Ideas for cattle tag numbering system

[RLN Cattle]

Im looking for ideas for a numbering system for a small cattle herd.  Right now i've got a disaster, with sale lot numbers still in, different than freeze brands, retained heifer with identical numbers as their mommas... I've got cows that are pushing 8 years of age and want to give each a unique as well as a system for future calves each year. Any ideas? Cool stuff anyones see? Things you would try if you could do it all over again?  What kind of stuff do you all like to put on a tag as well? Sire, dam, anything on the back?  Thanks a ton for your help everyone.

 

[frostback]

Here what I do. I give each calf a number, I start the number with what year the calf was born. All calves this year are 2s. Then I start at one and go on from there. The first calf was 201 then 202 etc. I also put the sire info on top, use a 1,2, or 3 letter abbreviation. Then I put  the number of the cow under the calf number. You can use this for cows brought in sometimes too, unless there is already a cow with that number. I usually just add the year the cow was born to the lot number. After 10 years you will have some duplicates but you usually know the older ones by then.
Heres a example,,

 

[kalend]

use the lettering system. 2012 is "Z" and 2013 is "A". The first born calf's number is 1Z and the second born is 2Z and so on. We write the sire on the back, bottom of the tag. works for us!

 

[Richland Farms]

We use grindable tags, they're easy to read in the field and we always put a tag in each ear in case one falls out. As far as numbering we use the year the calf was born as the number like this year would be 2 and then the next digits are the same as the cows so if the mother was 614 the calf would be 214. We only use this system for heifers we keep back. When the calves are born they get a tag with the exact same number as the cow. Just makes it easy to keep track of who's who.

 

[Heavy Weight]

We always just use the first number as the year that heifer came into production, not the year she was born. Along with that all we do is put a sire abbreviation on the back, and if she's a retained heifer we add her dam's number. Then for calves we match their mom's number and put the month they were born just above the number, and throw the sire abbrevitation on the back. Bulls get white tags, heifers get purple. Then if we end up retaining any heifers to go back in the herd we simply renumber them for that year (201, 202, etc) with their dam's number on the back and the sire abbreviation. If we buy mature cows we just mouth em and guess.

 

[leanbeef]

We have registered cattle, and I'm adamant about everybody's tag matching the tattoo. That just makes things so much easier when you're matching up papers or doing your record keeping. We use the year letter designation because it's required by our breed association for permanent ID, and I like it because it gives you 22 more characters (not using I, O, Q or V). Years ago, my dad started assigning new numbers to daughters of cows in the herd, but his system was never consistent & I don't like losing track of cow families. Nowadays, most of the calves will have two letters...their own year letter, then the cow famy number, then the dam's year letter. That tells us what year the animal was born, who the mother is, & how old she was when she had that calf. So a calf born this year might be Z81U...Z for 2012, 81 is the cow family, and the dam's year letter is U. We also have a Z81S, so we know those calve are born the same year and out of maternal sisters. The trick to this system is incorporating the year letter designations and using them as part of the ID. We can't just call one "#9" without remembering the letters, but you get used to that. I like it a lot better than random numbers, and I don't think it's any more complicated than systems with more than one number to try to keep up with all that information.

I also have some Angus cattle, and the heifers I kept there a couple years ago got 10 numbers that related to their dam's numbers. Angus doesn't require the year letter, so this heifers are 1040, 1097 & 1087, and I can remember they were born in 2010. I just had to make the numbers correspond with the dam numbers though...it isn't a consistent system for doing that. Their mothers are 540, 597 & 8705. I could explain the reasoning there, but there really isn't any point. You just have to do what works.

I don't mind the system of Z101, Z102, Z103, etc. But you have to have good records to keep up with what calves go with what cows. I find it easier to keep up with things and to know the cattle when they keep their "family number"... Kinda like having a last name.

 

[Woody]

Richland, if 614 is the dam of 214 and they both have heifers this year and you keep them how do you number them?

 

[ruhtram]

Here what I do. I give each calf a number, I start the number with what year the calf was born. All calves this year are 2s. Then I start at one and go on from there. The first calf was 201 then 202 etc. I also put the sire info on top, use a 1,2, or 3 letter abbreviation. Then I put  the number of the cow under the calf number. You can use this for cows brought in sometimes too, unless there is already a cow with that number. I usually just add the year the cow was born to the lot number. After 10 years you will have some duplicates but you usually know the older ones by then.
Heres a example,,

This seems like a real good way!

 

[DRB]

I like to use the Year letter code (so 1Z etc, her tatoo will be MIDA 1Z) - Sire ABV above and Dam/cow family below on management tag.  Glad this thread was started, I like the idea of incorporating dam's numbers... not sure how I would do that now.  Guess it depends on whether cow family info is more important than knowing quickly oldest to youngest calf when comparing the current calf crop.  I like the year letters over using '2' since there will be overlap.  I know there are more complicated systems out there, and would like to hear about them!

Thanks

 

[djbsimmy]

We tag each calf the same number as their dam.  Each year we use differant color tags so its easy to tell cow family by number and age by tag color.  We have commercial and purebred cattle, this keeps things pretty simple.

 

[afhm]

Keep it simple, start at 1 with the oldest and just keep going up from there.

 

[Richland Farms]

Woody, that is a problem you run into and in that case you would just have to give them new numbers. In years where we keep a lot of heifers back we will generally just start with the year they were born and give them all new numbers but it makes it harder to keep track of cow families.

 

[NHR]

Our ear tags match the tattoo number. For example this year we started with 01Z for Tattoo's and the ear tags will have the same number. We keep records on our computer so we can cross reference any identification number to determine everything about the animal.

 

[Woody]

Richland, I was curious because a friend of mine does the same as you. He runs into the same problem from time to time. I run only 25 cows so keeping track of cow families is pretty simple. I use the same method as a lot of people,this year stared with 201 then 202.....  I also invested in CattleMax. I LOVE that program!  I would recommend it to everyone.  It simplifies a lot of things. 

 

[pweaver]

I had this concern a few years ago.  I needed to get a logical system.  So that year I went back and numbered each mature by age, i.e. the oldest com was #1, second oldest #2, etc. I had maybe 12 cows.  The next calf born was #13, didn't matter if it was a bull or heifer.  In the lower left corner of the tag I put the year letter.  In the upper right, the cows individual number.  Across the top is an abbreviiated name of the sire.  This year we started using red tags for heifers and blue for bulls (steers).  We found it was easier to determine who was who from a distance if we were looking at a red tag, we knew it was one of the heifers and use process of elimination from there.  Not a big deal but it didn't cost any more and helps sort them out.

So getting back to the numbering.  We will never have two with the same number.  This year we started with #47 (47z, out of #5, Monopoly) and ended with #54 (54z, out of #43 (we bought this cow and kept her sale number since we were already past #43), sire Get It Done).  Next year the first calf will be #55 with an "A", dam number, and sire name.    Our consecutive numbering also tells us at a glance which calf is the oldest this year and who is the youngest and how they are maturing.  The tag has the individual's number, year born, dam and sire.  Not sure why you would want the year to be when she entered production.  Heifers born this year (Z) should be calvibg in two years.  Using "B" then would be confusing. 

 

[Aussie]

Picture of my tag system. The small triangle tag is the electronic tag that all cattle in Australia have to carry for lifetime traceability. This tag is read electronically when ever cattle are sold and the number transferred to the new property or matched to the body when slaughtered. This goes in the off side ear. The large management tag has property number on the top, year letter and number (matches tattoo) and stud name on the bottom. The tag on the back of management tag has sire and dam info