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Northeast Iowa | I've used Ritchey tags since 1998. Started with their two-piece solid arrow-style buttons and didn't like the applicator or their retention. Then switched to Allflex buttons and had good results with those until the last two years when retention became a problem. Anything that gets lost and later found has been more or less a button failure and not a tag failure. When I went to order tags from Ritchey this year, I noticed they had only Y-tex buttons and no Allflex, so maybe I'm not the only one with Allflex button problems. The Ritchey arrowhead style tags look great, but I remember an incident with a blade-style applicator when I was young and I'd rather not mess with a sharp edge like that when I grab for an applicator with an anxious mother breathing down my neck as I try to tag her calf.
I also put a steel Hasco ear tag (similar to Bangs tag) with a four-digit number in one ear as a more permanent ID. Quicker and easier than a tattoo, but only readable in a headgate. Cows get two Ritchey tags when they enter the herd their first calving season. Calves get the Hasco tag and one Ritchey tag when they're born. For all the power you can gain from information, tag expenses pay for themselves in a hurry.
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Ear tags
