Bought 1st calf....question about ear tag

[tenacres]

We just bought our first calf today, a black Angus heifer, from a local farmer. The calf has an ear tag in that has the previous owners personal info on it. This may be a stupid question but I'll ask anyway.......can I take the tag out of it's ear? Will the ear just close up or do I need to put a new tag in with our info on it?

Thanks for your help.

[SmokedCow]

Hello! and congrats on your 1st calf!!! I love calves! You can leave the tag in, or take it out...it doesnt really matter. If you take it out then i would put one of your own in. That way if she ever got away you have some way of identifing her. We leave the old tag in and put on of ours in just incase they ripe on out or somthing happends. How old is she? i dont think the hole will close up, so when you cut the tag outm just put the new one right in the hole. Saves on holes in the ear! Best of luck!! Have fun!
AJ

[tenacres]

Thanks for the info! She's was born in February, so she's 6 months old. She's done very well today. Hasnt cried or anything, even though she was just taken from her mother. Been very quiet, looking around and watching us. Thanks again for the help. I think we'll go ahead and put in a new tag of our own.....like you said, she may get out someday!

[JA in WA]

I'm all for eartags but if it's a valuable calf and your going to keep it a long time would you need to brand it or is that just in the old cowboy movies?

[john in la]

Originally Posted by JA in WA

I'm all for eartags but if it's a valuable calf and your going to keep it a long time would you need to brand it or is that just in the old cowboy movies?

Yes if it were a valuable calf you would want to brand it because ear tags are only for personal use. They can be cut out to easy to be used for identification on valuable stock.
In fact now a days you can go one step further and brand the ID# in the mouth. This is a lot harder to change later to cover up a stolen animals.

[angus_guy]

If you decide to brand her go the freeze brand........dry ice alcohol and and either brass or stainless steel #'s and FARM brand this is an acceptable for tattoos

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/beef/400-301/400-301.html

[twstanley]

I know they sometimes tatoo under the lip, never heard of branding there.

The ear tag holes don't close back up.

[JulieLou42]

Mine ripped hers from her ear by about a year old, and I can't even find the scar! She also has a number tatooed inside her ear that I wrote down in a safe place.

[Raptor]

Check with your AG office. Some states legal systems do not recognize freeze brands.