In some cases, a heifer may be assigned the same number as a cow already in the herd. None of the individual marking methods meet all of these criteria. For this reason the use of two marking methods on an animal is strongly recommended. The most common methods of marking cattle are ear tags, tattoos and hot brands. Less common methods of marking cattle include freeze brands, ear notches, neck chains and horn brands.
Ear tags are a popular method of identifying cattle.
The larger type tags are easy to apply and are easy to read out in the pasture. The biggest problem with ear tags is loss of tags. Loss of tags may range from less than 10 percent up to 20 percent on an annual basis. However, many cattle will carry a tag for years before it is lost. Loss of tags is probably more related to type of pastures the cattle are running and tagging technique.