What cattle ear tag supplier do you use?

whelan2

I'm still with mullinahone, haven't had any problems with them since the new online payment system, although there's a bit of a wait for new tags. So which tag supplier are you with?

Timmaay

Cormac all the way, better tags, better tagging system (strip of tags, no annoying white plastic that they fall out of, no extra pin), alot easier and small bvd sample, finally they are cheaper.

But by the sound of it mullinahone have stepped up their game, just shows how useful competition can be for us consumers in general.

boggerman1

Switched to cormac tags a couple of yrs ago.haven't had to replace one of their tags since.wouldn't go back to mullinahone tags even if they were free

Sacrolyte

Cormac for all the reasons above plus I had them back in 5 days

patsy_mccabe

I was going to start a thread on this. Sick of finding lost tags in the shed. Was going to ask how the cormac tags were doing for ye?
Has the official replacement rate being published yet?
Nothing like a.bit of competition for things to improve.

charolais0153

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I was going to start a thread on this. Sick of finding lost tags in the shed. Was going to ask how the cormac tags were doing for ye?
Has the official replacement rate being published yet?
Nothing like a.bit of competition for things to improve.

Theu are a lot better than mullinahone were(i dont think ive replaced any of them yet) but mullinahone might have improved since.

Mooooo

Use cormac here only since last year mainly due to the faster delivery, used to be waiting weeks on mulinahone. 're losing tags I'll reserve judgement as it's adult animals that lose tags not calves as such I find

stretch film

charolais0153 wrote: »

Theu are a lot better than mullinahone were(i dont think ive replaced any of them yet) but mullinahone might have improved since.

Mullinahone had long enough to improve

Avns1s

Does the same applicator work for both cormac and mullinahone?

charolais0153

Avns1s wrote: »

Does the same applicator work for both cormac and mullinahone?

No

Castlekeeper

Delighted to have an option of leaving Mullinahone, the tag quality had declined and they refused to acknowledge it until forced to allow for "a few batches"🙄
I'd one year if stock where nearly every one lost a tag, (no change in management). I collected them all and sent off a photo looking for free replacements as their quality issues were coming to light in public. No satisfaction or dialogue on the matter at all. General replacement rate is less than satisfactory too compared to the handwritten Allflex tags.

Delighted with the Cormac tag system and two years in, none lost yet!

Centrepassage

Cormac. Brilliant service. Let sample fall down through slats last Tuesday after tagging calf. Rang up cormac and had replacement tissue tag in post next morning. If you leave a bit of credit in your account it's excellent when you want to replace lost tag.

buffalobilly

Avns1s wrote: »

Does the same applicator work for both cormac and mullinahone?

the same applicator but the pin has to be changed

Buford T. Justice XIX

I moved to Cormac last year so still haven't had a long enough time with animals having lost them.


I found the Cormac BVD tags poor though. Never had a blank sample with the Mullinahone tags but 5 or 6% with the Cormac.


If they last longer than the Mullinahone, I'll take that hit though.

L1985

@buford. I was having that problem with cormacs as well. Rang them up and gave out and tbf they sent a guy out to look at the tagger and show me the best way of doing it. At the top of the tissue sample apparently you are supposed to pull that down before tagging. It has worked since but that was at the end of calving season. Some service thou as I couldn't imagine mullinahone doing that!! Also they are v v speedy in getting tags out-makes life a lot easier.

Mad_maxx

boggerman1 wrote: »

Switched to cormac tags a couple of yrs ago.haven't had to replace one of their tags since.wouldn't go back to mullinahone tags even if they were free

Heard it said the customer service in mullinahone is worse than the department of agriculture?

Limestone Cowboy

Cormac all the way, haven't replaced a cormac tag yet. Very quick to post out tags aswell.

Buford T. Justice XIX

L1985 wrote: »

@buford. I was having that problem with cormacs as well. Rang them up and gave out and tbf they sent a guy out to look at the tagger and show me the best way of doing it. At the top of the tissue sample apparently you are supposed to pull that down before tagging. It has worked since but that was at the end of calving season. Some service thou as I couldn't imagine mullinahone doing that!! Also they are v v speedy in getting tags out-makes life a lot easier.

Thanks for that, I was kinda wondering if it was me or the tagger. It happened during the peak so there wasn't much time for getting things 100% but I'll try to train myself to do it right this year.

boggerman1

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Heard it said the customer service in mullinahone is worse than the department of agriculture?

Remember trying to ring mullinahone to order replacement tags yrs ago.an age on the phone waiting to get tru.

whelan2

boggerman1 wrote: »

Remember trying to ring mullinahone to order replacement tags yrs ago.an age on the phone waiting to get tru.

Then you'd hear someone else's full credit card details in the background

Timmaay

L1985 wrote: »

@buford. I was having that problem with cormacs as well. Rang them up and gave out and tbf they sent a guy out to look at the tagger and show me the best way of doing it. At the top of the tissue sample apparently you are supposed to pull that down before tagging. It has worked since but that was at the end of calving season. Some service thou as I couldn't imagine mullinahone doing that!! Also they are v v speedy in getting tags out-makes life a lot easier.

You need to put in the bvd tag with the sample jar 1stly, and then the tag with the cutter (pointy end) 1stly, otherwise you knock off the cutter/lid when your putting in the bvd sampler jar. They do throw in afew extra cutting tips incase you lose them (it's the most finicky part of the Cormac tags and I hope they can improve the design in time). Think I've only had one empty bvd sample with Cormac tho, had maybe 10 with mullinahone the previous year.

boggerman1

whelan2 wrote: »

Then you'd hear someone else's full credit card details in the background

Exactly

alps

Cormac for sure...the simplicity of the sample is a peach however the applicator is a little bulky and "hides" your view of the calf's ear as you are aiming between the 2 veins.

No tags lost so far...let's see if they deteriorate over time, as the plastic on the mullinahone ones is be coming brittle and snapping on our 10yr+cows

High bike

Have been using Mullinahone for a few yrs now and no issues with them

hopeso

There was a similar thread to this not so long ago... I more or less made my mind up to change to Cormac after reading it. High rate of tag loss being my reason to change. But, then I spoke to a lad who does a lot of work around cattle, who is meeting farmers all the time. His opinion was that there was little to choose between Mullinahone and Cormac, and he knew people who changed, and changed back again.......So I don't know......

blue5000

I stuck with Mullinahone despite the 'faulty' batches, I think every single bvd tag fell out from cows born approx 2011/12, they gave me a credit ok. Never had an empty bvd sample. I reckon their customer service ppl must have been trained by the dept of ag though:eek:

Injuryprone

Cormac all the way for me definitely. Whatever about the loss rate which has yet to be proven, the handiness of having the 4 tags stuck together meaning they can't get mixed up or fall on the ground is worth going with them in itself. The other big plus is the sample bottle is automatically sealed and is so much smaller it's cheaper to post (I've put 40 in the bag and it was still less bulky than the mullinahone one was with 10)

Dunedin

Cormac all the way.

whelan2

There's one vote for Datamars, out of interest what are they like?

KatyMac

I only changed to Cormac this year and have only tagged replacements. Don't know if it my imagination but the tags seem 'sharper' - the cows didn't seem to notice them going in at all. I'm looking forward to tagging the calves in the New Year after reading all the posts here!

Dunedin

KatyMac wrote: »

I only changed to Cormac this year and have only tagged replacements. Don't know if it my imagination but the tags seem 'sharper' - the cows didn't seem to notice them going in at all. I'm looking forward to tagging the calves in the New Year after reading all the posts here!

Agree fully re the sharper tags.

Coolfresian

Using Cormac for the past 2 years, quality seems great, easy taggers to use and never had empty bvd samples

whelan2

Ordered my years supply of tags from mullinahone on 15th of December, they were dispatched today. I will change for next year

KatyMac

As far as I can remember I ordered on a Sunday evening. I filled in the calving date (said my first calves weren't due til late February) so there was no rush and the tags arrived on the following Wednesday. I was mighty impressed!

6480

whelan2 wrote: »

Ordered my years supply of tags from mullinahone on 15th of December, they were dispatched today. I will change for next year

I hate tagging . **** of a time job but cormac tagging brought pleasure to a hateful job. I also found cormac staff very polite understanding on the phone . Not cocky and stuck up from mullinahone .

patsy_mccabe

So, I'm about to order the new tags. I was still working tru the old Mullinahone ones.

Well any change of opinions since? How are other lads and lassies getting on since switching to Cormac? I've 2 good taggers here for the Mullinahone tags, so that's putting me off switching to Cormac. Will I deffo need a new tagger if I switch to Cormac?

Looked at Cormac site and they have this;

Cormac Tagging Proudct Details

ABitofsense

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119145388#Comment_119145388

I'd say nearly all mullinshone tags have fallen off my cows here over last couple years & slowly replaced with Cormac!. I haven't had any issue with Cormacs at all since started using them.

tellmeabit

Moved to Cormac this year

Base price

We are still using Mullinahone tags and in fairness the quality has improved immensely over the last few years. I've noticed that the majority of dairy cross beef calves that we buy in have Mullinahone tags. I still have to buy in replacement Mullinahone tags for the odd feeder cow that looses one but it's not near a much as it was three/four years ago. Myself and a neighbour share our respective taggers - one has the insert out (for the EID tags) and the other has it in. I recently ordered a few replacement tags on a Sunday night prior to our annual herd test and they arrived in the post the following Thursday.

hopeso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119145388#Comment_119145388

I made the change over to Cormac this year. I wish I did it years ago. I bought a new Cormac tagger. It’s a great job. Takes all tags with no need for swapping pins or pulling out the black bit for the EID tags…

hopeso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119145388#Comment_119145388

Just after looking at the link to the pin that you posted... It says it will work in your current tagger for the visual tag. It won't work for the Cormac BVD sample tag.

minerleague

Is the comparison between mullinahone and others fair until the other have tags in cows for a number of years? for me hardly ever have to get replacement for dry stock ( factory 30 months ) but will get a couple for cows ( tags in up to 15 years in some cases ) I'm sure also someone could come up with indestructible tag but would cattle rip ears then? As for changing pins only have ~ 30 cows here so not a huge issue ( yellow insert slides out easily after 5 or 6 times anyway ), different for someone with hundreds of cows I suppose 😉