Freeze Branding

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Tod Dague

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Looking to start branding my cattle. Does freeze branding cause less meat damage than hot branding? Where is the best (normal) place to brand to reduce costly damage?

Tod
 
Fire branding cattle does not cause meat damage. Most people brand cattle on their hip or their front shoulder. It's all personal preference.
 
When you select a brand along with ear notching, the site of the brand has to be one that isn't in use.

The normal locations are shoulders, ribs, hips and on horses the jaw. Never saw a cow branded on the jaw.

dun
 
dun":13twob1z said:
When you select a brand along with ear notching, the site of the brand has to be one that isn't in use.

The normal locations are shoulders, ribs, hips and on horses the jaw. Never saw a cow branded on the jaw.

dun

State man used to brand cows that tested positive for bangs on the jaw in the seventies with a big B.
 
Tod,
Years ago called the only guy listed in Washington state that uses freeze, to freeze brand a mare I had. He would not do it unless he had 12 or more animals lined up. Said the prep was not cost effective. Also freeze works best on dark hides.
 
Campground Cattle":1wmpoko3 said:
dun":1wmpoko3 said:
When you select a brand along with ear notching, the site of the brand has to be one that isn't in use.

The normal locations are shoulders, ribs, hips and on horses the jaw. Never saw a cow branded on the jaw.

dun

State man used to brand cows that tested positive for bangs on the jaw in the seventies with a big B.

Remember that being this is a beginners board, most probablly weren't running cattle in the seventies.
 
Remember that being this is a beginners board, most probablly weren't running cattle in the seventies.

Geeze you don't have to be so technical :roll: :roll: :roll:
 
Freeze branding is okay, as long as all your hides are dark. It doesn't show up on Charlois, gray Brahmans or Murray Grays, etc.

The only breed I think I've ever seen freeze branded was Holsteins.

The hip is about the easiest spot.
 
TheBullLady":3dvhrhgn said:
Freeze branding is okay, as long as all your hides are dark. It doesn't show up on Charlois, gray Brahmans or Murray Grays, etc.

The only breed I think I've ever seen freeze branded was Holsteins.

The hip is about the easiest spot.

Bull Lady, I'm not trying to undermind you here but, A freeze brand will show up on a white animal. The iron needs to be left on quite a bit longer than you would on a dark animal.

Tod, I clip the area to be freeze branded. And I use rubbing alcohol to soak that area. (supposed to make the nitrogen colder and the brand to take faster). Snubb the animal up cause once you put the iron on there you don't want to be adjusting later. It will scab over just like a hot brand. On the white animals the hair will not grow back at all. On the dark animals the hair will come back in white. Good Luck!!!
 
most everything is branded at our place unless it slips through the cracks or is boughten and put in the lot. A lot of calves aren't branded until the heifers are kept and the crap heifers and steers are gone. Another plus of that is the brands don't get so huge on the side of the cow.
 
certherfbeef":3l2hmoin said:
TheBullLady":3l2hmoin said:
Freeze branding is okay, as long as all your hides are dark. It doesn't show up on Charlois, gray Brahmans or Murray Grays, etc.

The only breed I think I've ever seen freeze branded was Holsteins.

The hip is about the easiest spot.

Bull Lady, I'm not trying to undermind you here but, A freeze brand will show up on a white animal. The iron needs to be left on quite a bit longer than you would on a dark animal.

Tod, I clip the area to be freeze branded. And I use rubbing alcohol to soak that area. (supposed to make the nitrogen colder and the brand to take faster). Snubb the animal up cause once you put the iron on there you don't want to be adjusting later. It will scab over just like a hot brand. On the white animals the hair will not grow back at all. On the dark animals the hair will come back in white. Good Luck!!!

The white will sometimes grow back a sort of off-color grey. One of the dairys freeze brands their cows herd number on the aback of the hip/leg so that they can identify which cow is which. The splotchy black and white cows are a real challenge to try and figure out the number sometimes. The feral horses (eroneously called wild horses) are freeze branded on the neck below and parallel to the mane.

dun
 
Mahoney Pursley Ranch":215ot1p7 said:
Do people brand all that much anymore? I read somewhere that it detracts from the price at the sale barn.

I think a lot has to do with specific areas or breed associations. Where there is an active brand inspection program most everything gets branded, in other areas where a brand inspector is hardly if ever seen nobody bothers.

dun
 
Mahoney, when you get to Texas you will want to register a brand and brand your stock. There's lots of places to brand one where you won't get any hide discounts. Worth a lot more to have them branded even if you were getting a discount, in my opinion.

Even though Texas isn't a brand state, in case of theft you will find the odds of recovering your cattle are greatly enhanced by branding because of the work of TSCRA Brand Inspectors and Field Inspectors. Also, the odds of theft will probably decrease if people know that all of your cattle are branded.
 

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