Tagging suckler calves.

CloughCasey1

Lads and ladies. At what age do ye (honestly) register calves for example do ye give it a week after birth a month, three months!!!. Ive weanlings here that are April on cards and are bigger than suckler born calves I would have bought in at a week or two old in Jan!

bogman_bass

I have no time for that messing. I tag them as they come out of the cow before they get to strong and mobile

Milked out

bogman_bass wrote: »

I have no time for that messing. I tag them as they come out of the cow before they get to strong and mobile

Stop had a dairy cow here with an injured claw calved to Angus bull said I'd leave that calf and another with her, anyway 10 days went buy and out I went to tag the calf by god even at that stage I had some job to catch the fecker, wouldn't even stay close to cow to come into the yard.

whelan2

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

Lads and ladies. At what age do ye (honestly) tag yer calves. Ive weanlings here that are April on cards and are bigger than suckler born calves I would have bought in at a week or two old in Jan!

when you tag them and the date of birth that is registered seem to be totally different on some farms iykwim

Kovu

About a week to ten days for the BVD tag, other one might wait another couple of weeks till they're dehorned.

Bellview

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

Lads and ladies. At what age do ye (honestly) register calves for example do ye give it a week after birth a month, three months!!!. Ive weanlings here that are April on cards and are bigger than suckler born calves I would have bought in at a week or two old in Jan!

There are some ped cattle that are on the show circuit whose date on the card and the actual date of birth would be questioned... There is a cow and calf pair that were winning a lot of shows earlier this year...the calf is December 2014...the cow was not at tullamore because she is near calving, either great fertility or it questions the dob of the calf this year and the calf we will see next year!!

KatyMac

Do them as quick as possible. If calved outside it is usually 3/4 days before the cow will bring them into the shed. Last one born this year wouldn't follow her mother at all and she was nearly 2 weeks old, but I still put the dob as the day the calf hit the ground not when the tag was put on.
If calved inside I put cow out and do the calf within hours of arrival.

jimini0

We mostly spring calvers here. So they are born outside. Always tag them at 2 days old even if it means bvd sample sitting in the fridge for the weekend. Easier to handle. We check them for buds too and if any sign of a bud they get the costic. A good few years ago they would not be tagged till a week or two old. Be Jesus that used to be a struggle.

Bullocks

I would tag them before they hit the ground out of the cow if I had the tagger to hand ! But usually the day after and no later , I would register them as soon as I have agfood open in the evening , could be that evening or a week later but I would stick to the date they were born on alright . I ain't breeding show calves so couldn't care about leaving them a month to grow before registering them .
I totally agree with another poster who said some show calves ages could be questioned , some gombeen judging them as calves when they are near as big as the cow and eating more nuts than her shouldn't be judging , but I suppose that kinda applies to most animals being shown these days

whelan2

Bullocks wrote: »

I would tag them before they hit the ground out of the cow if I had the tagger to hand ! But usually the day after and no later , I would register them as soon as I have agfood open in the evening , could be that evening or a week later but I would stick to the date they were born on alright . I ain't breeding show calves so couldn't care about leaving them a month to grow before registering them .
I totally agree with another poster who said some show calves ages could be questioned , some gombeen judging them as calves when they are near as big as the cow and eating more nuts than her shouldn't be judging , but I suppose that kinda applies to most animals being shown these days

we had a calf in a show years ago, calf was very young-about a month old- there was another bull in the class definitely wasnt the age the breeder was saying, next show we went to the bull was a different age same judge he remembered what the owner had said and didnt place the other lads bull anywhere we got first. Judge came back to us a few years later and said he gave him the benefit of the doubt the first show but he showed his true colours after. That was the thing about the brass tags lads could lie about the age

High bike

Spring calvers here so they calve outside so definately within 2 days.The little feckers get too lively after that

50HX

bvd tag them the day after being born...leave the other tag 2 weeks or so til dehorning
all done n sorted when they are easy to handle

before the bvd was compulsory i know a guy who had mighty suck calves for "their" age - he leaves em at least 3 months before tagging or registering them

you'd be made by them if i didn't know any better

tis no wonder the data for eurostar ratings are questionable if fellas are at this craic and saying all calves are docile and sure the dam had no bother calving

what i don't get is that if you register the d.o.b as later than the actual d.o.b and you so it every year you'll have a cow calving every 7mnths - surely some cross database will pick this up in time........then the fun will start

Zr105

For those of ye sayin about tagging as their on the way out of cow do you not end up loosing tags from the cow licking?

We'd always put them down on the date they were born, it used to be a case what ever was born for the week would get tagged on weekend when I was home, now it's whenever we get a chance or a calf pops himself out away from the cow.

Went to register a calf one Sunday morn through herdwatch, only had the cow about a month at the time, and next thing phone went off with an email, opened it up and it was a form saying that it was less than 280days since last calving and were we sure we'd got it right... Previous guy must have been loosing calves in the bushes a month or 2

Bullocks

Zr105 wrote: »

For those of ye sayin about tagging as their on the way out of cow do you not end up loosing tags from the cow licking?

We'd always put them down on the date they were born, it used to be a case what ever was born for the week would get tagged on weekend when I was home, now it's whenever we get a chance or a calf pops himself out away from the cow.

Went to register a calf one Sunday morn through herdwatch, only had the cow about a month at the time, and next thing phone went off with an email, opened it up and it was a form saying that it was less than 280days since last calving and were we sure we'd got it right... Previous guy must have been loosing calves in the bushes a month or 2

I lose too many tags but don't think that's the problem , the earliest to lose them would be about a month old and that wouldn't happen too often

Sami23

50HX wrote: »

what i don't get is that if you register the d.o.b as later than the actual d.o.b and you so it every year you'll have a cow calving every 7mnths - surely some cross database will pick this up in time........then the fun will start

Just on that, what is the minimum amount of time you would need between calvings from one year to the next to not draw attention to yourself ?

tismesoitis

tag at birth here with just bvd tag.register within a couple of days. Put 2nd tag in at dehorning time when giving intranasal and ibr vaccines

blue5000

Usually do it with the bvd tag at birth, second tag goes in after they get the 2nd blackleg shot. They are in the crush for this anyway. 1st cross angus heifers get a notch in the second tag if their mothers are 5 star maternal. Marks these ones out for breeding. Haven't had the dept complaining about it yet. Got the idea from sheep men who notch ears, not tags.

Late calves are a different ballgame altogether. Hard to catch the ba5tards if they get to day 2. Teagasc lad was raving one day about how well late calves were performing after being weighed;)

Dozer1

all tagged and registered here within 3 days of birth its just easier on man and beast.

Went to look at a few suckler cows for sale on done deal, only 1 I liked she was a nice light LM/HE heifer with at least a April/May born calf at foot, owner told me he'd tag and register the calf before he sold them...FFS the calf was ready to be weaned, left them anyway.

I have one organic LM heifer I bought privately last year, she's down as July 14....she's taller than a flipping Holstein cow now

Farrell

tismesoitis wrote: »

tag at birth here with just bvd tag.register within a couple of days. Put 2nd tag in at dehorning time when giving intranasal and ibr vaccines

Would there be issues with the BVD test. Lost a calf in spring, vet told me not to tag till the following day as would be dry, as tagging wet could be an empty sample

whelan2

Farrell wrote: »

Would there be issues with the BVD test. Lost a calf in spring, vet told me not to tag till the following day as would be dry, as tagging wet could be an empty sample

i tag all my dairy calves as soon as they are born, no issues with bvd test

Mad4simmental

As soon or before they hit the floor. Your only chasing your tail otherwise. Why put yourself at risk of injury trying to catch a hardy calf and driving the calf and cow mad while your at it. No issues with bvd here doing it. Sum lads love hardship.

whelan2

calved a heifer last night, left tagging the calf until this morning, had to grab his back leg and trip him up and lie on him to tag him, think i will be tagging them as soon as they are born from now on