Pearl got her brand today.

Well, I just got the update from David about Pearl's brand.  I want to update everyone and also share some more information on how and why this is done.

First of all here are the branding irons for my farm brand.  

Conser Run Farm Branding Irons

Here is a picture of the completed brand up close.

Pearl with her CRF (Conser Run Farms) brand up close.

Here she is after completing her checkup and branding.  She was understandably upset during the process but shortly after being let loose her and her herd mates were all back to playing and eating again.  

Pearl with her CRF (Conser Run Farms) brand!

Most of all animals in the west and upper west are grazed on range land.  This is public and privately owned land where the animals are allowed to roam and forage for food during the better months of the year.  In the beginning branding was started as a permanent way of marking cattle for ownership and to track who they were.  Several hundred years ago plastic and metal ear tags were not available.  Most brands started out simple.  However, over time, many different people needed to mark their cattle and the brands increased in complexity and size and number of characters. One famous one in the USA is the King Ranch which is the same W mark you see on the luxury package for the best ford trucks.

Here in Ohio most of all animals are well contained so plastic ear tags and simple neck chains with numbers will suffice.  However, if an animal does get loose and cannot be found and manages to tear the tag off then there is no way of identifying who the animal is or where this animal belongs.  A brand is a permanent, tamper resistant, easily identifiable way of marking an animal for owner ship and other identification reasons.  When animals are running on range lands they can easily end up in with someone elses animals.  Another problem is theft.  Before any animal, in states with branding laws, can be sold the owner of the brand has to sign off on the sales slip before the sale can take place.  This stops someone from simply catching someone elses cattle and selling them.

There are a couple of different ways of marking brands on animals that will be running on range land.  There are many different types of branding irons but the two main differences, that I currently have learned about, are hot or cold.  The brand is either burned on with brands that are dipped in liquid nitrogen and the burn is created by the extreme cold, or the brands are heated to red hot and the brand is burned in with heat.

Either way this is an uncomfortable event for the animal.  I would compare it to someone getting body piercings, tattoos, or other forms of body markings or changes.  The branding is normally done when the animals are young and only takes a minute or two to finish and they are back on their way without much discomfort afterward.  A cow's hide is much much tougher and thicker than human skin so the discomfort is not as bad and shorter lasting than it would be for us.  The brand only burns the first layer of skin and looks worse than it actually is. 

I know that many people disagree with this method of animal marking/tracking but I have not been told of or learned of a better way to date.  I know that there are different methods of using electronic tracking devices for pets here now but these can still be removed, replaced, or reprogrammed at will making them unusable in an area where theft can occur.

Either way, Pearl now has the only brand for an Ohio based farm in Montana, or at least her part of Montana and the only cow in the World with that marking!! 


Goodnight everyone and I wish everyone a great evening and and even better week!

Kenny