tagging and tattooing calves

[TCRanch]

I should have known. It was written by Kit Pharo.

Is he a bad guy or something?

Well, don't shoot the messenger. What is wrong with the ides that tagging at birth is not needed for commercial cattle producers?

The idea is not wrong. It's whatever works for each individual operation. My operation is substantially smaller than what Mr Pharo referenced but I prefer to tag, etc day 1, day 2 at the latest. Yes, there's always a chance of an encounter with an angry mama, even with selective culling. But popping in a First Defense bolus, spraying the umbilicle cord & tagging a calf takes a couple minutes. I suggest waiting until she's completely licked it off, it's nursed and both cow/calf are now bonded & relaxing. I keep diligent records of all my cattle (including calves) so it's important for me to know exactly which calf belongs to which cow.

 

[cowgirl8]

I should have known. It was written by Kit Pharo.

Is he a bad guy or something?

Well, don't shoot the messenger. What is wrong with the ides that tagging at birth is not needed for commercial cattle producers?

I think the messenger needs a little more time in the saddle....

We don't tag at birth, never needed to. We'll tag a calf if there we need to keep an eye on it, like its a twin, or its been sick. I've never seen the need to tag the calf.

 

[bball]

I should have known. It was written by Kit Pharo.

Is he a bad guy or something?

Well, don't shoot the messenger. What is wrong with the ides that tagging at birth is not needed for commercial cattle producers?

The idea is not wrong. It's whatever works for each individual operation. My operation is substantially smaller than what Mr Pharo referenced but I prefer to tag, etc day 1, day 2 at the latest. Yes, there's always a chance of an encounter with an angry mama, even with selective culling. But popping in a First Defense bolus, spraying the umbilicle cord & tagging a calf takes a couple minutes. I suggest waiting until she's completely licked it off, it's nursed and both cow/calf are now bonded & relaxing. I keep diligent records of all my cattle (including calves) so it's important for me to know exactly which calf belongs to which cow.

Well stated TC. Some of us small timers like to actually track productivity, efficiency of cows. Ear tagging calfs early and weighing at weaning is just one way to help determine which cows produce the calves with best ADG, and AD$. Which are 2 things, as a small timer, I find very important to know and utilize during culling, and overall herd improvement. Ear tagging is just one small tool(inexpensive) that makes life easier for this one man outfit and helps with accurate record keeping.

 

[Bullitt]

I should have known. It was written by Kit Pharo.

Is he a bad guy or something?

Well, don't shoot the messenger. What is wrong with the ides that tagging at birth is not needed for commercial cattle producers?

I think the messenger needs a little more time in the saddle....

So you shoot the messenger? Why does Kit Pharo "need more time in the saddle," cowboy? I understand he is a rancher in Colorado.

Yeah, I know you were talking about me. But you do not know a thing about me.

There is no need for commercial cattle producers to ear tag calves at birth. It is a lot of extra work and serves little purpose. The ear tagging can be done when calves are worked, which makes things easier and more efficient.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Why bother tagging when you work them? You don't know who the dam is, so why would you want to know who the calf is?? Despite Mr Pharo's long thought out article, some cattle people really like to know which cow raises what calf - even the commercial guy.
And, can you imagine a producer would waste his time to check his calving cows twice a day. :shock: What a waste of time. He should be fixing fences.
A steer calf is worth maybe $1000 after weaned & preconditioned. Hmmm, that seems like that would pay for finding one cow in dystocia and you actually saved the calf (while you should have been fixing fence). There are many calves born, owner finds it DOA. Many are because the calf comes backwards and the cow needed assistance.

 

[Bullitt]

Why bother tagging when you work them? You don't know who the dam is, so why would you want to know who the calf is?? Despite Mr Pharo's long thought out article, some cattle people really like to know which cow raises what calf - even the commercial guy.
And, can you imagine a producer would waste his time to check his calving cows twice a day. :shock: What a waste of time. He should be fixing fences.
A steer calf is worth maybe $1000 after weaned & preconditioned. Hmmm, that seems like that would pay for finding one cow in dystocia and you actually saved the calf (while you should have been fixing fence). There are many calves born, owner finds it DOA. Many are because the calf comes backwards and the cow needed assistance.

You make many good points, Jeanne.

To your first point. If you are working calves when they are a couple of months old, you know who the dam is because the calf is nursing on its momma.

If calves dying at birth is a common thing in a herd, then maybe a change is needed?

I can see both sides. If a person has a small herd it may not be that much work to tag calves at birth. But a large operation would have difficulty with tagging calves at birth.

As someone said, each person should do what works for him or her.

 

[Silver]

Here is an article that explains that few cattle producers need to tag ears at birth. He also explains that it reduces profits by focusing on the wrong things.

https://onpasture.com/2016/06/06/dont-e ... rn-calves/

A registered seed-stock breeder may need birth weight information at calving time. Commercial cattle producers do not need that information.

This article is a total bunch of crap, IMHO

 

[dun]

Why bother tagging when you work them? You don't know who the dam is, so why would you want to know who the calf is?? Despite Mr Pharo's long thought out article, some cattle people really like to know which cow raises what calf - even the commercial guy.
And, can you imagine a producer would waste his time to check his calving cows twice a day. :shock: What a waste of time. He should be fixing fences.
A steer calf is worth maybe $1000 after weaned & preconditioned. Hmmm, that seems like that would pay for finding one cow in dystocia and you actually saved the calf (while you should have been fixing fence). There are many calves born, owner finds it DOA. Many are because the calf comes backwards and the cow needed assistance.

You make many good points, Jeanne.

To your first point. If you are working calves when they are a couple of months old, you know who the dam is because the calf is nursing on its momma.

If calves dying at birth is a common thing in a herd, then maybe a change is needed?

I can see both sides. If a person has a small herd it may not be that much work to tag calves at birth. But a large operation would have difficulty with tagging calves at birth.

As someone said, each person should do what works for him or her.

There are a number of Red Angus herds that run multiple hundreds of cows and they seem to find the time to weigh and tag each calf.
Yuo can;t manage what you don;t measure.

 

[Farmgirl]

You have been doing just fine without ear tags at birth, so why do you want to do it now?

Question was not about tagging at birth. Question was about tagging young calves. Have a need to sort off a cow and calf from the others. All are black. Frequently do chores after dark. Didn't need a lecture on how to care for my herd.

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback.
Farmgirl

 

[TCRanch]

Why bother tagging when you work them? You don't know who the dam is, so why would you want to know who the calf is?? Despite Mr Pharo's long thought out article, some cattle people really like to know which cow raises what calf - even the commercial guy.
And, can you imagine a producer would waste his time to check his calving cows twice a day. :shock: What a waste of time. He should be fixing fences.
A steer calf is worth maybe $1000 after weaned & preconditioned. Hmmm, that seems like that would pay for finding one cow in dystocia and you actually saved the calf (while you should have been fixing fence). There are many calves born, owner finds it DOA. Many are because the calf comes backwards and the cow needed assistance.

You make many good points, Jeanne.

To your first point. If you are working calves when they are a couple of months old, you know who the dam is because the calf is nursing on its momma.

If calves dying at birth is a common thing in a herd, then maybe a change is needed?

I can see both sides. If a person has a small herd it may not be that much work to tag calves at birth. But a large operation would have difficulty with tagging calves at birth.

As someone said, each person should do what works for him or her.

Yes, I know which calf belongs to which mama in the pasture. But not when we're working them. We round up the herd, separate the cows from the calves, run the cows through the chute first and then work the calves. It just makes it easier for me & my crew, not comingling the shots, etc.

One thing Mr. Pharo didn't address: I suspect I'm not the only one that has neighbors sharing a fence line (or "neighbors", which would include a 5 mile radius). And our neighbors to the north have the worst fence ever. If I have a calf in someone else' pasture (or cow, bull and vise versa) I want to have no reservations about claiming it as mine.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

"To your first point. If you are working calves when they are a couple of months old, you know who the dam is because the calf is nursing on its momma.

If calves dying at birth is a common thing in a herd, then maybe a change is needed?"

Bullitt - When you work calves through the chute, he/she is not attached to their dam. :shock: No, you would not know which calf was with which cow - unless your herd was so small you could ID each calf by site. You don't sort out a pair, then run it in the chute. You generally work all calves and then all cows separate.
No, calves dying is not "common" for any herd. But, if a cow is struggling to have a calf that won't come out, it is not just a financial issue, it's a humane issue.
If you have cows calving, you should be eyeballing them at least twice a day.
Yes, what is good for one farm may not be good/right for another, but you shouldn't own any if you are not prepared to care for them. It's called good stewardship.
You don't even have cattle.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

There is no need for commercial cattle producers to ear tag calves at birth. It is a lot of extra work and serves little purpose. The ear tagging can be done when calves are worked, which makes things easier and more efficient.

Don't see where or how it's a lot of extra work... If reaching down and clippin' in a tag is to much..I suggest a new line of work..a lot of commercial cattlemen put as much, and some maybe more effort,into their operation than seed stock producers....

 

[cowgirl8]

This is from a rancher who runs over 200 and 90% solid black calves... We've found no reason to tag the calves. If there is a calf in question, maybe not growing like the rest, i'll wait till I see who its nursing and jot down the cows number. If we get the calves up at weaning and the calf is still noticeably not like the others, I know who it belonged to. Her number goes down in the new list, and if she raises another dud, she's gone. If someone has to tag all their calves to sort out the bad cows, I see that as a different problem. Maybe people who buy their cows at sale barns should do this...
My daughter moves her cows in the spring as they calved. She tags her calves with their mothers number so it makes it easier to move them with the right calf. We've moved cows at times during calving season, I just move the dry cows. So no tags needed.....

 

[slick4591]

I would think that if I decided to move to the commercial market I would want BW and ID on all my new calves. I would think that would help me to better determine performance and breeding decisions.

 

[Farmgirl]

You people just don't give up. My animals are cared for as well as anyone's. When I am at the gate sorting off I don't have time to wait and see which cow the calf goes and nurses.

The question was never about tagging at birth.

Farmgirl

 

[cowgirl8]

Unless you're in the reg business and sell seedstock, a good pair of eyes is much better than a tag....lol
Farmgirl.... this forum is full of know it alls and they go off on other subjects..oh, and you're a girl and need things taught to you... I've been a cowgirl in a cowboy world a long time. You'll never know as much as these guys. lol

 

[Silver]

Well I've seen pics of the cattle of the articles author, looks to me like a tagging program could have avoided that mess. Just sayin'....... :dunce:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Farmgirl: Your original question was "When do you tag and tattoo your calves?"
I think you got that questioned answered by multiple posters.
Did you not want to tag at birth? that's your management decision. We can't help it if MOST of the producers on this board tag at birth and gave you that answer.
Are we missing something? Every farm has to do things that FIT there environment and management. We are not trying to tell you what works for you, just letting you know what works for us.
cg8 - don't get gender in on this. I am also a woman. Bullitt makes comments & disagrees and doesn't even have any cattle - yet.

 

[True Grit Farms]

The more information you can acquire the better management decisions you can make. I'd like to put EID tags in at birth and run every cow and calf across the scales weekly. It's not feasible but the information you'd gain would help everything from culling decisions to pasture management.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Your original question was,,when do you tag and tattoo your calves ???leaving it wide open for suggestions.. Sorry Jeanne just seen your post...