How to Give Cattle Hormones
Choose and purchase the best product for your herd., Restrain the animal., Restrain the head., Disinfect the ear., Have the implant gun ready., Grab an available ear., Insert the needle into the ear., Squeeze the trigger to eject the required dosage...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Choose and purchase the best product for your herd.
There are many types of implants to choose from, but there are actually only five or seven main brands that are available for use (see the introduction above).
The United States has two additional brands (Encore®, Finaplix-H®and Implus®) to that mentioned in the introduction that are approved for use in Canadian beef cattle.
Australian producers have Progro®, Ralgro®, Synovex®, and Revalor® approved for use in beef cattle Your choice will reflect the effectiveness of it in your herd, because each type of implant product is intended for use in different types of cattle.
You need to know the sex (i.e., heifers or steers), age, weight, length of time the implants are effective, and classes of cattle (nursing calves, grass cattle, backgrounding, feedlot, or breeding cattle)of the animals you want to implant.
Some implants are more effective than others, but effectiveness is actually limited by what you feed your animals and how you raise them.
Implants can only do so much, but they will not make the animal grow better for you, they are only a means of assisting growth and feed efficiency along with a proper feeding program and responsible, humane handling.
An implant can be next to considerably ineffective if you do not feed your animals properly or, in other words, you fail to meet their nutritional requirements. -
Step 2: Restrain the animal.
The steer or heifer should be put into a squeeze chute and locked in a head-gate for the procedure.
The ear is going to be needed for this, which means the head needs to be easily accessible in order for the implant to be injected. , This is optional, but useful if this is your first attempt at performing an ear implantation and don't want to have to deal with a struggling animal.
You can restrain the head by using a rope halter or a bull lead (nose tongs), or a nose brace that can be attached to the head gate.
If you choose to use a rope halter, put it on by first looping the head piece over the ears, then the nose band over the muzzle and the chin piece (the adjustable part of the halter) tightened snug against the chin.
Next, loop the end of the lead rope once around one of the bars that sits behind the head gate, and pull tight until the animal's head is snug up against the side of the head-catch.
Secure using a quick-release knot.
Bovine nose tongs are put on by inserting the ball points of the tong inside each nostril (one ball point per nostril) and locking the tool in place by squeezing the handles together and keeping tension on the rope or chain that is attached to the ends of the handles.
A rope should be tied to the chains, then secured in the same manner as with the rope halter above. , Using a cotton swab dipped in germicide or disinfectant, generously swab the site of the ear to where the needle will be injected.
The needle of the applicator gun should also be disinfected if not already done so. , This should be done before you have the animal in the chute and head restrained.
The implant gun is like a hand-gun except with a sharp, large-gauge needle at the "business" end.
The barrel holds a cartridge of several small implant pellets which are injected under the skin of the ear, and slowly release their contents over time.
These pellets are contained in a cartridge because they are too small to handle alone like small bullets that can be loaded into a .22 rifle.
One cartridge contains 10 to 100 pellets, depending on the product (i.e., Synovex® vs.
Revalor® vs.
Ralgro®; each have different guns and different methods on loading each for injection).
Load the gun according to the label that comes with the implant gun or re-fill cartridges.
Do not use a cartridge from one product for a gun of a different product, i.e., don't load a cartridge meant for a Rev-X Universal Applicator Tool (for Revalor® implants) into a Synovex® gun. , You will only need one ear (not both) to give an animal its required dose, preferably one that does not have an ear tag in it, if possible.
Divide the ear into three imaginary sections.
Locate the middle third of the ear.
Implants are going to be placed on the outside of the ear, all under the skin, and in the middle of that ear. , Holding the ear in one hand, use your other hand to guide the need of the applicator tool so that the needle is parallel to the surface of the ear, the sharp end of the needle closest to the surface and at the outer third of the ear (or the third that is closest to the tip, not the base ).
Make sure your finger is off the trigger during this step to prevent premature ejection of the pellets.
Using your finger on the inside of the ear to feel for the needle (and ensure it does not poke out the other side), push the needle until it is completely submersed beneath the skin. , This may need to be done multiple times if more than one pellet is to be administered into the ear.
You should feel a straight line of pellets running parallel to the ear, this indicating that the procedure has been properly done.
Once you have ejected the pellets into the ear, pull out the needle in the same direction you pushed it in. , If there are no more things that need to be done (such as vaccinating, dehorning, castrating or tagging), then release the animal from the chute. , You will need to keep the implant gun disinfected each time and ready to go for each animal, and each animal restrained as necessary. -
Step 3: Restrain the head.
-
Step 4: Disinfect the ear.
-
Step 5: Have the implant gun ready.
-
Step 6: Grab an available ear.
-
Step 7: Insert the needle into the ear.
-
Step 8: Squeeze the trigger to eject the required dosage into the ear.
-
Step 9: Release the animal.
-
Step 10: Repeat for the next animal from step 2.
Detailed Guide
There are many types of implants to choose from, but there are actually only five or seven main brands that are available for use (see the introduction above).
The United States has two additional brands (Encore®, Finaplix-H®and Implus®) to that mentioned in the introduction that are approved for use in Canadian beef cattle.
Australian producers have Progro®, Ralgro®, Synovex®, and Revalor® approved for use in beef cattle Your choice will reflect the effectiveness of it in your herd, because each type of implant product is intended for use in different types of cattle.
You need to know the sex (i.e., heifers or steers), age, weight, length of time the implants are effective, and classes of cattle (nursing calves, grass cattle, backgrounding, feedlot, or breeding cattle)of the animals you want to implant.
Some implants are more effective than others, but effectiveness is actually limited by what you feed your animals and how you raise them.
Implants can only do so much, but they will not make the animal grow better for you, they are only a means of assisting growth and feed efficiency along with a proper feeding program and responsible, humane handling.
An implant can be next to considerably ineffective if you do not feed your animals properly or, in other words, you fail to meet their nutritional requirements.
The steer or heifer should be put into a squeeze chute and locked in a head-gate for the procedure.
The ear is going to be needed for this, which means the head needs to be easily accessible in order for the implant to be injected. , This is optional, but useful if this is your first attempt at performing an ear implantation and don't want to have to deal with a struggling animal.
You can restrain the head by using a rope halter or a bull lead (nose tongs), or a nose brace that can be attached to the head gate.
If you choose to use a rope halter, put it on by first looping the head piece over the ears, then the nose band over the muzzle and the chin piece (the adjustable part of the halter) tightened snug against the chin.
Next, loop the end of the lead rope once around one of the bars that sits behind the head gate, and pull tight until the animal's head is snug up against the side of the head-catch.
Secure using a quick-release knot.
Bovine nose tongs are put on by inserting the ball points of the tong inside each nostril (one ball point per nostril) and locking the tool in place by squeezing the handles together and keeping tension on the rope or chain that is attached to the ends of the handles.
A rope should be tied to the chains, then secured in the same manner as with the rope halter above. , Using a cotton swab dipped in germicide or disinfectant, generously swab the site of the ear to where the needle will be injected.
The needle of the applicator gun should also be disinfected if not already done so. , This should be done before you have the animal in the chute and head restrained.
The implant gun is like a hand-gun except with a sharp, large-gauge needle at the "business" end.
The barrel holds a cartridge of several small implant pellets which are injected under the skin of the ear, and slowly release their contents over time.
These pellets are contained in a cartridge because they are too small to handle alone like small bullets that can be loaded into a .22 rifle.
One cartridge contains 10 to 100 pellets, depending on the product (i.e., Synovex® vs.
Revalor® vs.
Ralgro®; each have different guns and different methods on loading each for injection).
Load the gun according to the label that comes with the implant gun or re-fill cartridges.
Do not use a cartridge from one product for a gun of a different product, i.e., don't load a cartridge meant for a Rev-X Universal Applicator Tool (for Revalor® implants) into a Synovex® gun. , You will only need one ear (not both) to give an animal its required dose, preferably one that does not have an ear tag in it, if possible.
Divide the ear into three imaginary sections.
Locate the middle third of the ear.
Implants are going to be placed on the outside of the ear, all under the skin, and in the middle of that ear. , Holding the ear in one hand, use your other hand to guide the need of the applicator tool so that the needle is parallel to the surface of the ear, the sharp end of the needle closest to the surface and at the outer third of the ear (or the third that is closest to the tip, not the base ).
Make sure your finger is off the trigger during this step to prevent premature ejection of the pellets.
Using your finger on the inside of the ear to feel for the needle (and ensure it does not poke out the other side), push the needle until it is completely submersed beneath the skin. , This may need to be done multiple times if more than one pellet is to be administered into the ear.
You should feel a straight line of pellets running parallel to the ear, this indicating that the procedure has been properly done.
Once you have ejected the pellets into the ear, pull out the needle in the same direction you pushed it in. , If there are no more things that need to be done (such as vaccinating, dehorning, castrating or tagging), then release the animal from the chute. , You will need to keep the implant gun disinfected each time and ready to go for each animal, and each animal restrained as necessary.
About the Author
Raymond Phillips
A passionate writer with expertise in organization topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: