I heard Abu Burayda say, "In the days of ignorance, whenever a boy was born to one of us, we would slaughter a sheep and smear its blood on the child's head. When Allah brought Islam, we slaughtered a sheep, shaved the child's head, and rubbed it with saffron instead."
حدثنا أحمد بن محمد بن ثابت حدثنا علي بن الحسين حدثني أبي
سمعت أبي بريدة يقول كنا في الجاهلية إذا ولد لأحدنا غلام ذبح شاة ولطخ رأسه بدمها فلما جاء الله بالإسلام كنا نذبح شاة ونحلق رأسه ونلطخه بزعفران
[Its chain is hasan] Bayhaqi reported it, 9/302–303, from the hadith of Abu Dawud through the same chain.