Be careful, I always try and process the calves while Mom has her head stuck in the hay feeder, or something else. Bulls can be a little tuffer,because I use the elastics on them. I know you only have to count to 2,but it has to be done right. One great idea I did see,was a fella who welded a 3pt hitch to his round bale feeder. When he had a cow who was overly protective, he hitched up the feeder ,and backed it over the calf,and that way he could process the calf without Mama harassing him.
We have a maternity barn where most of our cows give birth at, but some times we'll get some that we missed in our close-up pens. We usually carry a stick/broom to ward off any mad mothers (they're all first time mothers, lactation=0 holstein heifers mostly, and they can be mean) and we use a wheel barrow to carry them back. Once in the barn we have several gates to seperate the mothers/calfs while we tag. We use RFID buttons and a male/female tag in one ear going up in order.
Had a few close calls over the years but only once have i had a cow trample me. She was an otherwise quiet charolais, turned my back and she came straight over the top of me. Managed to grab my stick and beat her off. Ended up with a bruised testicle and a black eye. I just wish the eurocrats who have these ideas about tagging could be given some field experience, maybe then they could see how dangerous it is.
My son Matthew was tagging a calf and the mother hit him so hard he was knocked out and when he woke up his pants had split down the seams. He couldn't see clearly and had to get a friend to drive him home. He had been so concentrated on the calf, that he didn't notice the mother charging him.
Tag...weigh calf...cut cord to one inch, dip in iodine....give Calf Guard orally....sometimes Fast Track... calves are good to go till weaning. calf guard is a scours vaccine. Try doing all that with stupid cows....you will get hurt...take any stupid cows to the sale barn...you may lose some good ones but you will get rid of all the bad ones for sure...then you can do all you need and the cow will sniff you ear or hat and you will not even have to think about getting hurt.
My brother almost met his end tagging a calf last year. Calf slipped out of his hands and bawled, and mother--an iffy cow that he had almost gotten rid of the year before for being aggressive--butted him into the ground, then tripped and FELL on top of him. She got back up and went at him again. My other brother managed to divert cow. Without him around, I think my brother would have been toast--he was quite far from the house at the time. He was laid up for awhile.
Two years ago, my son Matt was tagging calves alone. He wasn't paying attention, and the mother butted him in the head and knocked him unconscious. When he came to his new blue jeans where split along the seams -- we don't know why but we think because of the force of the blow. He could not see well (he describes his vision as like looking at a negative) and had to get a friend to drive him home. He doesn't go out alone now and regularly visits a chiropractor to re align his spine.
thats the job i get when im at my grandparent and me have a kawasaki mule and when the cows see that thing i cant get away from them so it is harder to do so that y we got a blue heeler and i got a broom handle to defend myself
we take the calves off the cows after a day..the cows are milk. the calves are put in sheds and fed with milk. it doesnt matter what tag number the calf has. this way we dont have 2 re-tag at all
The calf tags are repeated because a mother has a calf nearly every year. The calf tags are smaller than cow tags and a different color. When female calves are about a year old, we re-tag the ones that we want to keep for breeding cows. If the calf was born in 2006 and was the 48th calf, the new "cow" tag would be 6048.
Be careful, I always try and process the calves while Mom has her head stuck in the hay feeder, or something else. Bulls can be a little tuffer,because I use the elastics on them. I know you only have to count to 2,but it has to be done right. One great idea I did see,was a fella who welded a 3pt hitch to his round bale feeder. When he had a cow who was overly protective, he hitched up the feeder ,and backed it over the calf,and that way he could process the calf without Mama harassing him.
Redlinesixtynine 8 months ago
better drop that kid before its too late son mama's coming lol
Moroccan4lifeone 1 year ago
Very nice video.
You better run from the Co
and That cow talking smack SMACK IT IN DA fACE!
hellacoolyea 1 year ago
That is dangerous work. How much do those calves weigh?
Zeamus634 2 years ago
We have a maternity barn where most of our cows give birth at, but some times we'll get some that we missed in our close-up pens. We usually carry a stick/broom to ward off any mad mothers (they're all first time mothers, lactation=0 holstein heifers mostly, and they can be mean) and we use a wheel barrow to carry them back. Once in the barn we have several gates to seperate the mothers/calfs while we tag. We use RFID buttons and a male/female tag in one ear going up in order.
loneless 2 years ago
You tag your calves exactly the same way i do!
Had a few close calls over the years but only once have i had a cow trample me. She was an otherwise quiet charolais, turned my back and she came straight over the top of me. Managed to grab my stick and beat her off. Ended up with a bruised testicle and a black eye. I just wish the eurocrats who have these ideas about tagging could be given some field experience, maybe then they could see how dangerous it is.
jimmyteg 2 years ago
My son Matthew was tagging a calf and the mother hit him so hard he was knocked out and when he woke up his pants had split down the seams. He couldn't see clearly and had to get a friend to drive him home. He had been so concentrated on the calf, that he didn't notice the mother charging him.
Hollinfarms 2 years ago
Tag...weigh calf...cut cord to one inch, dip in iodine....give Calf Guard orally....sometimes Fast Track... calves are good to go till weaning. calf guard is a scours vaccine. Try doing all that with stupid cows....you will get hurt...take any stupid cows to the sale barn...you may lose some good ones but you will get rid of all the bad ones for sure...then you can do all you need and the cow will sniff you ear or hat and you will not even have to think about getting hurt.
hogdude1234 3 years ago
My brother almost met his end tagging a calf last year. Calf slipped out of his hands and bawled, and mother--an iffy cow that he had almost gotten rid of the year before for being aggressive--butted him into the ground, then tripped and FELL on top of him. She got back up and went at him again. My other brother managed to divert cow. Without him around, I think my brother would have been toast--he was quite far from the house at the time. He was laid up for awhile.
hakonhe 3 years ago
Two years ago, my son Matt was tagging calves alone. He wasn't paying attention, and the mother butted him in the head and knocked him unconscious. When he came to his new blue jeans where split along the seams -- we don't know why but we think because of the force of the blow. He could not see well (he describes his vision as like looking at a negative) and had to get a friend to drive him home. He doesn't go out alone now and regularly visits a chiropractor to re align his spine.
folkstreamer 3 years ago
Much appreciated, thanks for sharing.
visualvirtue 3 years ago
I am going to guess you aren't into EPDs since you didn't check birth weight. No offense, but it doesn't look like Raul has been doing this too long.
henrydeanjellybean 4 years ago
No so easy, itsn't it.
MyLuckyCars 4 years ago
That was a great vid! Thanks... :o)
kastnmagic 4 years ago
thats the job i get when im at my grandparent and me have a kawasaki mule and when the cows see that thing i cant get away from them so it is harder to do so that y we got a blue heeler and i got a broom handle to defend myself
Dymo740 4 years ago
we take the calves off the cows after a day..the cows are milk. the calves are put in sheds and fed with milk. it doesnt matter what tag number the calf has. this way we dont have 2 re-tag at all
Fraaank41 4 years ago
We tag in a similar way...the tag is the same as the mothers to match them up but when the calves are sold we retag them with a radio freqency tag!
oilerman9406 5 years ago
The calf tags are repeated because a mother has a calf nearly every year. The calf tags are smaller than cow tags and a different color. When female calves are about a year old, we re-tag the ones that we want to keep for breeding cows. If the calf was born in 2006 and was the 48th calf, the new "cow" tag would be 6048.
Hollinfarms 5 years ago
Do you ever use an ID again? Or is it one number one time use?
AND
Do different studs use different numbers?
Treemeadow 5 years ago
I recieved this email comment from a friend at Slow Foods DC
"In your intro you miss an opportunity to make a very valuable point
you say that you tag calfs according to the number of its mother
however you don't make the point that that link is the first
step in traceability to ensure the quality of the meat we then get. i 've learned that what seems basic or obvious to you (the farmer/rancher)
is not to non-agrarian folk
connecting the dots is helpful.
Hollinfarms 5 years ago