Records are prepared for the 2014 calving season. On our farm, we raise purebred Shorthorn cattle. The records we keep and maintain are extremely important to the management of our cattle. We keep record of each calf that is born on our cattle farm. Through our records, we are able to track each calf throughout its life. When a calf is born, we note in our calving book: the date and time of birth, cow identification, coloring of and markings on the calf, birth weight, calving ease, the sire, and any other important information in regards to the calf. The daily calving book is kept with the calf vaccination kit.
At birth, each calf receives temporary identification that matches the numbered ear tag of the cow. A paper hip tag is used to match a calf with the cow until we tag the calf with a numbered ear tag.
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| the calving book is important to our cattle herd records |
At birth, each calf receives temporary identification that matches the numbered ear tag of the cow. A paper hip tag is used to match a calf with the cow until we tag the calf with a numbered ear tag.
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| a paper hip tag serves as temporary identification for a calf |
A list is kept as calves are born. I maintain this list to prepare numbered ear tags for heifer calves and bull calves. The calving list notes: cow, farm, heifer or bull, sire, hip tag number, and numbered ear tag. Heifers receive a yellow numbered tag, and bulls receive an orange numbered tag. Calves born on one farm will be tagged in their left ear, and calves born on another farm will be tagged in their right ear.
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| records are important in a purebred cattle herd |
In the calf vaccination kit, we also include a list from pregnancy checking cows. This list helps us determine when a cow will calve.
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| pregnancy checking list with due dates |
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