Branding,...how we do it...

[grubbie]

I worked on several ranches, most of them have a roper who heels the calf and drags it up to the branding area where a couple people hold it down for branding, etc. Others use a calf table. Here at home we have always put them in a small pen, drag them out of the bunch by grabbing a back leg by hand, then throwing them down and holding them. Haven't seen or heard of anyone else doing it this way. Im still rough-and-tumble enough to do this, but as I get older I will probably invest in a table. We do have a lot of fun doing this way, seems like everyone wants to come out and give it a try.

 

[TexasBred]

We just put them in a corral, then run them thru the chute, catch them in the headgate and brand them.

 

[randiliana]

We have a friend that does it pretty much the same way. The only differece is that they run all the calves into the chute so it is easier to catch them. You need some strong backs to work his calves. We usually go help him. I prefer our method of using the calf chute.......

 

[alacattleman]

We just put them in a corral, then run them thru the chute, catch them in the headgate and brand them.

thats the way i do it, but its just my weaned heifers. never done any calf branding rope and draging dont much of that go on east of the mississppi

 

[TexasBred]

We just put them in a corral, then run them thru the chute, catch them in the headgate and brand them.

thats the way i do it, but its just my weaned heifers. never done any calf branding rope and draging dont much of that go on east of the mississppi

"Our Way" also leaves one hand free to hold a cold brew. :nod:

 

[Dave]

For the main bunch we set up the calf table in front of the squeeze chute and run the calves through that. For the late borns or any pairs I happen to buy where it is just a calf or two, I end up doing them by myself. To do this I run them into a small pen, heel them, take a wrap on the top of a post. I pull them back until they are at the post with their back legs are even with their back. I tie the rope off and tip them over. They are partially hanging there, at least their hindend is off the ground. It is not that difficult on a 150 pound calf. They don't fight or struggle. Once they are tipped over one person can brand, castrate, give shots with easy.
But I do have to say I prefer the rope and drag to the fire method. There are just certain things that a cowboy should do or you might as well give up trying to be a cowboy.

 

[grubbie]

we have chutes, could do it that way. But we have a lot of fun wrestling the calves, and it's a social event. Big barbecue, plenty of cold beer and pop. Our horses these days say Honda and Yamaha on the side, so not much to dally to. I would enjoy having a few horses and do it the way we used to, but just don't have time to mess with them. Everything goes much faster and easier with a four wheeler and a bike.

 

[msscamp]

I worked on several ranches, most of them have a roper who heels the calf and drags it up to the branding area where a couple people hold it down for branding, etc. Others use a calf table. Here at home we have always put them in a small pen, drag them out of the bunch by grabbing a back leg by hand, then throwing them down and holding them. Haven't seen or heard of anyone else doing it this way. Im still rough-and-tumble enough to do this, but as I get older I will probably invest in a table. We do have a lot of fun doing this way, seems like everyone wants to come out and give it a try.

We never roped. Back when we kids were young, we almost always wrestled the calves exactly as you described, but we also had a number of neighbors who had young kids to help. Branding was a social event that everyone came to and helped. As we aged(and the neighbors/neighbors kids sold out/moved away to do their own thing) the task of wrestling them became a bit more difficult to recover from, there was a lot less help, and we resorted to the calf table. In the last 5 or so years before we sold out, whether we used the calf table or wrestled was determined by how adventurous(and immortal) we felt, how big the calf crop was, and whether we had help or not. :lol: :lol:

 

[Rustler9]

We brand our heifers and any bulls that we deem worthy of breeding or marketing at our vet's office when we have him OCV them. We do the branding but as he runs them through the chute and gives the shots and ear tags we throw the brand on them. Of course we have to brand them fairly young or their horns aren't able to fit though the chute. Generally wait until the branding is done for the cold brew, don't want to mess up the brand-marketing registered breeding stock here.