Illinois 4-H

Exploring 4-H Swine
Spark Activity: Notches Not Names

Animal identification and record-keeping is an important part of being a responsible livestock owner. Some species have ear tags and others have tattoos. The universal system for pigs is ear notching. Reading ear notches looks confusing at first, but when you learn the system, it is very simple. Use a paper plate or piece of paper to draw a pig’s face and two large ears. Cut along the outside lines and then practice ear notching your pig.

Each ear is divided into four quadrants with one imaginary line drawn done the center of the ear from top to bottom and the other imaginary line drawn across the middle of the ear horizontally. A notch in the lower quadrant closest to the body has a value of “1,” a notch in the lower outside quadrant has a value of “3,” a notch in the top outside quadrant has a value of “9,” and a notch in the top quadrant closest to the body has a value of “27.” The very tip of the ear can be notched for “81.” The right ear is the litter number (like your last name, every piglet born in that litter has the same number) and the left ear is the pig number (like your first name, each piglet has a unique number). Instead of a first name and a last name, each pig is the litter number then a dash and then the pig number (i.e. piglet #7 from litter #32 would be known as “32-7”).