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| I only bother tagging first calf heifers calves. We calve them out in a 7 acre pasture, try to tag them right after cows have them cleaned off, sucking. That way if I have few born that day, I know which calf goes to which cow. They will steal, and kick a calf off real easy the first day if they get mixed up. When they get to where they can trail, I cut pairs out and trail them half mile to 160 acre pasture. Leave them there, then when ready to turn out on grass ( April 16-May 1) we go and set up and brand them in the 160 acre pasture. Then either trail them or load and haul out to spring pastures, depending on location.
All other cattle run on open range, only tag at branding. Just a ranch ID. tag, not numbered with cow.
Most cow and calves are smart, they will run back to where they were last paired up together. They can go up to fifteen miles easy to pair back up after getting spilt up from trailing. But you still have a few knot heads you have pair up that get totally mixed up.
The worst thing you can do is wake a sleeping calf up, tag him and turn him loose if mother not around. He will run and run like a idiot. If cow is there, he won't run. | |
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Pasture calving...
