16/09/2021
We've welcomed a few late calves recently to Border Park, so thought it was worth sharing how we tag (and mark) them.
As with all our livestock management practices, we use a low-stress approach. It's better for the animals, and for us.
We aim to tag calves a day or so after they're born, and before they get too sprightly. Ideally it's done while they're sleepy and lying down contentedly after a feed.
Our cows have beautifully quiet and gentle temperaments, so stand close by while we're tagging, but aren't too concerned with us being there.
They each have 2 tags - one is a required ID (for scanning when they're older), and the other is a numbered tag so we can identify them.
Heifers are tagged in the left ears, and bulls in the right.
Because we don't breed our own bulls (we buy them from ), we ring all bull calves when tagging (from then on, they're known as steers).
As you can see, this cow #376, wasn't worried about her calf because she knew Josh and trusted him.
I can't say for sure, but I feel cattle are like elephants - they have long memories!
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this ... do you agree?
