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Standards and Compatibility |
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Microchips and scanners communicate through radio waves and must operate at the same frequency. The microchips used in horses in the United States, regardless of manufacturer, operate at a frequency of 125 kHz. Scanners that read all of these 125 kHz chips, regardless of manufacturer, have been available for over 15 years.
These scanners are in the hands of veterinarians, brand inspectors, law enforcement officers, disaster recovery, and rescue teams. |
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 Microchip scanners are standard equipment for disaster response teams and animal control officers. Many equine associations, regulatory officials and all USDA processing facilities also have scanners.
There are more than half a million horses already chipped in the US, and an existing national infrastructure of over 100,000 scanners.
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 Equines need to be able to function within the existing infrastructure of scanners, in order for the microchip to serve horse and owner well.
In the food animal industry, a microchip embedded into an exterior eartag is being recommended by the USDA. These eartag chips will operate at a different frequency of 134.2 kHz.
It is important to understand that the microchips already in use in millions of United States horses are NOT the same type of chip being used in food animal eartags. The food animal tag operates at 134.2 kHz. The equine chip operates at 125 kHz.
In some countries, injectable 134.2 kHz microchips are used in horses. It is essential however, to recognize that these chips have not been used in horses in the US, and the scanner base in this country cannot read them or even detect them. Horses are not confined like food animals. They travel, move, compete and live a long time.
For these reasons, and others, many professional groups recommend NOT using the 134.2 kHz chips in horses until such time, if ever, that there is a workable scanner base across the country that can detect and read these USDA type chips.
The 134.2 kHz technology is designed for high density farm management and can therefore be duplicated, should an ear tag fall off. This is another crucial reason that this type of chip is not the best choice for horses where value and companionship are at stake. |
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How can you tell the difference in injectable chip types? |
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The 125 kHz chips contain 10 or less characters. The 134.2 kHz chips contain 15 characters. |
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 Is there a worldwide standard for microchips in horses?
No. Some countries use 125 kHz systems, and others use 134.2 kHz systems. Some use both.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) did describe a microchip standard for livestock production in the mid 1990's. It chose an operating frequency of 134.2 kHz, primarily because European livestock were not using ANY type of chip. Almost immediately the ISO published protocol allowing duplication of these eartags containing embedded microchips. This move disregarded the promise of a unique number for each animal, thus fracturing the integrity of the ISO system. The ISO annexed their standards to include 125 kHz chips. This is what is most widely used in the United States and many other countries.
125 kHz chips are the chip of choice in all United States animal industries, outside of food animals, where chip eartags are just now being introduced.
Today, the French International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is in a state of flux regarding the 134.2 kHz chips. Problems such as cloning of chip numbers, pirating of existing formats and unauthorized duplication are prevalent. |
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 Bottom line? Today and into the far future, the 125 kHz Equine microchips are the most flexible type of chip. They offer wide readability, acceptance by the USDA program in 2009, and full protection for horse and owner beginning from the day it is injected.
The scanner base of today and the scanner base of the future can and will read these chips. This chip complies with the annexed standard put forth by ISO, Standard 11785, Annex A. Therefore many countries use 125 kHz chips.
The duplication issue, coupled with lack of a widespread scanner base in the U.S., makes ISO 134 a poor choice for valuable, long lived, companion horses.
For many veterinarians, who use microchips for both dogs and horses, the 125 chips and universal scanners used in America, also offer flexibilty and a safety net of thousands of compatible scanners in the field.
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