Tagging Calves
- Thread starter sewall
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
bigbull338
Well-known member
yes you can tag a calf at 2 days old.but be sure you have the calf where the momma cant get to you.some cows freakout when you mess with their babies.sewall":1ixppb5e said:
pinzgauer1
Well-known member
I try to tag mine as soon as they hit the ground. Like the other guy said watch out for momma some cows can be down right mean when they have a calf.
J&T Farm
Well-known member
Yes we tag as as soon as we find them which is always within 24 hours. If you wait to long you can't catch the little things. They learn to jump up and run fast. And always keep one eye one the momma. When they hear that baby ball it can change there attitude towards you real quick.
The biggest part of the ones i tagged this Spring was still wet and sometimes had not stood up to nurse for the first time.
But i think from now on i will wait until they have at least had their first teat before tagging them from now own. It seems like the moma cows are a little easier to deal with then to i think because they are a little tired after giving birth.
I tried and band the bull calfs the same time i am tagging them to then i dont have to inflict any other stress on them until they reach about 3 months of age and then i usually give them their first round of shots.
But i think from now on i will wait until they have at least had their first teat before tagging them from now own. It seems like the moma cows are a little easier to deal with then to i think because they are a little tired after giving birth.
I tried and band the bull calfs the same time i am tagging them to then i dont have to inflict any other stress on them until they reach about 3 months of age and then i usually give them their first round of shots.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
poorboy":pqdtac4x said:Nothing as refreshing as spending a brisk winter morning making a mad dash for a hay ring.
:lol: :lol: And from your presence on the board, I take it you made it!!! :clap: :lol:
Bez+
Well-known member
Soon as they hit the ground to as late as 30 seconds before they get on the truck.
Bez+
Bez+
sewall":cliesc2m said:
Ours are tagged when they're weighed; within 24 hours of birth. We use regular size ear tags. They look funny for a few months, kinda makes the ear droop. But they grow into them soon enough.
We will typically tag ours also within about 12 hrs (weigh it and "paste" it) too. If you wait too long, they are hard to catch (even with a calf katcher - pole like a shepherd's hook). Often with heifers we make sure she has a good bond with the calf before we go messing with it. If it is especially cold out, we will make sure the calf is good and dry - to help minimize any frostbite damage (doesn't always work though). We have used both calf and cow size tags (in the Allflex and Z tag styles). The calf tags are typically cheaper, so if you don't plan on keeping them, you may want to go this route; however, they are hard to read on full grown cows with hairy ears and you will probably want to re-tag them with cow size ones. We have also used cow size ones on baby calves too and ditto to the above (they grow into them). I think all manufacturers make the blank tags (we go this route too). Order the marking pen too - follow the directions by using 2 coats of ink; otherwise, they tend to fade if you don't.
Do beware of the calf bawl (not all of them will do it); but when they do, for our herd we call it "calling all cows" because not just mom comes, but the whole herd of moms come. :shock: For this reason, we don't chance what the mom do and we will "kidnap" the calf (on a 4 wheeler, back of a truck, or inside our Tracker) to tag, weigh and paste - or go put out feed and see that mom goes up and sneak back to work the calf. It just isn't worth getting freightrained (especially if you are doing this by yourself).
Do beware of the calf bawl (not all of them will do it); but when they do, for our herd we call it "calling all cows" because not just mom comes, but the whole herd of moms come. :shock: For this reason, we don't chance what the mom do and we will "kidnap" the calf (on a 4 wheeler, back of a truck, or inside our Tracker) to tag, weigh and paste - or go put out feed and see that mom goes up and sneak back to work the calf. It just isn't worth getting freightrained (especially if you are doing this by yourself).
Outrigger2
Well-known member
bez+ said it perfect
rkm
Well-known member
I have had some problems with the blank tags, ink fading, and sometimes its cold or raining when we are checking the cows. WE use the numbered tags and change the color every year.
We tag the claves as is convenient. Some we tag at birth others shortly after and some when we do spring workup. For the ones we tag at workup I pretty well know which calf is which but we just arbitrarily put a tag and then watch which cow they nurse to verify what calf goes with which cow. The calves are tagged with prenumbered medium sized orange tags in the order of their birth. Bulls get the tag in the right ear heifers in the left. When the calves go to the salebarn/feedlot/backgrounder they get a RFID tag that replaces the orange tag. We reuse the orange tag year after year. Heifers that are going to stay get their unique tag ID when they're weaned and worked. Yellow tag full sized, left ear with whatever number is apporpriate. Last year we retained S3 & S13, this year it looks like T6, 9, 7, 17, 18, 20 & 21 are for sure leaving. T13 may stay and T4, 8 & 16 are most likely staying. That all depends on who they look and behave at weaning.
We number them by birth order too and also do the bulls in right and heifers in the left - it sure makes them easier to sort. We keep the same color, but incorporate the year into the number so we can easily remember the cow's age (601 was the first calf born in 2006) (the lettering system for the yr designation works well too; we just didn't want to have to buy all of the letter tattoos and have to remember what year the letter stood for). If I remember right, I think they also skip a couple of letters in the rotation.
Dave
Well-known member
I tag the calves as soon as I can. Most of the times this is within 12 hours. There are a few cows that take enough of an exception to this procedure that their calves get tagged at spring workup. I give the calf the same number as the cow. It can take a few more minutes sorting through the tags looking for the right number but it makes it a lot easier to pair them up later.
ArrowHBrand
Well-known member
We tag a few days after birth. If you plan on tattooing you need to be careful where you put the tag also. Any bulls get banded when they are tagged and all of our calves get Scour Guard ASAP after birth. We tag bull calves in the right ear and heifer calves in the left so when we are out checking them, one quick glance will tell us the sex. We also use a color code system: white, yellow, and green for the different breeds we have. Cows have our brand and number and the calves right now have sequential numbers, we ran out of numbered tags this spring so next year I would like to get the tags you write on. We use Y-Flex tags because they are easy to get around here in the local ag stores.
