Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Calf Table

I have found it is best to watch, very closely, the smoke coming off the iron. When it turns color, you've finished burning through hair and started to get the hide. Keep a hot iron on a slick calf for seven seconds and you risk blotching or worse, burning right through the hide.

There's not a whole lot of branding here in the East. Way back when I was in college, a buddy of mine flunked out and got a job managing a farm the same day. The place was in pretty rough shape and cattle pretty much wandered around wherever they wanted to go (mostly corps ground around the lake). He did have a pretty decent horse and there was a sweep tub and squeeze chute in a pile inside one of the barns. They did have an electric brand and as he brought cattle in, he'd brand them just so he'd know his from anybody else's until the fencing was repaired (fortunately, the neighbors had kept their fences up pretty well, we deal with a lot more fences over here than ya'll probably do:( ).

I did work at a demo a few years back for a dealer where it was my equipment, a couple of pharmaceutical reps, and a fellow showing how to freeze brand. That's sort of a neat deal but mostly seems for individual animal identification. WAY too slow a process for the folks on this thread.

Freeze branding is agonizingly slow. Although I believe we can freeze brand now for ownership.

Working pens seem to always be a work in progress. No end to it. Going Saturday to look at modifying some pens for a neighbor.

And "shipping pens" are built differently than "working pens"
Years ago, we put 600 large yearlings over the scales, to feedlots, in a long morning - from Dad's shipping pens.
But it would take up to an hour to doctor a sick one - in the same pens.

Do you have to buy the right to use a brand?

yes.

And some of them are expensive.


$10-20k for the real unique ones.


$1-5k for something decent. Unless you know someone.


In MT you have to re-register your brand(s) every 10 years.

Expensive registration too.

In colorado to register a new brand it must be at least 3 characters. A new brand is $200 to register(unless it went up). $300 for 5 years assessment to maintain registration. If a guy wants a single or 2-digit brand, you have to buy an existing one.... And be prepared to PAY....

They were going to try that here too, cant remember if they got it done.

wabi, here's a few for sale...


http://www.ranchworldads.com/index.php?cat_id=30

Sadly, that equipment has done away with a social event involving near all the neighbors. Efficient, yes. Progress? Not so sure.

Did yall keep the oysters or throw them away??

Arizona actually has a pretty good system for brand registration. A hot brand is the only legally recognized method of identifying the owner. All brands have to be registered with the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Unbranded, weaned cattle are free game (mavericks, slicks).

You can submit a design for your own brand and go through the approval process which takes about six months. The brand has to be advertised to see if there are any objections. Must be a minimum of two characters. I think the cost is about $100.00 plus a $50.00 registration fee for five years.

You can pick up an brand that has been allowed to lapse and that requires a $50.00 renewal fee for five years. Department of Agriculture posts abandoned brands in the "Cattlelog", official publication of the Arizona Cattle Growers Association.

You can buy a brand from someone but that is a private transaction between the buyer and seller. Buyer then has to register the brand with ADOA.

There are still a few cattle inspectors in the state but most producers have "Self-inspection Forms" which are used to move cattle from pasture to pasture or from pasture to the sale barn. Inspector still has to inspect private treaty sales. Slaughter houses and sale barns require inspection forms before they will accept cattle.

Renewal fee is $50.00 for five years.