Ritchey Tags ?

[Black and Good]

I've been starting to use Ritchey tags. www.ritcheytags.com. Just wondering what size bit people are having the best results using. Thanks B&G

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We use Ritchey tags exclusively. We put the year calved on the top, then the sire below the year and at the bottom of the tag the animal ID. On the bottom back, we put our ranch prefix, that way if our cattle ever get out people know where they belong. But, I am not sure what size tip we use on the dremmel. It is not labeled. But it came with the dremmel, so I think a standard size. Sorry I could not help more!

 

[Son of Butch]

We use self piercing Z-tags and have had good retention, the large 3" x 4" for the cows and replacement heifers and the calf size tag for the rest of them. For what it's worth I find the Yellow tags are definitely the easiest to read from a distance, much better than the Red tags .

 

[Nesikep]

if you want to read from a distance.. don't know if Ritchie has them, but try white letters on black... we really liked it.. ours were the standard Allflex XL, though they look a bit stupid on a 60 lb twin

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I just checked my bit - looks like about a 1/8" ball (has slices in it for cutting). I don't use them on the newborns. If my old tags fade, I replace with the Ritchie. I use extra-large Permaflex for the newborns - & replace with extra-large Ritchies. One thing about the Ritchie's, once you cut the number into your tag - it NEVER fades!!!

 

[highgrit]

We use Z-tags, got the tool, marker and the tags for Christmas right off Cattle Today for free. Seem to be very good tags and
the marker holds up good if you do it twice. Only been a couple of years but we will see.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Here is what our tags look like.
This has the year born (07), sire (H2, a Hummer son), and the cow ID (Flirt)

This one is an 09 model, sired by Shear Force (Shear), and her ID is Kitty

And this is the back of the tag, FSSR for Fire Sweep Simmental Ranch.

Most of these tags are three years old or older, and still look like new! We put them in the cattle when we get to weaning age and only put them in the keepers, so steers and bulls do not get a tag.

 

[Black and Good]

Thanks for the help everyone. I saw on their web site they sell 1/8" + 1/4" i was wondering what people were liking better. Sweep,WOW you must have steady hands,I don't think I could grind that small. LOL They look good. I'm using Yellow with black letters. To me it's hard to keep the dremel from jumping,I don't think I'll ever be as neat looking as Sweep. I can't even be that neat with a marker. LOL B&G :clap:

 

[mcoker]

I use the 1/4" ball for my big numbers and the 1/8" ball for the smaller numbers up on the neck of the tag. I have been making all of our tags for replacement heifers and our bulls we raise to sell for about four years now and believe me, you will get good at it and they will start to look much nicer with practice. I take a ball point pen and quickly write out my numbers on the tag and then dremmel over the numbers. The system we use: the permanent ID we make big and takes up most of the body of the tag. Up on the neck with smaller writing and with the smaller bit I put the sire and dam. The permanent ID I put on both the front and back of the tag and the dam/sire on the front only. We use small tags (i think allflex, just simple write-ons)for the babies and switch them out sometime after weaning when we know they'll be keepers. Hope this helps..... I'll try to get a pic today and post it.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Thanks for the help everyone. I saw on their web site they sell 1/8" + 1/4" i was wondering what people were liking better. Sweep,WOW you must have steady hands,I don't think I could grind that small. LOL They look good. I'm using Yellow with black letters. To me it's hard to keep the dremel from jumping,I don't think I'll ever be as neat looking as Sweep. I can't even be that neat with a marker. LOL B&G :clap:

thanks! But, with practice you can get it that small. Use the practice pieces they send you, it really helps. I'd you look real close, the "dot" above the I is actually shaped like a heart, something my daughters ask me to put on their heifer's tags. Not hard to do. Once you get your first letter in, just go back over it several times, very lightly, and it improves the look a ton!
:santa: Merry Christmas....

 

[Nesikep]

so these richey tags are still plastic like an allflex? I might go over my allflex tags with a dremel too to promote adhesion... I have a whole stack of very old used tags I'm using on my steers, and the paint doesn't bind to them anymore. I might do it to the new tags for the keepers too. It's not so much for me, I know them all, but for anyone else

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

so these richey tags are still plastic like an allflex? I might go over my allflex tags with a dremel too to promote adhesion... I have a whole stack of very old used tags I'm using on my steers, and the paint doesn't bind to them anymore. I might do it to the new tags for the keepers too. It's not so much for me, I know them all, but for anyone else

Yep. They are a plastic layer over another plastic layer, different colors. When you take the dremmel to them, the color on the bottom comes through. If you are trying to get numbers to stay on, why not try roughing them up with a little sandpaper? Although, with $1 tags, I prefer to just use a new one on the keepers. They will wear it for the rest of their lives, a dollar is pretty cheap to not have to replace them....

 

[SSGenetics]

We use Ritchey tags and really like them. :nod:

Yellow/black for cows/heifers....

Orange/black for bulls/steers....

 

[AussieLim]

I've been to Nth America many times & love the concept of the Ritchey tags as a long lasting I'D. Unfortunately there is only one agency selling them in Queensland, Australia & they work out double the price of competetive tags.
May need to import them ourselves??

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

The tags are actually 3 layers. Like - Yellow - black - yellow. You dremmel thru the yellow layer showing the black layer.
I use red for females & yellow for male calves. Any female I purchase, gets a yellow tag.

 

[TexasBred]

I'll stick with the Z-Tags. Everybody has preferences. Love the idea of one piece tag as I've replaced hundreds of the old button type tags. Don't think I had to replace a Z Tag since I started using them and if you'll write the information on the tag, allow it to dry and then go over it again it will stay nice and black. Seems yellow is always the preferred color although I saw a group of cattle the other day with "baby blue" tags.

 

[Nesikep]

I like white lettering on black... The old tags I have do go on the steers, but they manage to rub off the ink before they get sold, so that's not so good

as for the RFID buttons, we trim off any extra nubs on the main tag, then use the RFID button on top of the standard tag.. works really well, and you only put one hole in the ear