An earmark is a cut or mark in the ear of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

animals such as

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

s or

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, made to show ownership, year of birth or sex. The term dates to the 16th century in England. The practice existed in the Near East up to the time of Islam. Against this, in Q. 4:119 the Qur'an quotes the Devil promising, ""I will mislead them, I will entice them, I will command them to ''mark the ears of livestock'', and I will command them to distort the creation of God." Earmarks are typically registered when a stock owner registers a livestock brand for their use. There are many rules and regulations concerning the use of earmarks between states and countries.

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n sheep and cattle must be earmarked before they become six months old. Generally the owner’s earmark is placed in a designated ear of a camel or sheep to indicate its gender. Typically if a registered earmark is used, it must be applied to the right ear for ewes and the left ear for female camels. The other ear of a sheep then may be used to show the year of its birth. Cattle earmarks are often a variety of knife cuts in the ear as an aid to identification, but it does not necessarily constitute proof of ownership. Since the 1950s it has been more common to use

ear tag An ear tag is a plastic or metal object used for identification of domestic livestock and other animals. If the ear tag uses Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technology it is referred to as an electronic ear tag. Electronic ear tags ...

s to identify livestock because coloured tags are capable of conveying more information than earmarks. Such ear tags were popularised by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

farmers in the earliest successful use of them. Because of the ubiquity of earmarking, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became common parlance to call any identifying mark an earmark. In early times many politicians were country or farming folk and were adept at using such words in different ways and in creating new concepts. Today it is common to refer to an institution's ability to designate funds for a specific use or owner as an earmark.

Laboratory animals

Laboratory mice The laboratory mouse or lab mouse is a small mammal of the order Rodentia which is bred and used for scientific research or feeders for certain pets. Laboratory mice are usually of the species ''Mus musculus''. They are the most commonly used ...

are often kept with several animals in one cage since mice are social animals, therefore it is necessary to have some method of identifying them individually. Earmarks may be used, although non-traumatic methods such as

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

ing their tails and painting spots on white mice with

crystal violet Crystal violet or gentian violet, also known as methyl violet 10B or hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride, is a triarylmethane dye used as a histological stain and in Gram's method of classifying bacteria. Crystal violet has antibacterial, antif ...

permanent markers A permanent marker or indelible marker is a type of marker pen that is used to create permanent or semi-permanent writing on an object. In general, the ink comprises a main carrier solvent, a glyceride, a 2-Pyrrolidone, pyrrolidone, a resin and ...

can be used as well.

Microchips An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Transistor count, Large ...

are less commonly used in mice because of their expense compared to the short life span of a mouse. Earmarking a mutant strain of mice called MRL/MpJ led to the accidental discovery that they had the ability to regenerate tissue very quickly, when scientists working with them found that the holes punched in their ears kept growing back. The holes healed over completely with regenerated cartilage, blood vessels, and skin with hair follicles. It was later found that this strain of mice also heals damage to other body parts such as knee cartilage and heart muscle significantly better than other mice.

References

Earmarkers

External links

Stock ID System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earmark (Agriculture) Identification of domesticated animals Animal equipment Animal welfare

Laboratory animals

See also

References

External links