tagging babies

[footballjdtractor]

We are in the middle of calving. I always try to tag the calves within a day or two of birth so I know which calf belongs to which cow and so I can tell when a calf is new. The cows seem more protective and mean this year than in the past. I have only been able to tag about half of them. What may have caused their mood change this year? If I only keep replacement heifers from the tame cows will I eventually breed this out of them? A friend said to hit the cow in the nose with a club when she charges and they eventually can be trained, this seems like a bad idea to me and might only make the cows worse. Right now my method is to tag and run and hope I don't trip.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Most of the time the turn and run will get you got, if the cow was just trying to look mean when you run she will get you.Just keep the calf between you and her. Myself i don't got much use for a cow that won't put up a little battle over a new born calf. I would call that a good momma.

 

[jcarkie]

i have to agree if you fight you will be fought. hittting will only bring out the instinct to protect. key is safety, i work mine through the gates if possible to be safe, the one that bluffs i do out in the open. keep the calf you and the mom works. i like a cow that protects but not stupid (they wet to town last month)one calf was not cut or tagged last spring(wild like a deer).

 

[bigbull338]

sounds like the best an safest thing todo is pen the cows an calves.an run the calves through the chute.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Wouldn't be no sport in that BigBull, that old cow blowing snot in your hip pockets will make you feel young and fast agin.

 

[bigbull338]

well i for 1 dont want to feel that young or fast again.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Just a teasing BB i forgot to put the smilies up. But some of them will give you a pretty good run. :lol:

 

[I luv herfrds]

We take the iodine spray bottle and spray the cow in the nose with some. They get busy licking their nose. If we get one that goes completely nuts and doesn't bluff nor stops after a couple of shots of iodine we ship them.
You might have had some dogs or coyotes go through and stirred up the momma cows. Not sure just a guess.

If I were you I would run the cow giving birth into a barn with pens. Put her in and let her have the calf in there. After she has mothered up, turn her out to water and shut the door with you inside with the calf. Tag the calf then let mom back in to collect the calf and watch them walk away.

 

[hillsdown]

.
If I were you I would run the cow giving birth into a barn with pens. Put her in and let her have the calf in there. After she has mothered up, turn her out to water and shut the door with you inside with the calf. Tag the calf then let mom back in to collect the calf and watch them walk away.

If at all possible you bet :nod: , or make sure there are two of you and one to beat the snot out of the cow that comes at you. You need to do a search on the boards about how many people have been hurt or killed trying to tag a new born..
The mean ones need to go with a big red X on both of their sides so they go straight to slaughter, maternal instincts my @ss..

A cow comes at me and she grows wheels real fast.. :wave:

 

[Susie David]

We just run them through the chute together and swing the exit gate to one pen or the other to sperate the cows while the calves are worked..then let them get back together.
We know the cows that are "overly protective " and handle them with more caution and less stress...usually first if we can get them in the alley first.
DMc

 

[Victoria]

We tag and weigh within 24 hours of birth. It involves Mom driving out in the field and working the jiffy baler as I sling the calf and the mother of the calf helps. Sometimes I have to bribe them with a bucket of oats. I have one I will be watching this year as she was a bit antsy about the whole process last year. If she is worse this year she'll be on the truck. No cow is worth risking your life for. I figure if a cow isn't smart enough to know me from a predator or stranger I don't want her around.
Keeping replacements from the calm ones will help but it is no guarantee. Working with them when they are weaned helps a lot. Two words of advice that were passed on to me: 1) Cows hate cowards. If you have to back down from a cow ship her out - she won't forget that she beat you once. 2) If you are going to fight a cow you better be able to win the fight - and remember she is much bigger than you are.
Running and praying you won't trip may not be the best method. Take it from someone who had to use that method in the past. Once I did trip and that experience made a big impact on what kind of herd I wanted to handle. If you have cows you have to run with don't bother tagging. Run the calves through a chute - an ear tag is not worth your life. Stay safe.

 

[dun]

Cows and their behaviour at calving varys from year to year. One year a cow that almost deliveres the calf to you for tagging will be nasty the next and vice versa. They're cows, every day they can be a totally different animal, get used to it.
We tag most of ours at birth or shortly after. Those we don;t get tagged then will be tagged with a generic number (odd colored tag) at spring workup. We just note what calf nurses what cow and put that tag number down for that calf. Then in the fall we retag them if it's one we plan on keeping

 

[randiliana]

We run all our cows with newborns through the corral after birth, and separate the cow off the calf. Then tagging, banding, dehorning and whatever else you have to do is easy. You don't have to worry about a mama with a bad attitude. But, having said that, we do a lot of our work with them at calving time on foot and bad attitudes don't last. As Victoria said, they better be able to tell the difference between me and a coyote, and if they can't/won't they make the next trip to the sale barn. Haven't lost a calf to a coyote (ever!!) and I don't have to worry about having mama down my back either. But, when working with a calf, I think it is a good idea to separate mama, just to be on the safe side. The only problem I have run into by separating is when I have 5(or sometimes more) new ones in the barn, I have put the wrong tag in a calf on occaision.

 

[Limomike]

If I am tagging calves, we usually do it when we vaccinate & put them in the chute. But, just to band them, I do it in the field in the first 24-36 hours of birth. Most of my momma cows will not charge me, but just in case I try to give them a bucket of feed before I rope the calf; and then I keep my trusty shocker on hand. All them momma cows know who's boss with that thing.

 

[2/B or not 2/B]

We tag and band right after the calf is born too. If the mama brings the calf in by the barn when she comes to drink, we herd it into the barn and shut the door. Usually she leaves the calf out in the field though, so sometimes we walk out when she's not looking. Other times, we drive out and handle the calf in the back of the truck. I've noticed that if you put the calf in the back of the truck and drive off a little, the mama keeps looking for the calf on the ground where she left it. I've never been charged by one of our cows, but they're dangerous and unpredictable by nature so why take any chances?

 

[jcarkie]

one key is working around the cows before they start calving. with heifers, i start going out at night a couple of weeks before, they get use to the flashlight and me walking around them then they stay calmer when the time comes. i have tried putting them up and it seems to make it worse, they panic when seperated.

 

[dun]

one key is working around the cows before they start calving. with heifers, i start going out at night a couple of weeks before, they get use to the flashlight and me walking around them then they stay calmer when the time comes. i have tried putting them up and it seems to make it worse, they panic when seperated.

I've never been charged either, had lots of back pockets full of snot though. Even an experienced cow that you are comfortable with can have aggression tendencys when they first calf. Their hormones are all ramped up and concerned about their calf. Had a 7 year old trhat we've calved out since she was 2 that shock her head and gave me the eye when I tried to tag her calf, 10 minutes old was just too soon for that business as far as she was concerned. The next morning I walked right up to her and tagged the calf with no problems.
You can;t think like a cow, nobody is that stupid.

 

[novatech]

one key is working around the cows before they start calving. with heifers, i start going out at night a couple of weeks before, they get use to the flashlight and me walking around them then they stay calmer when the time comes. i have tried putting them up and it seems to make it worse, they panic when seperated.

I can scratch, pet, milk several of mine out in the pasture at anytime even after calving. Touch that calf and there is a totally different attitude toward me.

 

[blackcowz]

This past spring was my first experience tagging babies by myself. I really like our Gator cause you can drive up, hop off, and jump back on. Our calves are generally tagged when they're small enough to lay still or be caught. However, when Dad went to help me, he caught one baby and then had to jump in the bed of the Gator. The cow was about three inches off his back pockets when he leaped. Funny thing, he drug the calf up with him. Usually, our tagger serves the purpose of a whack in the nose when things get out of hand.

 

[ArrowHBrand]

Usually we would separate all calves and two of us would process them. The "tame" ones we would process in the lot just as long as we kept the calf between ourselves and the cow. We had one cow that was an absolute nightmare for about two weeks after she calved. One spring her calved got pushed under the gate and every year after that, she was extremely protective, but she always calmed down and her calves were producers. Nothing wrong with a little spirit in a cow. :cboy: