Branding

[brenda]

Need your input. Will be freeze branding shortly and was wondering what the time recommendation is to hold the branding iron on. Had a neighbor who was experienced that did some last year, I believe he said around 45 seconds, but it didn't take very well. This will be done on Brangus/Angus cattle. Appreciate your input.

 

[dbc]

I was wondering the same thing I will be branding shortly. Some of my family tried freeze branding on black cows but the hair didnt turn white just kinda made the wild looking. Its hard to see, but i have heard that it really works well. So I guess I cant help you, only wondering the same thing/

 

[MillIronQH]

I'm sorry... I don't understand the purpose of freeze branding cattle. You have to do a surgical clip on the site and the irons must be at the right temp. With a squeeze chute and electric irons I can have one in and out while you're still clipping and the brand isn't going to deteriorate in five years.Z

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

For calves, 30 seconds should be adequate for colored cattle...for older cattle, anywhere between 45 seconds to 1 minute will do fine...just clip it, rub it with a little bit of alcohol and put it on

 

[Rangenerd]

Last fall we freeze branded our heifers for the first time. They weighed about 650lbs. We used liquid nitrogen rather than dry ice. Nitrogen gets the irons colder than the dry ice. We left the irons on for 22 seconds. That wasn't quite long enough. Next year we are going to try 27 or 28 seconds per iron.
You will want someone with you running a stop watch. After you shave the branding location, you need to wet the area down with alcohol, we used a squirt bottle, it worked OK. This helps transfer the tempature to the hide. You might want to get a pair of welding gloves, they are a thicker than regular gloves, when dealing with something around 145 degrees below zero you need to be very careful.
good luck.

 

[LonghornRanch]

My vet freeze brands all of his angus cattle. White brand and numbers on a black cow..... you can see the numbers and brand way off in the distance!

I tried it on one of my cows, more trouble than it's worth IMHO. I will stick to freeze branding horses only.

 

[plbcattle]

I brand whatever time of year I can get around doing it. You need to clip the hair back in size of the brand. You will need to hold 30-45 seconds. If it is done properly, it kills the skin pigment and turns the hair white for the length of the animal. Putting alcohol on before some how spreads the brand out evenly. You can notice it all year and it looks better in my opinion. You can even see it good in winter when the coat grows out longer. I recommend using Liquid Nitrogen. It gets colder and it gets the brand colder quicker. I have noticed that the cattle don't jump or move as much as heat branding, I guess it doesn't hurt like fire brands. It takes a little longer but to me it looks better.

 

[Ryan]

the rule of thumb i've know is:

Liquid Nitrogen - 30 - 35 seconds
Dry Ice - 1 min