Brands?

[southernultrablack]

So who out there brands their cattle and which method do you prefer, Hot or cold?

 

[JSCATTLE]

I brand mine .. only the ones that don't have a brand from a previous owner.. I use a electric iron because I don't use it often .. I'd like to freeze brand but it seems like it would be a pain to keep up with ..

 

[callmefence]

We use fire.
A metal five gallon bucket with several dime size holes along the bottom, filled with chunks of dry cedar and a propane torch stuck in one of those holes. Makes for a cheap portable and very effective heat source.

 

[pdfangus]

I used to prefer the freeze brand...much more attractive and easy to read especially if putting individual animal ID on the animal....

I just yesterday stumbled across a folder of photos of cows from a few years back and I recognized a lot of them from their brands.....I visited a conservation clients herd a while back and he had bought several cows when we sold the herd....he could not hide them as they all had my brands on them...now I can not recall where that file was...might have been in the home computer external drive.

but it is not easy..... and finding dry ice got to be a real problem for me.....

I quit branding when we sold most of the cows....it was not worth the effort for just a few calves.

I have hot branded a few hundred with a logo brand when I was another mans cowboy....they had an electric iron and I thought too many of them smeared and did not make a good brand....the ones that did well looked very good but those that did not do well looked bad.

 

[Rafter S]

I had an electric brand made for my holding brand, and use fire for individual numbers. I briefly considered freezing until I found out how much it would cost.

 

[dun]

Haven't branded some moving to MO. Fire branded everything when in california. BIggest problem was finding a blacksmith that understand the need for gaps in the iron to prevent burn throughs in the brand

 

[BC]

I fire brand. I have a set of 3 inch individual number irons that I like for use on weaned calves. About 2 years ago, I broke down and bought a set of electric irons (numbers and holding brand) and really wish I had made the purchase years ago. Makes a really pretty brand. Only drawback is having an electric source with enough power.

 

[Dave]

I brand them all. I can't imagine not branding. It would be like leaving the keys in your pickup parked at the mall. I use an electric iron. There is power not far from the squeeze chute. One extension cord reaches there.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

I brand them all. I can't imagine not branding. It would be like leaving the keys in your pickup parked at the mall. I use an electric iron. There is power not far from the squeeze chute. One extension cord reaches there.

No joke. Around here everybody brands. They might not get vaccinations or anything, but they'll get cut and branded. Too much money not to.

 

[Chocolate Cow]

I freeze brand. Started with the replacement heifers and before long everything has a brand. I put my registered brand on the left shoulder and the year she was born on the left hip. Dry ice is not always possible to get and expensive so I use liquid nitrogen. Years ago I hot ironed but on the shoulder my brand seemed to spread as the animal aged until it was something unreadable. I also give each heifer a magnet as part of my branding routine.
Some brush transmission fluid or used motor oil over a new hot iron brand to hold the heat and make a clear brand.

 

[greatgerts]

Only drawback is having an electric source with enough power.

No kidding. The past few times I have branded, I pulled from 4 different breakers, and either the outlet would kick off, or the individual breaker. Didn't have to do as much over the weekend, so only needed the 3. This time, I blew power to the entire barn TWICE, so had to go to the meter to turn it back on. I'm hoping to try and add some power to the barn so it doesn't happen again.