the scutiform cartilage as a site for implanting EID transponders in commercial beef herds in Australia. At slaughter, a readout was obtained from73% of 4630 implanted steers that were scanned. Failure to give a readout was due to broken and lost transponders. Less than three-quarters of the transponders giving a readout at slaughter were recovered. These results could not be totally attributed to implanting procedure as they were similar for different feedlot-abattoir combinations and different operators.