I like to wait 12-24 hours before tagging a calf to make sure a good bond is developed between mother and offspring in those first crucial hours where the colostrum is so vitally important for the calf.
On the other hand, sometimes we need to intervene to get that colostrum in the calf … but then we have to do some digging to find out what is “wrong with this picture” that caused us to have to intervene. In nature, no one comes along to intervene and, as the saying goes, nature takes it’s course.
Have we taken our cows (for whatever reason) so far away from nature that now we have to pull 25% of our calves. “Somethings rotten in Denmark” with our breeding, selection, development and soil/mineral balance if we are routinely pulling calves.