Ear tag

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Ear tags, also known as sheep tags or cattle tags, were first developed early in 1913 as a means to identify livestock, specifically cattle, when testing for tuberculosis. Today, ear tags in a variety of designs are used throughout the world on many species of animal to ensure traceability and disease control.

[edit] History

The first ear tags were primarily steel with nickel plating. The leading metal tag was produced by the Ketchum Tag Company of Canada. The Hasco Tag Co., founded in 1902 in Dayton, Kentucky, was the first manufacturer of self-pierceing and self-locking metal ear tags. In the United States, two other companies manufacture metal ear tags: Ketchum Manufacturing Company and National Band and Tag Co..

After World War II, larger, flag-like, plastic tags were developed in the United States. Designed to be visible from a distance, these were applied by cutting a slit in the ear and slipping the arrow-shaped head of the tag through it so that the flag would hang from the ear. An early leader in the production of plastic tags was the Ritchey Tag Company.

In 1953, Dalton ID Systems [1], in the United Kingdom, developed and patented the first two-piece, self-piercing plastic ear tag. It was known as the Rototag because of its ability to "rotate" free from fences. This tag, which combined the easy application of metal tags with the visibility and color options of plastic tags, also limited the transfer of blood-borne diseases between animals during the application process.

In 1973, Allflex of New Zealand developed a tag which joined the large plastic flag with the two-piece self-piercing design to produce an ear tag which was beneficial to farmers in additional ways.

More recent developments include radio frequency identification devices which allow the identification numbers of the livestock to be read automatically without direct human contact. A cross industry orgainsation has been established to provide a forum for discussion on EID see UK EID Association [2]

The United States Department of Agriculture maintains a list of maunufacturers approved to sell eartags in the USA for the National Animal Identification System.

The International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) controls the issue electronic tag numbers.