Calf Tags

[Silver]

I also put Ketchum metal tags in the heifer calves, that way if the plastic tag is lost it can be properly replaced at preg checking time by cross referencing it in the tally book.
I like tags in the calves for many reasons. Not the least of which is when it is time to pick out replacements. A quick look at the tag and I can know the mother, and I can know when she was born in relation to the others. In my experience it has been better for us to not keep the later born calves as they are less likely to be bred on time.
There are a host of sound reasons for calves to be tagged in this operation, and as far as we are concerned the reasons for substantially outweigh any reasons against.

 

[George]

Tagging is just another management tool - - - the level of your management is up to you. Do you clip pastures? Do you cross fence and devide pastures into areas where you get about 1 weeks worth of grass at a time? Do you rotate pastures?

I have one neighbor that has his pasture ( 18 acres total ) devided into about 1 acre lots ( all with hot wire ) and he rotates his 30 cows thru changing mostly once a day. That impresses me a lot 30 cow calf units on 18 acres 9 months a year without any supplement ( good mineral program ) I have all my pastures devided into 6 to 8 acre lots and I'm thinking of deviding most of those again. Ground around here is to expensive to not make the most of it!

Another reason I see for tagging is at the sale barn the perception is that a tagged animal has been better cared for and people will bid them up a little.

The owner of the sale barn has told me he feels a tag will add about 2% to 5% over an identical animal without tags. I have small traps set up during calving ( portable corral panels ) where I will put mineral and throw a flake of hay in on a regular basis. Most of the time I get the calf in there and close myself in to tag then back to momma - - - throw her a flake of hay while you are tagging and things go smoothly.

 

[C Thompson]

Thanks Silver for the info on the metal tags. I think we might try to use them on the mother tags just so we absolutely know who she is when her dangle tag is gone or too faded to read when we preg test. I wonder if the RFID button would work the same way and is there an easy way to set up the readers to facilitate this to let you know instantly enough as you scan her? If this is possible it might also work for calf selection later? Any thoughts on this?

 

[Justin]

the main reason i have always tagged my calves and kept calving records is to be able to evalute the mother. i've culled alot of cows over the years because i knew in the fall which cows where bringing in the calves that where noticably lighter. i don't often cull the first time it happens, but if i look back in my records and its happened before...she's gone. plus it lets me know if a calf is light because of age or a poor mother. when i tag my heifer calves i look over her mother from every angle, her udder, body condition, attitude, size and so on... if i like everything about the cow that heifer calf gets a check mark by her number in my calving book and come fall, she'll be on that i choose from for a replacement. i don't care how good a heifer calf looks in the fall, if her number isn't checked in my calving book, she has no chance of sticking around.

not saying this method is right, wrong or anywhere in the middle. but it's what i like to do and i feel my cow herd has improved because of it.

 

[Silver]

Thanks Silver for the info on the metal tags. I think we might try to use them on the mother tags just so we absolutely know who she is when her dangle tag is gone or too faded to read when we preg test. I wonder if the RFID button would work the same way and is there an easy way to set up the readers to facilitate this to let you know instantly enough as you scan her? If this is possible it might also work for calf selection later? Any thoughts on this?

I considered using the RFID this way as well, especially because of possible future use with readers. Problem is that I still see the odd RFID go missing so I'm leary of relying on them at this point.
I apply the metal tags at birth, and try to leave a little room for future ear growth as the ear will grow around the leading edge of the tag and fester if you put it on too close.

 

[C Thompson]

Good Info Silver and thanks for it. We have had the odd cow come into our herd with those metal tags in their ears and apparently used to be common when we were testing for brucellosis and T B. I wonder where you can get the tags and applicating pliers today?

 

[Silver]

Good Info Silver and thanks for it. We have had the odd cow come into our herd with those metal tags in their ears and apparently used to be common when we were testing for brucellosis and T B. I wonder where you can get the tags and applicating pliers today?

I got mine at a ranch supply store, seems to me it was all pretty cheap.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

They are made by Ketchum's . I don't think you can order direct altho they have a web site. You have to order though a ranch supply store. They will even put you name on one side and a number on the other.

 

[gcreekrch]

the main reason i have always tagged my calves and kept calving records is to be able to evalute the mother. i've culled alot of cows over the years because i knew in the fall which cows where bringing in the calves that where noticably lighter. i don't often cull the first time it happens, but if i look back in my records and its happened before...she's gone. plus it lets me know if a calf is light because of age or a poor mother. when i tag my heifer calves i look over her mother from every angle, her udder, body condition, attitude, size and so on... if i like everything about the cow that heifer calf gets a check mark by her number in my calving book and come fall, she'll be on that i choose from for a replacement. i don't care how good a heifer calf looks in the fall, if her number isn't checked in my calving book, she has no chance of sticking around.

not saying this method is right, wrong or anywhere in the middle. but it's what i like to do and i feel my cow herd has improved because of it.

I was hoping someone would type all that so I didn't have to!

Ditto. :wink:

 

[Soapweed]

We had a cow today missing her calf. It was nearly half a mile away in another bunch of pairs. Without an eartag as proof positive, we would have had big troubles locating the calf, because it was laying down and blending right in with the calves from the other bunch. It is deals like this that make the whole hassle of tagging become worthwhile, along with having some semblance of an idea of the history of any given critter. I also doctored a calf today that seemed a bit under the weather. It is nice to know the number of the one that has been treated.

It is sure convenient having the same number on the calf tag as the number of its mother. Early in my childhood, ear tags had not yet been invented. Dad's registered Hereford cows all had horns, so identification numbers were branded into the horns. The calves were tattooed, which did show up better on light colored Hereford ears than they do on black Angus ears. When ear tags did become available, Dad put permanent numbers on his cows. Then in the spring, he'd buy consecutive numbered tags, all being the same color, numbers 1 through however many calves he expected to have born. The first calf born got number 1, the second calf number 2, and right on down the line. A book contained the "key" to what cow belonged to what calf. It was always my sister's job to carry the book. We'd figure out a cow that needed to be sorted, and call out the number to her. She would have to find the calf's number so we could put out the correct calf. It was a handy-dandy set-up, let me tell you. :roll:

I do like having ear tags now, though, with each cow's calf having the same number as the mother. We use about every color that Z-tag has available, and the different colors all help in quick identification, with each age group of cows having a designated color of tag for their calf. Ear tags are rather like having fenced pastures. They are just another tool to use, for better or for worse.