How to organise cattle tag numbers: simple, mistake-proof rules

A cattle tag number is more than a number. It is each animal's ID card. Milk yields, vaccines and breeding records all hang on it, so when numbers get mixed up, records get mixed up. Pick a clear system on day one.

5 rules for good tag numbers

1. Every number is unique. Never give the same number to two animals.
2. Keep it short and readable. 3 to 6 characters is plenty. It fits large on an ear tag and can be read from a distance.
3. Never reuse a number. Even after an animal is sold or dies, do not give its number to another animal, or old records will mix with the new animal.
4. One pattern for everybody. If one animal is 7, another cow-09 and another C12, finding them gets hard.
5. The ear tag and your register or app must match exactly.

Three popular patterns

Our advice: with fewer than 100 animals, use a plain running number (001, 002...). It causes the fewest mistakes. FarmFlow already stores type and date of birth, so there is no need to pack them into the number.

Pad with zeros: 001, 002

When a computer sorts numbers as text, it puts 1, 10, 11, 2, 3 in that order. Always write the same length (001, 002 ... 010, 011) and the list stays in the right order.

Calf tags

• Tag the calf within 7 days of birth and record it.
• Do not put the mother's number in the calf's number. In FarmFlow, choose the mother in the "Mother" field and the link is kept. Just give the calf the next number in your sequence.
• When you record a calving on the Breeding page, you can add the calf right there with its tag. Mother and father are filled in for you.

Bought animals

A purchased animal may already carry the previous owner's tag. If you don't want to replace it, give the animal your own new number and write the old tag in the Notes field. Your sequence stays clean and the history is not lost.

Sold, dead and archived

• Mark an animal Sold or Dead when that happens.
• To hide an animal from your lists for now, Archive it. Its records stay and you can restore it later.
• Use Delete only for animals added by mistake. It also permanently removes all of the animal's milk, health and breeding records.

Adding and changing tags in FarmFlow

1. Open Cattle, type the tag in the "Tag number" field of the form and add the animal.
2. Made a mistake? Open the animal's page, fix the tag in the Details card and save. All earlier records stay attached.
3. If the number already exists, FarmFlow tells you.
4. Type a tag, name or breed in the search box above the list to find an animal quickly.

Common mistakes

• Packing too much into the number, like HF-26-MAR-COW-07. Long numbers are easy to write and read wrongly.
• Mixing letters and digits: O and 0, I and 1. Prefer digits only.
• Making the number do the colour's job. Use different coloured tags to separate groups (milking, heifers, bulls) and keep the number pattern the same.
• Re-issuing a number after a lost tag. That is fine if you know the animal, but check first that the number does not belong to another animal.

Quick checklist

• Choose a pattern (simplest: 001, 002...)
• Every number unique and never reused
• Ear tag and FarmFlow number identical
• Calves tagged and recorded within 7 days
• On sale or death, change the status; don't delete