# Calf Tagging



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Some humor from PFG.

Regards, Mike

http://www.progressiveforage.com/news/industry-news/calf-tagging-motivation-for-a-head-slinging-cow


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## Chessiedog (Jul 24, 2009)

Know the feeling . I USE TO ear tag when they hit the ground . Was checking on a new calf one day , knowing the cow was not very friendly I kept my distance . Just wanted to be sure it had been nursing . I was about 50 foot from the cow her calf was behind her . She kept creeping towards me . Next thing I know I'm laying on the hillside head pointing down hill , cows head is pushing me in the chest and I'm trying to kick her in the head . After she's gets off me then her stupid calf comes running over the top of me !

That was the day I decide eartags can wait till calves go through the chute !


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Yep, during calving time the wife is under strict orders to NEVER go into the winter pasture by herself.

Had one little cow once that I thought was pretty docile, had her calf in the woods and I didn't get within 50 foot of her and she decides to go after me. Luckily cows aren't the brightest thing on four legs (but they are smarter than a Chicago democrat). She was closing in quick then I slipped between two trees, of course since her head fit the rest should right? That kept her busy enough trying to wedge herself between those two trees to give me ample time to get out of there.

Now I check on new calves from the safety of the Ranger.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

LOL I spent a few hrs. in a bale ring 1 cold damp night while a PO MaMa cow circled the ring .. Had the heeler in there with me... she started the whole uproar.. Also that's where a extended cab pickup comes in handy.. my wife and I have done the snatch & slam.... That cowgirl is exactly right.. We call it a Grab & go .. Ya got to use a Chevy the doors are easy to open and the seat allow for more working room, plus they are dependable and built "LIKE A ROCK " We use a 01 Chevy ext-cab 4x4 ,2500 with a 6.0& auto. and a bale bed... dump some grain on the bed for bait. I could never image trying that while drive'n That would take some Kohona's .. great article though...


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Reminds me of a cow I used to know nicknamed "kisser". Got her name when my boss was on his knees holding her calf to be tagged and castrated. The cow was huffing and puffing, shaking her head and pawing a little but just all a show, bark but no bite. My boss turned his head, leaned toward the cow and said "what's a matter girl, you want a kiss". The cow threw her head, caught him right in the face and laid him out flat. She was always known as kisser since then, and was shown a lot more respect at tagging time.


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## Supa Dexta (May 28, 2014)

Cow got me against a gate the other day, and tried to squeeze the playdough out of me. Spent the rest of the day on the couch, but could have been worse.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

Supa Dexta said:


> Cow got me against a gate the other day, and tried to squeeze the playdough out of me. Spent the rest of the day on the couch, but could have been worse.


That Sucks lucky no broken ribs.. I found a bad apple yesterday luckily she was just a border line nut job think this will be her last calf on this farm.


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

We disposition score all cows at calving time, 1 star being "man killers" and 5 star being lick the wax out of your ear while tagging her calf type. All 1 star scores are sold to slaughter at weaning time, and 2 stars are sold at the next convenient time. We don't save any replacement heifers out of 1 or 2 star score cows. Some have told me that those gentle cows won't protect their calf from predators. Don't take a dog along when tagging calves at our place, the dog will most likely get run out of the pasture!! In 21 years we have only lost 2 calves to coyotes, both from 1st calf heifers, during the same odd May snow storm when the newborns went under the fence into a tree grove. Coyotes regularly patrol our pastures for afterbirth, and generally cause no problems.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I do the same as prairie. Any man killer cows are sold. When picking replacements I always tell Dad that crazy cows have crazy daughters just like crazy women have crazy daughters. Our tame cows will run the hell out of a dog or coyote. Like prairie, the only two calves I've had lost to coyotes were ones that slipped under a fence to get in trees during a storm.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

prairie and IHCman are both right a good cow doesn't have to be a crazy cow to keep coyotes away.. IHC is right about the Mother daughter crazies I do score them also but the real nut jobs get red tags in there ears they all have double 0 numbers in their tags.. I have a warning sign in the office at the calving barn say's " Warning any RED TAG cow will eat you. If you are color blind or can not read .. your on your on and may GOD be with you.. the red taggers usually find themselves on 2 sesame seed buns with lettuce and tomatoes


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

snowball said:


> "...but the real nut jobs get red tags in there ears they all have double 0 numbers in their tags...


We don't bother re-tagging the cows, although I have thought about it, as they don't last long around here after they deserve a red tag.

We do red tag all calves out of cows marked for disposal, whether that is due to disposition score, udder/tit score, or otherwise. No mistakes when we choose replacement heifers that way. Any red tag heifer calf, no matter what they look and act like is a cull, no questions asked.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

prairie said:


> We don't bother re-tagging the cows, although I have thought about it, as they don't last long around here after they deserve a red tag.
> 
> We do red tag all calves out of cows marked for disposal, whether that is due to disposition score, udder/tit score, or otherwise. No mistakes when we choose replacement heifers that way. Any red tag heifer calf, no matter what they look and act like is a cull, no questions asked.


That's a dam good idea prairie.. on the red tag calves.. I sometimes give the red tagger a 2nd chance They get the red tag when they get worked before breeding season so they are on the hot sheet all summer long that way if some is out there they should know which ones are man eaters if they are respectable acting they are given a 2nd shot at life on the farm or as we call it "A Stay of execution "


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

snowball said:


> ....They get the red tag when they get worked before breeding season....


We seldom run a cow through the chute, so giving the cow a red tag would require us to sort them off and re-tag them, which ain't likely to happen here. Our mature cows don't get any shots, poured, preg-check or anything else except for problems such as foot rot, pinkeye, calving problems etc. So most of our mature cows never see a chute.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

Wow ares are through the chute twice a year getting anything the vet recommends! That said I had a bull I thought a lot of and I kept a lot of his daughters. They are okay to be around until they drop a calf Then most are just plain dangerous. It will take a while to breed that back out of them I am afraid. Mel


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

Same here 2x a yr but we AI 90% of our cows here the 10 % are either 1st calf heifers or maybe some of the 2nd chance red taggers but they still go though the chute a least 2x a yr...and ya they are chute sour.. but that's just the way it is here.. do those daughters claim down a week or 2 after they calve or not ?


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

The question I always ask, is am I paid for the job I do? When it comes to running cows through the chute for preg-checking, shots, pouring, etc, it is an easy NO. We almost always end up with around 95% bred in 60 days, and throw a bull in for fall calvers. 65-80% calve in 30 days depending on the year. At the end of our spring/early summer calving season, May 1- July 1, we preg-check anything that hasn't calved. Seldom are these 2-7% not bred for fall calving. They are sold as bred in late July/early August, or calved and sold as pairs later, depending on the available forage and market conditions.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

nothing wrong with you program prairie.. I'am sure I'am not running as many cows as you either so I can take the time .. I only have 150 cows AI in 5 groups for 30 ..7 days apart in each group


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

We do not tag the calves until the first round of shots. Like others, we run everything through the chute twice a year. We paste worm, replace missing ear tags and check the teeth on cows not looking up to snuff.


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

snowball said:


> ... I only have 150 cows AI in 5 groups for 30 ..7 days apart in each group


We will calve about 170 this spring, about 65% in the first 21 days, 90% + in 45 days, and all breds in 65 days. The about 5% that don't calve in the spring are fall calvers. We need to cut aour breeding season back down. Until the 2012 drought, when we sold 1/3 of our herd, we were down to about 50 days breeding and aiming for 45 days. Now that we are up to near decent numbers I will start cutting the days of the breeding season, down to about 60 days this year, and plan to knock 3-5 days off every year until we are down to 45 days. We used to breed heifers for 23 days, but went to 65 days when we needed to build numbers, At 23 days i would have 50-65% bred, at 45 days 80-90% bred, and at 65 days 99-100% bred. 65 days was not a hard enough test, and 45 days not tough enough either. The heifers bred for 23 days, seldom ever failed to rebreed for 2cd calf. 45 day and longer breeding season resulted in many more being open for 2cd calf, about 80- 85% bred.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

That's a good idea about tagging those calves from crazy cows with red tags. I may have to start doing that. I also don't keep heifers from cows whose udders don't meet my standards, might have to do that on them as well.

Those are some pretty darn good calving percentages on your cows prairie. usually 80 percent of our cows calve in the first 30 days. We're still breeding both the cows and heifers at 60 days but I've wanted to for a few years get the heifers on a 30 day breeding and maybe shorter. Also would like to slowly get the cows to 45 days.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Dairy cows aren't as bad but you get the occasional one that will protect her calf when you come for it. Had a heifer take out my dad and sister in the pasture. I made it to the fence and my sister wouldn't run to the fence. Dad finally got a stick to beat it back and you never sell a good animal. Dad kept it and it made it into the milking heard. You always had to keep an eye on her as she never out grew attacking people. Before we put them out on pasture in the morning we would keep them in the barn yard to watch for heats and you made sure you got right on top of the barn cleaner as she would come for you if you stayed on the ground. I don't remember how many lactations we kept her, my sister and I were probably still in single digits to early teens when this happened.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

IHCman said:


> That's a good idea about tagging those calves from crazy cows with red tags. I may have to start doing that. I also don't keep heifers from cows whose udders don't meet my standards, might have to do that on them as well.
> 
> Those are some pretty darn good calving percentages on your cows prairie. usually 80 percent of our cows calve in the first 30 days. We're still breeding both the cows and heifers at 60 days but I've wanted to for a few years get the heifers on a 30 day breeding and maybe shorter. Also would like to slowly get the cows to 45 days.


Ya prairie you got some good numbers I don't mind the 70 day calving I have going just case I can use the time for calving and it takes the pressure off me somewhat. it's just me and the wife here now some we can control a bad day or 2 here and there over the 70 days .my prime cows calve 1st then the older proven cows and heifers start in the middle, the good thing about the 012 drought.. not a red tag cow on the farm since then..


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