Details for Insights and Best Practices for Maximizing the Effectiveness of Ralgro and Revalor on Steers

Bleeding after isn’t a concern, and means you’ve hit an area with high blood flow, so the implant has a better chance of being released. Ralgro is great for suckling calves and I’d use it when branding/working calves in the spring. It depends on which Revalor implant you’re using, Rev-G is good for backgrounding calves, and Elanco has a similar product TE-G that works the same. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you’re disinfecting the needle between every animal or implant attempt, and needles are cheap, if one gets dull or burred switch it out for a new one. Implants have the biggest ROI of anything in cattle and don’t lose out on some of the benefit trying to rush it.

Consulting with a beef producer and based on my experience with Ralgro, implants are usually in the ear or under the thick skin in the neck area. If done properly, there is little to no bleeding and little chance of loss of implant. Much blood might mean a vein was hit.