ear tags suck

[dieselbeef]

lose em..break off...don't know what cow is what...age..last calf...etc..

o I gotta come up with a better system than the y tags that I have a bunch of or a different brand..


or brand em...which I don't have the first clue about...but I don't have a brand or irons or any idea which way is best. freeze em...burn em...electric....fire....

whats the other options besides the crappy ear tags

 

[ddd75]

tags in each ear..

tattoo

 

[BC]

I prefer hot iron brands. I have my uncle's old 4 inch number set, I bought a 3 inch set of numbers and an electric set of numbers.

 

[M-5]

I would look for the reason your losing tags. Sticking heads thru fences, hay string on bales, low limbs , rolls of old wire in pastures , equipment stored in pastures , Panels with to much gap

 

[dieselbeef]

maybe..but they seem to just get old and brittle..whats the life span..tag a cow once is all I wanna do...tried the write on ones too..they faded out...

mostly they either are broken off and the backing disc is still in there or the tag breaks off where it narrows before the big part at the btm..

z tag or something better? I really don't wanna brand em..I mean I got 20 cows and a bull...I really don't need that

 

[M-5]

I got some tags that are over 10 years old , They are faded some but still legible, I lost more with buttons than I have with Ztags and most are 4 or 5 years old

 

[Rafter S]

I have to special order them when I run low, but Allflex makes a backing that's shaped like a small ear tag. I've never had a cow lose a tag that used one of those instead of the round buttons.

 

[M-5]

DB iirc you have guard rail right? is one on the runs about head high that allows ears to stick thru and slide down cutting off the tags ??

 

[callmefence]

Tags are important. But only a fool doesn't brand. I've made all my irons out of sucker rod. My son gave me a electric for Christmas and it's much better where you have 110. We're We don't We build a wood fire in a metal five gallon bucket with some holes knocked in it down low. One hole about the size of a tennis ball gets the propane pear burner stuck in it. It'll heat up the irons quick.

 

[dieselbeef]

yeah I have guard rail but only in the pens and have never found a tag there....maybe ill try the allflex cuz the ytex are just sucking

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Allflex or Permaflex. My tags are put in at birth (ex-large) and I have 14 year old cows still walking around with legible eartags.

 

[Silver]

We use the Ritchie engrave-able tags to avoid fading, but I don't believe you can hang something in a cows ear that at least some of them won't lose at some point. We give our replacements a metal clip tag (like a Bangs tag I guess, although we don't have those here). That way at least if I need to replace a tag I can give her the same number she had. I used to put the metal tags in at birth but found some get infected if not placed perfectly to allow for ear growth.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Ritchie is a great eartag. I have the engrave-able ones also. Plan was to replace birth tags as they faded/got lost. I haven't had to make very many over the years. Maybe two in the 5 years my nephew has lived with me.

 

[JW IN VA]

I switched to Z tags to stop losses.So far,it's been good.Check your PM

I won't say tattoos won't work.The purebred people have used them for many decades.My experience was not good with trying to tattoo a backup number for the esr tags.Too many illegible.

 

[Aaron]

The best by far is Z-tags. Allflex break either buttons or necks in the cold. Ritchie is good because it doesn't fade, but has weakness because it is 2 piece and the male backs break in cold.

According to Allflex plastic formula, their tags are only rated down to -20F. Below that, tag loss can be expected. Even Allflex A-tag has same issue with breaking in cold.

Switched to only Z tags 6 years ago and have only lost 2 or 3 in that time, all ripped out, didn't break. I was losing that many every couple of months when I had Allflex, YTex, Ritchey, Duplex. Freeze branding would be best above all.

 

[JW IN VA]

I got some tags that are over 10 years old , They are faded some but still legible, I lost more with buttons than I have with Ztags and most are 4 or 5 years old

I have reinked the tags prior to putting them in.Seem to stay longer.

 

[M-5]

I got some tags that are over 10 years old , They are faded some but still legible, I lost more with buttons than I have with Ztags and most are 4 or 5 years old

I have reinked the tags prior to putting them in.Seem to stay longer.

I do the same along with making numbers 3 tip widths wide. Also if your working cows once or twice a year replacing a lost tag is not much of an issue. If every single cow is losing tags then there are other issues and changing brands will not help .

 

[dieselbeef]

z tag looks like I can use the same applicator also....

 

[Silver]

z tag looks like I can use the same applicator also....

The Z tags I used needed their own applicator, the needle needed to pivot out to thread the tag onto it

 

[M-5]

Its best when you change style to buy a new applicator . Its minor in the scheme of things . Some things are worth doing right to start with. I'm sure some other applicators will work but I can almost bet you will have a bunch of torn ears because z tags are sharp.