Almost got me.

[Angus Cowman]

try doing that with a single breed herd and let me know how that works for ya :cowboy:

I was always taught to "learn your cattle". They lose eartags. Have always tried to do this even with a dairy full of holsteins. Not necessarily easy but not impossible either and they are kept in smaller pastures than some of you guys utilize so I probably see them a lot more often.....but they're all different.

Yep but it is alot easier to identify 1 or 2 that has lost a tag than a whole herd of of calves and mommas that are mixed up in a working corral

 

[dun]

With all of her many many previous calves, Granny has been a little over attentive if you went near the calf but nothing much excpet hovering and shaking her head to let you know she isn;t happy about the situation. But it's never stopped me from walking up and tagging her calf. This year, if anyone encluding me got within shouting distance of the fence she would charge, beller. throw dirt and in geenral be a holy terror. After a week she didn;t mind what you did with the calf.
For calves that we don;t tag at birth, we tag with a generci tag at spring workup. We then just see who the calf sucks and link the cow and calf that way.

 

[1982vett]

try doing that with a single breed herd and let me know how that works for ya :cowboy:

I was always taught to "learn your cattle". They lose eartags. Have always tried to do this even with a dairy full of holsteins. Not necessarily easy but not impossible either and they are kept in smaller pastures than some of you guys utilize so I probably see them a lot more often.....but they're all different.

Yep but it is alot easier to identify 1 or 2 that has lost a tag than a whole herd of of calves and mommas that are mixed up in a working corral

Shortly after I combined to groups of cows I came up with two Brangus cows that had lost their tags. Wasn't hard to figure which two numbers were missing but figuring which number went to which cow was a different story. They were so similar that the only thing different between them were the spotting on their bags. I just didn't know which was which. Then it hit me, I record their bangs tag numbers so all I had to do was run them thru the chute and get it.........Both were missing...Only way I was able to figure it out was their next calving date. I had just weaned one cows calf a couple months earlier and the other was due to have a calf a few months later. Had I not combined the groups, one cow would have been in one pasture and one in another and it wouldn't have been an issue. But after combining them, it is hard to look at a cow from a distance and know which one she is without getting the number. They do loose their individuality in larger groups.

 

[Suzie Q]

So far I have been able to look at the calves and know who their mum's are by their face. I can also tell the difference between the black horses on our property. That may change with the Bazadais coming out more like dad than Mum.

That said we have only tagged for ownership. Not for which calf belongs to which cow. I only have 2 Stud cows and 2 heifers at the moment and can tell them apart. The cows do look the same to other people.

 

[GRTiger85]

I had one almost get me last december I posted about, She calmed down a little but not much. Her calf was 600lbs and she would still watch you like a hawk and get crazy eyes if you got inbetween them or caused a commotion. Gentle as a cat the rest of the time though. Heck she was protective of every calf I had, If you were moving one around she would be the first one on the scene. She raised a heck of a calf, so I dont mind putting up with her being protective....even if it is over the whole calf crop.

 

[msscamp]

I am another one who does not tag in the paddock. I go down and take photos of Mum and bub. I often see them drinking off their mother so no who is whose calf. The calf gets tagged the next time the herd is run through the yard.

try doing that with a single breed herd and let me know how that works for ya :cowboy:

Actually it works quite well if you know your cows and calves. We always ran a single breed herd, and never tagged in the pasture. Heifers were usually calved out in the pens, 2 year olds or older calved in the pasture. We seperated calves and tagged in the alley way. Mom could snort and beller all she wanted too, but rarely did one come over the fence at us. Once in a while we screwed up and tagged the wrong calf with the dam's number, but usually we were spot on.

 

[Angus Cowman]

try doing that with a single breed herd and let me know how that works for ya :cowboy:

Actually it works quite well if you know your cows and calves. We always ran a single breed herd, and never tagged in the pasture. Heifers were usually calved out in the pens, 2 year olds or older calved in the pasture. We seperated calves and tagged in the alley way. Mom could snort and beller all she wanted too, but rarely did one come over the fence at us. Once in a while we screwed up and tagged the wrong calf with the dam's number, but usually we were spot on.

Like I said with a few hd that might work but I have never had it work that way

 

[angus9259]

a friend has a cage like device that attaches to a four wheeler. It catches the calf and provides some safety while tagging. looks like a neat design and useful for his larger herd. Jim

Hay ring on a bales spear.

 

[randiliana]

Well, everything gets tagged here to match them to their mamas. I know my cows pretty good, but when one loses a tag, it is amazing how different she looks.

With 100+ head every year, I just don't have time to figure out which calf goes with which cow when we do our spring workup. We don't keep any nut cases around. If she can't tell the difference between a human (who she sees every day) and a coyote she is gone. Never have lost a calf to a predator yet either.

As far as tagging newborns, we separate all the calved cows from the pregnant ones as they calve. So we bring everything up through the corral shortly after they calve, and can easily separate the calf from the cow on the way through. Then we tag, band, weigh, dehorn, etc. In complete safety. Most cows aren't a problem, but this way we don't have to worry at all.

 

[cattleman99]

There is only one place for a cow that takes a run at you. The slaughterhouse. Around here one takes a run at you and in the fall when we sort off the calves she goes straight up the chute into the trailer and is gone. Doesn't matter how good she is. Took a few good cows over the years but it isn't worth your life. I read about someone every year dying from a cow or a bull getting them.

 

[pdfangus]

below hopefully is a link to a place where I posted a story about a mean cow.

true story from back in the day.

http://americancowboy.com/blogs/pdfangus/mean-cow

 

[Suzie Q]

I agree, we have one here marked to go as she is too protective with her calf. Luckily she has not passed this on to her progeny and they don't mind me near them when they have calved. I find most of the ones born here don't care if we are near them. Calf or no calf. If we have a problem it is one of the ones bought in.

We got rid of a black cow a year or so ago. She was so maternal that she would not let me near a cow who was calving. I was on the quad and luckioy had a shovel with me so kept her away from me with that. But if the cow calving had been in trouble and needed assistance I wouldn't have been able to give it to her.

 

[TexasBred]

I agree, we have one here marked to go as she is too protective with her calf. Luckily she has not passed this on to her progeny and they don't mind me near them when they have calved. I find most of the ones born here don't care if we are near them. Calf or no calf. If we have a problem it is one of the ones bought in.

We got rid of a black cow a year or so ago. She was so maternal that she would not let me near a cow who was calving. I was on the quad and luckioy had a shovel with me so kept her away from me with that. But if the cow calving had been in trouble and needed assistance I wouldn't have been able to give it to her.

Mine won't let you around them OR the calf for 4-5 days after the calf is born. Then they just go back to their old ways. Just very protective at first. But that's good

 

[Suzie Q]

The one we have earmarked to go is called Pearl and she is a Gelbvieh. Her calf was weaned at 6 months in a different paddock. We then had the weaners in the yard and Pearl went around 2 roundbales to have a go at Papa and I in the open paddock.

We were nowhere near her calf and we were not between her and her calf. There was 2 fences between her and the calf. But that didn't stop her getting upset with us.

 

[hillbillycwo]

Too many good cows out there for a bad actor to be tolerated. I will not have one around me. I will sell them asap even if I lose a little on them. Not worth the chance. Farming is gambling enough with weather and cattle market volatility to gamble on an animal that shows that much aggression. They can bellar and paw all they want but a charge is instant grounds for kill pen sale. I tell the yard to sell them for slaughter if they have charged me. Just MHO.

 

[3waycross]

The one we have earmarked to go is called Pearl and she is a Gelbvieh. Her calf was weaned at 6 months in a different paddock. We then had the weaners in the yard and Pearl went around 2 roundbales to have a go at Papa and I in the open paddock.

We were nowhere near her calf and we were not between her and her calf. There was 2 fences between her and the calf. But that didn't stop her getting upset with us.

She might just hate you.

My old partner had a Shorthorn cow that was his boss cow. She never even looked funny at me but hated his guts. She finally nailed him square in the head while he was bent over cutting the strings on a bale one day. She did go to town but he was so cheap that he let her stay lon enuf to calve and raise the calf. Funny part is I had to argue with him to cull the heifer calf along with her mother.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I reckon i like one thats ready to go to battle for their calf than one that throws her tail over her back and heads for the back forty. If she settles down after a few days we will tag the calf then.

 

[randiliana]

I reckon i like one thats ready to go to battle for their calf than one that throws her tail over her back and heads for the back forty. If she settles down after a few days we will tag the calf then.

Yes, well, that is fine if she settles down. From what I have seen, the overly protective mothers tend to be the wilder end of the herd in the best of circumstances.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I reckon i like one thats ready to go to battle for their calf than one that throws her tail over her back and heads for the back forty. If she settles down after a few days we will tag the calf then.

Yes, well, that is fine if she settles down. From what I have seen, the overly protective mothers tend to be the wilder end of the herd in the best of circumstances.

I have just the opposite #106 will slobber in your pockets when she has a new calf and she is unnoticeable any other time and
#101 will let ya tag her calf the first day no problem but any other time she is standing with her head up looking for an escape route this will probably be her last yr because of that she gets real trotty
I only have about 3 that are a little hot when tagging their calves and they aren't killers it just takes 2 people to tag their calves which to us isn't a problem because the gate opener and I always do it together unless I take a trip to Arkansas then its her problem not mine :lol: :lol:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Have not ever found the more protective cows to be the wilder end mostly it is the ones that throw there tail over there back and head south that are wild. My old granny cow 15 years old just had a calf the other day she still digs dirt and blows slobbers, caught her calf this evening no problem. She will be the first cow to the gate when i change pastures.