Ear Tagging

[Redgully]

I tried to pierce a few time... I couldn't do it. I tried really hard just couldn't bring myself to do it. How do you get passed this feeling of hurting the cows? I know the new ear tag aka ear rings look just so stinking cute but how do you get over the part. My neighbor came to help us he was an ear piercing pro... pop pop pop. I'm looking at him like I'm guess that just wasn't meant to me my job in life. My ❤ hurts for them. I can watch doesn't bother me just can't do it myself.

Personally i feel if i am in control i can do the best and most painless job for that animal. I don't want anyone else doing it.

 

[greggy]

I do not want to buy a special pen that they sell at rural stores here too, if it is just another permanent marker....but at 10 x the normal price.

They are better, last a lot longer. Like a paint pen rather than a permanent marker.

Ah ha.....you should get a job selling in a rural store....no one every mentioned anything like that to me ever ....

 

[Kaleb]

Thats the aim of the game

So do you use sharpie or similar after engraving ?

The Ritchey tags he has are dual layered tags. So when he uses a Dremel to engrave his numbers, he is exposing the black under-layer of the tag. Therefore the letters will not fade like a tag that has printed numbers or hot stamped.

 

[TCRanch]

My calves are tagged generally day 1 (along with spraying their umbilical cord, First Defense & now Inforce 3). My numbering system is a cluster that only I understand but matches the dam. Heifers left ear, bull calves right (they're steered when we work them in May). Tags are color coded; each year the calves of the first calf heifers get a different color. Calf number, DOB, name (yes, I name them) and TCR on the back of the tags juuuuust in case one somehow gets in a neighbors pasture & they know who to call. No apps. I'm old school and write everything down on a notepad, subsequently Excel.

I've tried every marker on the market and aside from using a Dremel they're gonna eventually fade.

So you use dremel and then marker on top....i think allflex tags too soft for dremel ?

And how does the sharpie brand markers go...as good as any other ?

You can get them laser done down here too...but the ones I did on some colours were already hard to read after a few days of dust on them....albeit are sheep tags so much smaller...marker good on cattle tags that are 1 and 2 year old...but I did not do those tags

No Dremel, I just replace them every few years. But it does seem the marker doesn't fade as much on yellow & orange tags.

 

[Dsth]

I calf in the winter time so my cows calf inside my old dairy barn. calves get tags within the first three days. bull calves usually get banded at the time the tags go in. Heifers get an Allflex prenumbered tag and bull calves get a blank tag with birth date written on. each calf's ID is written in my AI breeding chart that has cow and sire listed.

 

[Silver]

Thats the aim of the game

So do you use sharpie or similar after engraving ?

The Richie engraveable tags have a different colour of plastic in the center of the tag that is exposed by the dremmel tool so there is no need to use a marker, and the will not fade ever.

 

[greggy]

I tried to pierce a few time... I couldn't do it. I tried really hard just couldn't bring myself to do it. How do you get passed this feeling of hurting the cows? I know the new ear tag aka ear rings look just so stinking cute but how do you get over the part. My neighbor came to help us he was an ear piercing pro... pop pop pop. I'm looking at him like I'm guess that just wasn't meant to me my job in life. My ❤ hurts for them. I can watch doesn't bother me just can't do it myself.

I am with the others, would rather do them myself, cant be any worse than kids that get ears pierced....

I have not done many cattle, and was through existing holes, so , yeah, cheating

But I must be one of very few who has 3 different cattle ear tag applicators....lol....that was a bit of a mistake though, but I have 2 really good expensive taggers now after buying a Chinese piece of rubbish that fell apart as soon as opened, will see how they go, but one has the movable pin in case ones moves quickly, the other is an auto retract one, I will put them to good use soon

 

[greggy]

Thats the aim of the game

So do you use sharpie or similar after engraving ?

The Richie engraveable tags have a different colour of plastic in the center of the tag that is exposed by the dremmel tool so there is no need to use a marker, and the will not fade ever.

So simple, yet such a good idea......

I got me a pen, I bet it wont cost that much even if I got them shipped, but years ago they used to charge US 30 bucks to post small items, will look into it, allflex tags are about 3 bucks each here ..

 

[Bcompton53]

I moved from 2 piece ytex to 1 piece z tags and will never go back. We have much much better retention. Also, we write our numbers on the tags, and those numbers are visible long after the printed ytex numbers are gone. I'm not sure if I'm sold on our numbering system, but I haven't found a perfect system yet. calf number is 3 digits, first digit is the year of birth ie 2019 is "9", second two digits is the calf number in order of birth. first calf from 2019 is 901, second is 902 etc. Bulls get tagged in the left year (because most of the bulls "left" the farm, laugh all you want, that's how I remember it). heifers get tags in the Right ear. Also on the tag, above the calf number is the dam's number, and below is the sires name or initials, I also write the calf number low on the back side of the tag. I try to tag calves within a few weeks of birth, but that doesn't always happen.

 

[littletom]

We tag the calves day they are born mine get blue my dads get white they run together. Use blank tags put cows number on calf with marker in the field. Those calves wear those tags through weaning couple weeks before weaned sale the ones in weaned sale get rfd tags. The heifers we are keeping keep those baby tags, until we pelvic measure them in late spring when they are 14-15 months old. If they measure they get there own number on a richie engrave tag. They ones that don't measure wear there baby tags to the sale barn. In the fall when we preg check the bred heifers are freeze branded with same number in there ear, lost tags we still have a number. My cows get a side ways 2 after there branded number. Dads only there ear number. I am Tom the second. We have tryed other ways keeping it simple works here.

 

[Brute 23]

I moved from 2 piece ytex to 1 piece z tags and will never go back. We have much much better retention. Also, we write our numbers on the tags, and those numbers are visible long after the printed ytex numbers are gone. I'm not sure if I'm sold on our numbering system, but I haven't found a perfect system yet. calf number is 3 digits, first digit is the year of birth ie 2019 is "9", second two digits is the calf number in order of birth. first calf from 2019 is 901, second is 902 etc. Bulls get tagged in the left year (because most of the bulls "left" the farm, laugh all you want, that's how I remember it). heifers get tags in the Right ear. Also on the tag, above the calf number is the dam's number, and below is the sires name or initials, I also write the calf number low on the back side of the tag. I try to tag calves within a few weeks of birth, but that doesn't always happen.

I agree. We went to the ztags also and have lost very few. I put a number in the right ear and the brand with phone numbers in the left. If I need to fill in a few odd balls I use the marker and just write it in. I have some that are pushing 5 years and I can still read them clear as day. I started drawing our brand on the back on the numbered tags also with the marker. I figure the more identification the better.

 

[sme.misfit.farms]

Don't know if our system is right or not, or even efficient.
Fullbloods/Purebreds get a blue tag
Commercial/Crossbred get a green tag.
Heifers left, bulls right.

All of our cows get a number assigned to them. The first one on the farm 00, next 02, etc.
First is the year and then the cow number. So right now I have 2000, 2001, 2002 on the ground and I'll write on the tag before I walk out the order they're born and year letter, 1H, 2H... I know it's repetitive but helps me keep things straight.

I also name the same alphabet line because we're small enough to do that

I haven't been giving replacement heifers a new number until they calve but I'll be changing that next year. As soon as they're confirmed pregnant they'll get their own number.

 

[Bigfoot]

We had some calves come all the way through to weaning with tags last year, and weren't positive what cow they were out of. That's not supposed to happen this year. We share a google doc, anybody that tags one is supposed to record the cow, and the number calf that goes with it. Tagged a couple newbs this afternoon that there wasn't a cow to claim. Looks like I was the first to shoot the plan in the foot. Maybe I can get it sorted out in the morning.

 

[cowgirl8]

Our cows get a number, with the first being the year they were born.. so this years heifers will be 0, like 010, 025.. THey also get a tattoo in their ear with the same # so that if a tag gets pulled off, they keep their #. So, that basically tells us anything we want to know about the cow.... how old she is. Anything written down about in the books her has her #. We've found that's all we need to know with the ear tag. We do use them in the fall to mark ones we plan to sell or are thinking about selling, we just mark over her #. Been using this method for over 40 years and works pretty good for us....

 

[kentuckyguy]

Seems like I remember someone on here saying if you put the write on tags in the microwave after writing it helped the ink stay on.

Anyone tried that?

 

[76 Bar]

Seems like I remember someone on here saying if you put the write on tags in the microwave after writing it helped the ink stay on.
Anyone tried that?

I VERY briefly zap the tags when I use the "ink in a squeeze bottle" product because it takes forever for that type of ink to dry and helps to embed it into the tag. Microwaves very in power so you need to be cautious. If you over do it you risk damaging the tag including permanently curling the edge and/or the integrity of the tag material. Save previously "blotched" tags for testing purposes.

 

[cowgirl8]

there is one brand that sucks and the number never stays on, then another it stays on forever. I can never remember between the two by name, but the bad one has the corners cut off and is not a square, the other is square.... the square one is the good one.. The ones rounded off curl, pick up dalis grass goo and the number wears off after about 6 months... if I can ever remember between the two by names i'll post it....

 

[TexasBred]

Don't know if our system is right or not, or even efficient.
Fullbloods/Purebreds get a blue tag
Commercial/Crossbred get a green tag.
Heifers left, bulls right.

All of our cows get a number assigned to them. The first one on the farm 00, next 02, etc.
First is the year and then the cow number. So right now I have 2000, 2001, 2002 on the ground and I'll write on the tag before I walk out the order they're born and year letter, 1H, 2H... I know it's repetitive but helps me keep things straight.

I also name the same alphabet line because we're small enough to do that

I haven't been giving replacement heifers a new number until they calve but I'll be changing that next year. As soon as they're confirmed pregnant they'll get their own number.

If it works for you that is all that matters anyway. :nod:

 

[Ky cowboy]

I just tag calfs with ytex pre numbered tags heifer yellow steers orange. I quit trying to get them when they hit the ground. Get a few every time I feed in the corral. Wait and see what calf nurses what cow and start writing it down, I record when the cow calfs and brief descriptions then add tag # later.

 

[cowgirl8]

Does anyone else tattoo the cows # in their ear?