Belties R Us
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We currently own a small herd and are going to be renting pasture where the owner has cattle. What information do you put on your ear tags? What has worked well for you etc? Thanks.
What is your ear tagging method?
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KSUwildcat2009
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In a perfect world I like birthdate, individual's ID, dam ID and sire ID, especially if you are going to be showing the calves to a lot of people. I know that's a lot to put on a tag but it does make it so all the information is right where you can see it. You also wouldn't have to retag until you can't read it because everything you need is on there.
firesweepranch
Well-known member
We use Ritchie tags, so they never fade. We do everything but the dam ID, since I know all our cattle by looking at them (the tags were for my husband, who does AM AI and can not tell them apart... after all most of them are all BLACKKSUwildcat2009 said:
). At the top of the tag is birth year and sire, then at the bottom is the animal ID (for us, they all have names and not numbers). On the back bottom side of the tag (that falls below the ear) we have our ranch prefix (FSSR), that way if any of them ever get loose the neighbors know who they belong to.Attachments
LN
Well-known member
I just put the animal's ID on tags. Ex: W107
The letter represents the year they were born in accordance with the breed association and the number is what they were assigned for that year. I like to keep it simple. If you have a few cows that's all you may need on there if you have a good record keeping system and can remember off the top of your head.
The letter represents the year they were born in accordance with the breed association and the number is what they were assigned for that year. I like to keep it simple. If you have a few cows that's all you may need on there if you have a good record keeping system and can remember off the top of your head.
farmboy
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sire and birthdate. only 20 cows though so its not a big deal around here
I use 3-digit numbers. First digit is the year born (890 is a 2008 cow). Somewhat random after the first digit -- with a small herd, I give the registered Angus cows a number ending in 0 or 5 and the kid's cows get a "01" behind the year so they are easy to tell. Calves get calf sized tags with our brand written on above the number and calf gets the same number as the cow. If calf is retained for breeding stock, they get a cow-sized tag and new number after weaning with first digit being year born. Once a cow gets 10 years old, we look critically at shipping them unless they are really good ones. The year number overlap isn't much of an issue because the old ones are easy to tell from the young ones. Past 12 years old, they are more likely to die in the pasture, so that is about the max age we keep them.
knighthawk
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We like to put the Sire ID at the top of the tag. Written largest and in the middle of the tag is the calf ID. The way we do it is real simple. It is 4 digits long. The first number is the month they were born in. The next 2 numbers represent the number they were born that year. (if you run more than 99 cows, you could do the number they were born that month). The last number represents the year they were born. For example, tag '3568' would be the 56th calf born and would be born in March 2008. We also put the Dam's ID on the bottom. This system has worked out really well when we have people out looking at calves. Once they catch on to the way we tag, they can pretty well find out anything they need to know. We also like to tag our purebred angus with red tags and our club calves with yellow tags. To make it easier to tell from a distance, we also tag our heifers in the right ear and our bull/steer calves in the left ear.
I really like the idea of putting the herd prefix on the back. I will have to start doing that.
I really like the idea of putting the herd prefix on the back. I will have to start doing that.
Till-Hill
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Bull calves get yellow in right ear with their mother's number, heifers get pink in left ear with mothers number. Then replacements get new numbers.
Chap
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we color code tags for heifers and bulls. sire ID in neck of tag and cows number on big part. we have been using 2 digit numbers for foundation cows and adding birth year in the front for retained daughters. example origanl cow 25. this years daughter has yellow tag with sire name up top and 25 below. when we enter the calf in the records she is identified as 225. if she enters the herd as a bred, her permanent ID is then 225. system works ok for now, but i can see the longer we do this the more complicated it will become. I would recommend using the letter designation instead of number. going with Z this year instead of the 2. the problem occurs when you get 4 generations deep and 225 calves with a heifer (4225) then her heifer calves with 64225 etc. pretty soon you get too many numbers on your tag.
OLD WORLD SHORTIE
Well-known member
Dont like to tag show calves until they are done with their show career. Cant stand seeing a show calf with a huge freaking hole in their ear. Once they got to pasture we do a number 'X117" on the front, and on the back we have contact info just in-case the animal is found where it shouldn't be. Thinking about getting tags with the ranch logo and contact info printed on, all will have to do is fill in the animal id number. Oh and only use good tagging equipment, spend the money for the good tagging gun. It makes all the difference.
Of course with a smaller size herd this can be done. Not so much for the big time operations.
Of course with a smaller size herd this can be done. Not so much for the big time operations.
KSUwildcat2009
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Really interesting to hear everyone's numbering systems!
firesweepranch
Well-known member
knighthawk said:
I added pictures to my post (Ritchie wanted pictures to see how different people used their tags so I took those and sent them in), it is a fantastic way to know who's cows they are!
vanridge
Well-known member
we have about 40 commercial cows. We write the cow # on the top and then give the calf a # with the year letter behind it. (e.g 145z) If its a heifer it gets its own personal #, if its a steer it gets the same # as its dam. So if a cow is 123X and she has a bull calf then we # the bull calf 123Z. If she has a bull calf again next year it will be 123A etc. We only use 2 herd bulls and do no AIing so we know who is bred to what.
RSL Cattle Co.
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We use the engraveable tags.Sire on top in initials (ex. Trademark- TM) then below that is the dams tag number, below that is the calf's number and year letter. On the back of the tag the birth date is shown and the owner of the calf. We also use different colored tags depending on type of sex the calf is (Yellow tags for steers and bulls and white tags for heifers).
jbzdad
Well-known member
pink and blue tags pink for heifers obviously ... if they are going to get bred they get a tag that matches their herd number 2Y etc... ritchey engraves my last name and the number..
jbzdad
Well-known member
ear tag, weight and nasal vaccine and out to pasture... killed vaccine and blackleg before hauling to grass... killed vaccine followed by live vaccine after weaning.. then bangs vaccine after everything sorts out.. also weight then... about 8 months
This year we started using pink for heifers and blue for bulls. It makes it a little easier from a distance to sort who is who. For the past several years we have the calf ID a sequential numbering from year to year in large print in the middle of the tag. Last one born in 2011 was 46, first one born in 2012 was 47. Put the sire name abbreiviated at the top, dam number upper left, year letter lower right corner. We end up with unique animal number, sire, dam and year born.
