Animal

Identification Systems
Dr. Farooq
Identification Systems
• Branding
ƒ cattle
• Ear Tagging
ƒ cattle
ƒ goats
• Tattooing
ƒ cattle
ƒ rabbits
Branding
† Used mainly for cattle
† Two types
„ Freeze Branding
„ Hot Iron Branding
† Uses a metal instrument to burn or freeze a mark on
the animal’s hide
† Damage to hides is a problem with all types of
branding.
† Originally used to show ownership
† E:\FAROOQ-LECTURES\Branding a Calf.flv
Ear Tagging
† Use special instruments
† Easy to read from the front view
„ Not permanent
„ Can be lost or removed
Ear Tagging and tattooing
Tattooing
† Uses a special tool to put inked numbers in an
animal’s skin
† Most commonly found in the ear
† Can be used on the lips or other locations
† Permanent
† Simple and relatively painless
† Hard to read from a distance
Tatooing
Tatooing and tagging
Numbering Systems
System One
This system utilizes a three or four digit number for each animal.
The first number represents the year of birth. The remaining numbers represent the
individual animal’s own number.
921 or 9021
9 = year of birth, '99
21 or 021 = individual animal’s number
With this system all calves born in
1999 or in the '99 would have numbers starting with 9
(i.e., 901, 902, 903, etc.).
Following this system, 2000 calf numbers would start at 021 (or 0021) and 2001 calves
System Two

System two is similar to the first

system. The animal number is branded above the
year of birth or written with a dash or a slash.
In this example 21 is the animal number and 9 is
the year of birth.
21
9 or 21/9 or 21-9
System Three

It is similar to the first two systems. The

main difference is the year of birth is
represented by a letter.
J21, J021, 21J or 021J
J represents year of birth, '99
21 or 021 represents the calf ’s number
System Four

This system assigns consecutive numbers to ani-

mals in the herd. When 99 or 999 or a
predetermined number is reached, then the
numbers can be restarted at 1.
System Five
† Mostly on the right and left thigh or ear of
animal
† Right thigh/ear—birth serial number+first
letter of farm name
† Left thigh/ear---last no. of year (right side) +
quarter (left side)
† E.g 42----
† 2002---4th quarter
Electronic markers

† Electronic markers are available whereby a small

micro-chip is implanted at a convenient site e.g. next
to the tail head or in the thick neck muscles.
† An instrument which must be pointed at the implant
site from a relatively short distance, is used to read
the signalled identity number of the animal
emanating from the microchip.
† Where this system is available it is very useful, but
microchips can become faulty.
DNA finger printing
† With modern technology, the genetic make-up of an animal
can be recorded. In cattle, these images are unique and can be
used to identify animals by sending a sample of blood or
other appropriate tissue to a laboratory with the required
equipment.
† Although not a technique which can be used for routine
identification, it can be used for example where an animal is
slaughtered and the thieves leave the animal’s skin behind,
taking only some or all of the meat.
† With DNA finger printing the relevant meat can be identified
as belonging to the skin and its identifying brand.