Ear Tags

[randiliana]

We run on so many different pastures that tagging is a necessity, even if I didn't want to do it for herd management purposes. Besides it makes life a lot easier if you spot a problem with a cow or a calf, you know who you are looking for.

Cows are tagged with a number, no fancy reasons, just 1,2,3....200,201 etc. And we reuse numbers, so if #115 gets culled/dies we will reuse her number in an up and comer. Calves are tagged with their mothers number. Heifers get white tags, steers get orange, although there have been a few steers that turned into heifers after they were tagged (and vice versa). It's amazing how that happens....

I have a pretty good record keeping system, so if I need to know age of dam, sire or when the calf is born, I just look it up, if my memory fails me...

 

[Soapweed]

We use the long-necked Z-tags on our calves. Each tag has a top number, which is in the chronological order in which they were born, and the bottom number matches the calf's mother's number. Our Spearhead brand <- fits nicely between the numbers. Blue tags designate the Kosmo Kid's kattle; calves from two-year-old heifers (1 on the year brand) get yellow tags; calves from three-year-old cows (0 on the year brand) get pink; calves from (9) cows get white; ( 8 ) red; (both 6 and 7 year brands) orange; (5) green; (4, 3, and 2 year brands) get purple. It's a bit complicated but works like a dream because we are used to it. :wink:

Why do you need to know the age of the cow at glance (spot the eartag color) at the calve? I can imagine it is good to know the heifer calves from the older cows calves, but do not understand for older cows. What color(s) eartags do you use for your cows?

The different colors for the cows' year just narrows down the choices in case of mix-ups. We sort for sex of calf before going to grass, so the different colors make that job easier, also. Our cows have several different colors of eartags. The first number on their tag designates the year they were born. Larger three-digit numbers are easier to read than four digits. Therefore, if more than a hundred replacement heifers are kept back, we have a hundred of one color, and then start a new color.

 

[gcreekrch]

We do have a bit of a ststem. steers are tagged in the left, heifers in the right. Cow tags are in the left allowing us to leave the original calf tag in the heifers retained.

We have always used white ink on red tags. A few years ago we started using black ink on calves born after the first cycle to use as an aid for picking heifers in the fall when sorting. The white ink from tag pens fades after a year or two so this year we are using black for the early ones. When a cow is culled we reuse her number in a replacement.

 

[flyingS]

I think there is a big difference as to how many cows you run and how many replacements you keep. If you never keep more than 100 replacements and you do not keep any cows over 10 yrs of age you can easily use a 3 digit system. Once you exceed those parameters you have to use a 4 digit system to keep from having duplicate numbers. The gentleman I work for has a pretty simple tagging system, he re-tags the heifer when pregged pregnant. We pair 2 ways, one way being seedstock so to speak and the other being terminal and turns bulls out accordingly. His dad doesn't tag anything including first calf heifers. I haven't ever wanted to be able to go back and find a calf number but it sure does make it simpler if all the cows have some sort of ID. They eventually seem to show up, sometimes it's next year though.

 

[Silver]

I was kinda hoping someone would explain the need to give a heifer a different / new tag when selected as a bred replacement.

The heifer calf in this pic will always have this tag, or one that has the same information on it should she lose it and require a new one. If it does become lost it can be replaced correctly by reading the metal tag and getting the information from the herd book.
Before we used the metal tags, if a cow lost her tag and we couldn't properly identify her she just recieved a random unused number (see 330 in the above picture :? )
When it is time to select replacements it will be easy to see that this calf's mother is #330, and the calf was the 8th heifer born in the year of A. For us this makes her desirable as a replacement because 1: #330 is a good mother and 2: this heifer was born early enough she should easily be mature enough to breed when the time comes. Best part is, no further work or expense adding and / or removing tags.
But I am always looking to pick up a new trick, which is why I was hoping someone could explain the reasoning behind replacing tags on replacements

 

[flyingS]

Silver how much does your medal clip cost and are you putting it in every calf or just hfr calves? Do you wait to put it in until they are pregnant or do you forgo the expense to put it in all the hfrs? In order to keep from duplicating numbers lots of people re-tag. That being said they only put one number on the calf tag then make a record of who her mother was with her replacement number. They wait until she is pregnant so they don't have the expense of tagging those that will be sold.

 

[flyingS]

I have to ask since the subject of tagging is up. Has anyone ever heard of not tagging when it is too cold? I know some people that will not tag if it is below freezing. The argument is the tag enhance freezing of the calfs ear. Myself, I think it is ridiculous and a good way to get yourself in a heck of a mess when it's cold and your having lots of calves. I have never noticed any difference, but also have not ever paid attention to it. Is there any merrit to this?

 

[leanin' H]

I only re-tag replacement heifers i will keep. 2 reasons....#1- i like a smaller calf tag on the calves as i tag them and not a full size cow tag (personal preference) #2- Only keepers get a permanent cow tag which cuts down on numbers of tags i need. I do tag in both ears because if they lose 1 i can easily replace it and they are easy to see in both ears with binos across a canyon. Each calf has it's cow's number when born. When a calf becomes a keeper, she gets her own cow number. I keep her pedigree straight in my tally book and a permenent register book and on the computer and in my head. Smaller numbers make it easy. :wink: On big outfits i have worked at, sometimes a guy needs a math degree to read an eartag. Always seemed to complicated to me. All ya need is a number and your tallybook and you could tell where a cow came from back to the ark.

 

[Silver]

Silver how much does your medal clip cost and are you putting it in every calf or just hfr calves? Do you wait to put it in until they are pregnant or do you forgo the expense to put it in all the hfrs?

The metal tags we get are by Ketchum and cost $37.50 per hundred, so I guess about 37 cents each. We only give these to heifers and do it when we eartag at birth. I always try to leave the front of the tag about 3/8" from the leading edge of the ear to allow room for ear growth.

 

[Silver]

I have to ask since the subject of tagging is up. Has anyone ever heard of not tagging when it is too cold? I know some people that will not tag if it is below freezing. The argument is the tag enhance freezing of the calfs ear. Myself, I think it is ridiculous and a good way to get yourself in a heck of a mess when it's cold and your having lots of calves. I have never noticed any difference, but also have not ever paid attention to it. Is there any merrit to this?

If we didn't tag when it was below freezing we wouldn't tag
If a calf's ear is in danger of freezing I'll wait because it can enhance the freezing of the ear. But if the ear is dry and unfrozen it gets tagged regardless of temps.

 

[randiliana]

I have to ask since the subject of tagging is up. Has anyone ever heard of not tagging when it is too cold? I know some people that will not tag if it is below freezing. The argument is the tag enhance freezing of the calfs ear. Myself, I think it is ridiculous and a good way to get yourself in a heck of a mess when it's cold and your having lots of calves. I have never noticed any difference, but also have not ever paid attention to it. Is there any merrit to this?

Oh yes, tags can cause ears to freeze. We tag 'em anyways, and hope for the best. I know we will have a few this sprin/summer that will lose tags because their ears froze. It has to be pretty cold and in the first couple days after they are born.

Last year I ordered tags, by the time we got them (3 weeks later than we were told) we'd had 90 calves. After that gong show, I would rather lose a couple tags because they froze ears after(or because of) being tagged, than not tag anything...

 

[Anonymous]

I have to ask since the subject of tagging is up. Has anyone ever heard of not tagging when it is too cold? I know some people that will not tag if it is below freezing. The argument is the tag enhance freezing of the calfs ear. Myself, I think it is ridiculous and a good way to get yourself in a heck of a mess when it's cold and your having lots of calves. I have never noticed any difference, but also have not ever paid attention to it. Is there any merrit to this?

If we didn't tag when it was below freezing we wouldn't tag
If a calf's ear is in danger of freezing I'll wait because it can enhance the freezing of the ear. But if the ear is dry and unfrozen it gets tagged regardless of temps.

That's what we do too... If you tag them when they are too damp it does seem that the tag helps freeze the ear... So we try to make sure they are dryed and warmed before tagging but I've lost two tags this spring- where the ear froze/fell off right at the tag...

 

[Big Swede]

Every tag I used to put in a cold ear was almost gauranteed to freeze the ear from the tag out and fall off along with the tag. The opposite ear was usually unaffected by the cold. No matter what you tried involved more work.

 

[Faster horses]

Every tag I used to put in a cold ear was almost gauranteed to freeze the ear from the tag out and fall off along with the tag. The opposite ear was usually unaffected by the cold. No matter what you tried involved more work.

Same here. Or freeze below the tag and that part of the ear falls off.

 

[flyingS]

Were you tagging when the calf may have still been wet or were they dry. I try to never tag until I know they have sucked, usually meaning they are dry. Although I have been in situations where they came fast enough that we had to tag when they hit the ground in order to keep from having a mess.

 

[randiliana]

Were you tagging when the calf may have still been wet or were they dry. I try to never tag until I know they have sucked, usually meaning they are dry. Although I have been in situations where they came fast enough that we had to tag when they hit the ground in order to keep from having a mess.

I know of one calf we tagged this year that was close to 48 hours old before we tagged him. I'm pretty sure he is going to lose his ears (2 tags).

 

[George]

It has never been cold enough here at calving time to be a concern - - - however "Old Meany" ( K 15 ) is the only registered Charolis I have left and her calf is not tagged.

She is the only cow I have that every fall I keep hoping she is open so I would feel better about shipping her - - - she is an 06 model so she might be around a while more as she always raises a good calf.

I have always calved mid April but let my son and friends talk me into mid March this year - - - back to mid April for me! In mid April it is supposed to be a low of 39F with daytime highs of the upper 50sF. It was +14F at night and +30F daytime highs this year and I spent way more time with the young calves than I want to. I think July 4th will be the bull's Independence Day!

 

[Soapweed]

It has never been cold enough here at calving time to be a concern - - - however "Old Meany" ( K 15 ) is the only registered Charolis I have left and her calf is not tagged.

She is the only cow I have that every fall I keep hoping she is open so I would feel better about shipping her - - - she is an 06 model so she might be around a while more as she always raises a good calf.

I have always calved mid April but let my son and friends talk me into mid March this year - - - back to mid April for me! In mid April it is supposed to be a low of 39F with daytime highs of the upper 50sF. It was +14F at night and +30F daytime highs this year and I spent way more time with the young calves than I want to. I think July 4th will be the bull's Independence Day!

Here is our upcoming forecast. Of course, it is subject to change. :wink:

Friday

Partly cloudy. High of 79F. Breezy. Winds from the SSW at 15 to 20 mph shifting to the West in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20%.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm and a chance of rain, then a chance of rain after midnight. Low of 45F. Breezy. Winds from the WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20%.

Saturday

Partly cloudy. High of 66F. Winds from the WNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy. Low of 39F. Winds from the North at 5 to 10 mph shifting to the SE after midnight.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain, then thunderstorms and a chance of rain in the afternoon. High of 64F. Winds from the WSW at 5 to 10 mph shifting to the NW in the afternoon. Chance of rain 30%.

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain. Low of 36F. Breezy. Winds from the West at 10 to 20 mph shifting to the SSW after midnight. Chance of rain 20%.

Monday

Partly cloudy in the morning, then overcast. High of 48F. Breezy. Winds from the West at 10 to 20 mph shifting to the NNE in the afternoon.

Monday Night

Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow in the evening, then overcast with a chance of snow. Fog overnight. Low of 14F with a windchill as low as -2F. Windy. Winds from the NNE at 30 to 35 mph. Chance of snow 70% with accumulations up to 6 in. possible.

Tuesday

Overcast with a chance of rain. Fog early. High of 48F. Winds from the North at 35 to 40 mph. Chance of rain 70% with rainfall amounts near 0.6 in. possible.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Low of 14F with a windchill as low as 1F. Breezy. Winds from the NNW at 15 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 20%.

 

[George]

The +14F was not the bad part - - - it was the 40 to 50 MPH winds with the sleet and freezing rain, Wind chill was -10F and below! - - - Calves in the basement shower and I still lost one.

When you only have 18 one is a big loss! But with the twins I'm still over 100% When I found this calf ( first calf heifer ) he was on top of an open hill and his mother was trying to clean him but he had a complete coating of ice and after 6 days I put him down. The heifer has a good enough mothering instinct that she is letting all the calves suckle her and one of my twin calves spends more time with her than his mother.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda I should have saved the calf so many ways but I did everything I thought was best at the time. But I really feel my turning the bull in early was the first of several mistakes I made and the easiest one to correct!

 

[flyingS]

Most of this area calves in March. Our climate is much more moderate than some of you that live to the north. With adequate protection I would say there are very few days that a person has to worry about ear loss from tagging. I know that when you let those calves get several days old tagging becomes work, especially if you do not rope well and your cows pick there calves up and leave. Hope everyone is having a good spring, as Soap posted we have a chance of moisture, no matter how it comes it will be welcome. Screw your lid on tight Soap, maybe we will get an April dozzy. The good part is they usually don't last too long.