branding livestock

[fashion victim]

Around here I have seen horses, cows and the occasional pig with letters burned into the skin. I believe this was done by the process you see in movies, where you heat a piece of metal with a specific marking and then press it on the animal's skin. It's obviously used to mark property, because most of these animals have free roam of the mountains around my house. However, I believe this is completely cruel and wrong. Is this process legal? Is there some way to mark an animal that isn't too costly and doesn't harm the animal at all? Maybe if I proposed of a new method that didn't cost too much to these people (my dad knows them all because they live in a small community) then they'd opt for the safer method. Do any of you have a convincing argument that I could use to help change these people's minds?

[Lyndsay]

No, it's legal, widely practised, and sorry to say it, but the easiest way to tell who's stock is whos. Sad as that seems, unless you have an idea that is proposable, they probably wont change their ways. Branding is done so easily, the farmers usually make their own branding stick, and heating them up, as I learned in that movie with Bam Margera, and boys Jack.... you know the name, the iron can be heated up with a torch. It's a cost effective way of basically saying, what's mine is mine. No consideration is taken as to what the animals feel, and I imagine it can be tramatising.

Hope that answers some of your questions hun, sorry that there isn't any good side to report about it.

[VoodooJoint]

While heat branding is the most popular and cheap method of branding other branding methods exist.

Heat branding burned the hair and flesh off leaving a hairless scar when it heals. It is highly painful despite what the people doing the branding say.

Another method is cold branding. In this method the branding iron is frozen super cold using liquid nitrogen. The area where the brand will be located is shaved and the brand is applied to the skin (about 20 seconds) resulting in the death of the melanocytes (pigment cells). If done correctly the end result is that the hair regrows white in the brand area. If the freeze brand is left on too long (10-15 second too long is enough) then the hair follicle also dies resulting in a bald brand.

Studies show that freeze branding is less immediatly painful for the animal although I imagine (because of the wording) that pain does manifest once the skin thaws. Freeze branding though takes more time to do, is more expensive and the freezing agents may be hard to aquire so many ranchers will be unwilling to switch even if the method was proven to be pain free and carry less chance of complications.

All in all it is a barbaric practice no matter how it's done.

[Coopdog]

Perhaps ear tags? Whatever method is used, it needs to be permanent, so ear tags would work. I know they still hurt, but not nearly as much as branding. After all, even small children willingly get their ears pierced without trauma. Sure it hurts for a second, but I would think that it's probably the least painful method of identification. Now, I don't know what the infection problems might be, although I would think the same as a brand, or maybe even less, since it's such a small injury.

[fairysari]

Cold branding sounds a little bit like having a wart removed with liquid nitrogen. It does hurt, but it's not that bad - not as bad as I imagine branding would be. I knew a guy who had himself branded with a star on each of his wrists, I guess as a step further than a tattoo. Watching the healing process, it looked long and painful, and he said it was. While not perfect, I would tend to think that cold branding would be at least a little less traumatic than heat branding.

[Lyndsay]

The problem with ear tags in hogs, and animals that are kept in large quantities is that they can be ripped out of the ears.

[fashion victim]

I don't think they'd agree to that nitrogen thing. These people are very low class, and have some livestock which they breed to sell the babies. Our property has a lot of fruit trees and even though we don't sell or anything we do like to eat our own home grown food and give some to our neighbors, but the cows will go and eat absolutely everything in reach, not to mention leaving those huge cow manure puddles all over. Not pleasant to walk in. In fact the horse urine is pretty smelly too. Ew.

Wow... I can't believe such a barbaric practice is allowed. My mom had a wart removed with that nitrogen process and it did take a while to heal and got infected. And as to ear tagging - it worries me that since those animals aren't mantained in hygienic conditions that something like that would get infected. I got a belly button piercing and went to the doctor so I could have strong prescribtion antibiotics to avoid infections and the doctor told me how in 2 occasions people who had done the normal earlobe piercings had acquired such horrible infections that the earlobe had to be cut off.

[Lyndsay]

I'm guessing you have a large property then if the animals are wandering in? It must not be fenced?

As for piercings, yes bad things can happen with them. I've had my navel done for.. well the top one for 5 years, and the bottom for 3 years, and they still have not healed to a point where I can take the ring out for more than a few minutes without blood when trying to get them back in.

I think that ear tagging is just plain pointless.

[fashion victim]

Originally Posted by Lyndsay

I'm guessing you have a large property then if the animals are wandering in? It must not be fenced?

As for piercings, yes bad things can happen with them. I've had my navel done for.. well the top one for 5 years, and the bottom for 3 years, and they still have not healed to a point where I can take the ring out for more than a few minutes without blood when trying to get them back in.

I think that ear tagging is just plain pointless.

It's I think about 3 acres and it was fenced when my father bought it about 20 years ago but he never cared for the fencing so it's all rusted and broken. There's huge gaps all over, too. The house is very well protected, though. There's metal bars in all the windows and every single entrance has locked gates. The only thing anyone has ever stolen was the lawn mower when my father left it outside (but a neighbor who works for the police saw him wondering around with it and arrested him) and 2 whole avocado crops. We had several very tall avocado tress and they'd all bear their crops at the same time, and in two different occasions someone stole every single avocado a few days before we were going to pick them.

[Lyndsay]

That sure is odd, someone had to have been watching them grow. Your dad should put up an electric fence, like the ones they have for horses..hehe

[this_lil_piggy]

I cant tell you how many cattle I see around here with half their ears missing from tags being ripped out. Not a good method at all.

What is wrong with paint. Shave the cows butt, plant some permanent paint on there, and save it the agony of havings its butt set on fire.

[kavykrazy]

Originally Posted by this_lil_piggy

I cant tell you how many cattle I see around here with half their ears missing from tags being ripped out. Not a good method at all.

What is wrong with paint. Shave the cows butt, plant some permanent paint on there, and save it the agony of havings its butt set on fire.

Paint is not permanent. That is a temporary ID method used in auctions and such.

Unfortunately, to prove legal ownership, livestock have to be IDed somehow. At the moment, hot branding is the cheapest and most permanent, although crafty thieves can alter hot brands.

[Jennicat]

Originally Posted by Lyndsay

The problem with ear tags in hogs, and animals that are kept in large quantities is that they can be ripped out of the ears.

Most pigs aren't ear tagged for id, but rather for hormone dispensal purposes. The most common pig "ID" for is cutting their ears. *shudder*

[guineapigqueen]

In the UK, ear tags and branding are both used.
I trained for two years at an Animal Related College, and we studdied a varierty of animals ranging from Tree-Frogs to Snake, Mice to Dogs, Pigs to Horses and everything inbetween. I remember helping the lambs being born and putting the rings on the tails. Disbudding the calves, this is removing of the horns, for thoughs who dont know, use of local-anesthetic to numb the area. Watched a horse being freeze branded, watched a cow being hot branded. We need to experience a lot of different things, during this course.

As previous posts have said I have to agree with the freeze branding, instead of heat. The cow seemed to be in a lot more pain than the horse, but you could tell by the body language the horse wasn't in discomfort. I don't know if because the horse had more human contact unlike the cow, thats why it reacted more.

I myself have piercings, navel twice and tongue, along with ears and 5 tattoos. I would rather have a piercing than a tattoo any day, quick and painless if anesthetic is used, but sometimes they get infected, just like a tag in a cow, pig, sheep ear would do. A lot of farmers cant afford anesthetics and they find cheaper methods of marking there animals. Sheep in the UK have there wool sprayed for identification of pregnancy, ie single, twins, triplets.

Emma

[fashion victim]

Originally Posted by Lyndsay

That sure is odd, someone had to have been watching them grow. Your dad should put up an electric fence, like the ones they have for horses..hehe

Electric fence? Won't that hurt the animals who try to push against it or the birds that land on it?

[Lyndsay]

Hrm, never though of the birds, it's ment to give livestock and farm animals a little shock, but now that you mention the birds, it is like a ribbon thing. Okay scrap that idea.