Suggestions for information required for basic and advanced
systems are discussed later in this section, and sample data collec-
tion tools are available in Table 11-3.
proposed system of identifi cation will also rule out the possibility
of duplicate identifi cation to a certain extent and will help the
producer to realize and determine the age of an animal (down to
the birth year) at one glance.
Th e type of identifi cation depends on the individual producer.
Any combination of identifi cation that is readable from a short
distance and permanent is acceptable. Two methods that work
well are:
• Putting identical ear tags in each ear of the cow. If one is lost,
replace it as soon as possible.
• Putting an ear tag in one ear and the corresponding tattoo in
the other.
With these methods, when a cow inevitably loses a tag, she still
can be identifi ed. Th e identifi cation of individual animals with a
unique ID within a particular farm has several benefi ts such as
the ability to trace each sire’s and dam’s progeny and evaluate their
performance in terms of birth weight, birth weight ratio, adjusted
205-day weight ratio, EPDs, and the accuracy of EPDs.