# Ear Tags



## haviris (May 20, 2009)

May sound stupid, but tell me about ear tags! Do you just tag and number everyone, or do you have some kind of system?

(I'm sure you are going to be tired of me very soon, sorry)


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## GrassFarmerGalloway (May 20, 2009)

haviris said:
			
		

> May sound stupid, but tell me about ear tags! Do you just tag and number everyone, or do you have some kind of system?
> 
> (I'm sure you are going to be tired of me very soon, sorry)


Of course we aren't going to get tired of you!  It's great that you're asking questions and learning.

Ear tags are usually done systematically.  It varies slightly between breeds.  In Belted Galloways, there is a letter to signify which year it is, and a number to tell when the cow was born in relation to the rest of the herd (first calf is number one, second calf number two, etc.).

And when you get through the alphabet, you start all over again.  There are certain numbers that are not used, because they look like numbers or other letters at a distance.

It's year W for Belties, if you were curious.

That's all I have to say.    Hope I could help.


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## Farmer Kitty (May 20, 2009)

We won't get tired of your qustions, ask away! 

We use the blank ear tags and put the cows names on them with the special markers that are for them. On the backside, I like to put their b-day, dam, and sire. 

Some use the numbered ones and use that as the cows identification--either her name or the number corresponding to her name in the books.

They come in a variety of colors and we usually vary them just to give more of an idea of age just at a glance.


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## Kute Kitten (May 20, 2009)

We have 4 colors to tell what age group they are in.


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## Farmer Kitty (May 20, 2009)

Kute Kitten said:
			
		

> We have 4 colors to tell what age group they are in.


HA! Four currently but, we've had others too.


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## Kute Kitten (May 20, 2009)

Only 4 colors that I've seen at home were the colors we have now.


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## CowCop (May 20, 2009)

We double tag each calf born,  one "earing" in each ear.
We purchase the pre numbered ear tags - 2 bags.

If we start 2009 with numbers 1-150, then 2010 we use numbers 150-250, in 2011 will use numbers 250-350 etc. We change the colors each year as well.

Currently we buy different colors for the heifers calves ( white this year) and the steer calves ( red this year--left over colors from last year ).







We identify the heifer calves as W1, W2, W3 etc
and steer calves as R50, R51, R53 ( we used red tags 1-50 last year on the heifer calves, so we continue to use all the left over tags on the steers that following year )






We can see the color difference from a distance and there are less mistakes when we have to round them up in the corral and separate, transport or sell them.

It is a simple system.


Depending on how many calves you have being born and if you have  registered cows or not--you can divise what ever system you want.

Just remember that ear tags fall out and you need to have spares to retag your cows in the fall or spring. 
Take photos of your calves soon after they are born so you can identify them as adults if they lose their tags.
If you have all black cows, it gets even trickier once they lose both their tags.   Tattoo them in their ears so you will always know who is who.

I am using HATS this year on black calves....






Also remember to keep your ear tagging equipment clean and properly maintained.

edited to add adorable photos...


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## wynedot55 (May 20, 2009)

ear tags are used to  ID your cows an calves.an you can start with any number or color you want.ask all the qs you want we will answer them.


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## Thewife (May 20, 2009)

Our critters are tagged with their birthdate, (year/month/day) and mothers name or number.
The bull calf I should have already tagged, will be 90408, with CC under the number!
It works well for us, as long as I write big enough so I can read it!

Mom had started out just numbering the cows, as they were bought or born, starting with no.1. We won't go into how that system got messed up, but it worked!

Cowcop is right about the black cows losing tags! I had 4 do it in one year! "I think" the one I still have, is outta my Jeff cow?

I will add, by tagging my cows, I can send anybody out to find lost cows, report cows that are breaking out, or tell me if one might need attention!  The timber co. security guys know my cows have hand written yellow tags, so I only get calls when it's my cows on their roads!


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## WildRoseBeef (May 20, 2009)

Up here its a little bit different because of the RFID CCIA has in place that is mandatory for all herd animals.  A button has to be put in all animal's ears then an ear tag with a bar-code so that the RFID reader can read and record an individual animal's breeding record, rate of gain, that sort of thing as well as numbers for the farmer's records.

As for the actual system, it varies from farm/ranch to farm/ranch.  I've heard of cattle folk putting tags on calves with the same number as their dams with the initials of the sire at the top if the calves have been result from AI. When replacement heifers are weaned and kept back they are given a different number.


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## Imissmygirls (May 20, 2009)

SO far, I have only seen the farm tags discussed ( except for Canada). There is also a national *official* dairy herd ID system that is small rectangular metal tags with numbers and letters.  I know PA numbers start with 23. 
Yes, they lose them just like the big tags. You get them replaced. 
Jerseys must be tattooed in the ear for official identification, although MReit has been talking to someone about freezebranding too.
I think the Holstein Association has some electronic tags for IDs too.


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## haviris (May 20, 2009)

Thank you, you were all very helpful!

My dad has desided he wants to tag his cows and I thought I would see how everyone here does it so I could suggest some kind of system. I think right now he just wants them to be different then the neighbors. He has a shady neighbor he doesn't trust. And now do to someone attempting to take off w/ one of my mom's cows I'm thinking it would be a good idea to tag hers to! Mostly to distingish them from neighbors.


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## MReit (May 26, 2009)

Well then tagging is a VERY good idea! I tag by making my own numbers. Since I'm starting my own new herd, I have #1-5. My bull is X1-08. 08 being the year he was born. Since I've seen the tag markers ware off, I've taken the dremmel and engraved the numbers in then colored them in with the black marker( and good thing I did since my bull decided to tackle a dirt pile and is covered in mud!) when my heifers finally calve, I plan to tag them 1a, and 2nd calve 1b...that way I always know who their mom was (by the # infront of the letter) And I've never seen a cow have 26 calves so I won't run out of letters lol...The freezebranding idea isn't a bad one, just depends what market your going for.


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## Farmer Kitty (May 26, 2009)

MReit said:
			
		

> Well then tagging is a VERY good idea! I tag by making my own numbers. Since I'm starting my own new herd, I have #1-5. My bull is X1-08. 08 being the year he was born. Since I've seen the tag markers ware off, I've taken the dremmel and engraved the numbers in then colored them in with the black marker( and good thing I did since my bull decided to tackle a dirt pile and is covered in mud!) when my heifers finally calve, I plan to tag them 1a, and 2nd calve 1b...that way I always know who their mom was (by the # infront of the letter) And I've never seen a cow have 26 calves so I won't run out of letters lol...The freezebranding idea isn't a bad one, just depends what market your going for.


Engraving is a good idea!

With the markers I write them twice. I do them once, let dry, then go over them again. With this I haven't had trouble with any waring off but, I like the additional saftey feature you have!


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