Musnad Ahmad 32:1719

'Affan narrated to us, Shu'bah narrated to us, from Hisham ibn Zayd, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: I brought a brother of mine to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, so that he might perform *tahnik* (chewing a date and rubbing it on the palate of a newborn) for him in the *mirbad* (a place where dates are dried). He said: "And I saw him branding some sheep—I think he said: in their ears."