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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Needing to order a electric brand iron for a brother inlaw who is wanting to brand his baby calves, what size do you suggest, 3inch? 4inch? Im normally not a huge fan of branding baby calves, rather just brand replacements, but never had an issue with cattle disappearing, he's running his head with others and doesn't check his as often as I do, so wanting to make sure his stay his, cant blame him....so what do you suggest? I would order 4 inch if most don't think that's too big, that way he could use it on his older calves/cows now, but also don't want the brand too small.
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
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Location: Kansas | I'd probably order a 3 inch....as the brand will grow with the calf. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 487
Location: south dakota | We brand all the time do to where we live a 3 inch is great and L&H if the best place. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Thanks | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 310
Location: North Dakota | Our calf size brand is 4". I don't think you could go wrong with either size. | |
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 Straight Shooter
Posts: 5725
Location: SW North Dakota | The brand will grow with the calf. All you need to do is tan the hide for a nice, clean result- ESPECIALLY if the brand has closed loops (Like B's, R's, P's). The artsy-fartsy loopy brands are a nightmare if you brand them too deep. It will just be a huge scabby blotch and take forever to heal (plus, you'll never be able to read it). If you only have a few to brand, consider clipping the hair to reduce the burn. It only takes a few seconds of contact with the iron to make a nicely tanned brand that will heal fast and be very easy to read for the life of the animal. Also, if you're going to pour them with Ivomec or Dectomax, brand them first, then pour them or you might set them on fire.
As a brand inspector since 1996, I've got about a whole text book of tips and tricks. HAHAHA!! | |
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Straight Shooter
Posts: 5725
Location: SW North Dakota | It's also helpful to know that if you aren't running them through very fast, the electric irons get REALLY hot (a lot hotter than a steel iron in a branding pot)- so they flare hair worse and don't take long to blister them. You don't want blisters, just a pretty tan color. Be sure to tan the hide, otherwise you end up with a "hair brand" that's useless later on. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | ND3canAddict - 2016-03-14 12:06 PM
It's also helpful to know that if you aren't running them through very fast, the electric irons get REALLY hot (a lot hotter than a steel iron in a branding pot)- so they flare hair worse and don't take long to blister them. You don't want blisters, just a pretty tan color. Be sure to tan the hide, otherwise you end up with a "hair brand" that's useless later on.
Thanks for the info, my family has actually been branding for years, with an electric one, so I've gotten the hang of actually doing/using it. My folks brand has always just been a G6, so we've always been careful since they are closed (like you mentioned above), they use a 4inch, but we only brand registered replacement heifers and bulls, so were not doing everything.
When I designed my husbands and mine I went with an open letter to avoid any issues, he had had trouble in the past about cattle rubbing them off and ruining them as they run them through, but part of it is their working facility also, so when I went to design BIL I stayed with open letters also, so will hopefully keep us from having any major problems, thanks again for all your info. | |
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Straight Shooter
Posts: 5725
Location: SW North Dakota | Peewee212 - 2016-03-14 1:04 PM ND3canAddict - 2016-03-14 12:06 PM It's also helpful to know that if you aren't running them through very fast, the electric irons get REALLY hot (a lot hotter than a steel iron in a branding pot)- so they flare hair worse and don't take long to blister them. You don't want blisters, just a pretty tan color. Be sure to tan the hide, otherwise you end up with a "hair brand" that's useless later on. Thanks for the info, my family has actually been branding for years, with an electric one, so I've gotten the hang of actually doing/using it. My folks brand has always just been a G6, so we've always been careful since they are closed (like you mentioned above ), they use a 4inch, but we only brand registered replacement heifers and bulls, so were not doing everything. When I designed my husbands and mine I went with an open letter to avoid any issues, he had had trouble in the past about cattle rubbing them off and ruining them as they run them through, but part of it is their working facility also, so when I went to design BIL I stayed with open letters also, so will hopefully keep us from having any major problems, thanks again for all your info.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you didn't know what you are doing! My father in law has ranched his whole life and still seems to want the brand to show up on the OTHER side of the calf! haha. His always blotch. We have a Rocking R, so it can be touchy. Calves are thinner skinned than yearlings, too. We still have a rope and drag branding at our house- my favorite day of the year!! BIG FUN! | |
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Unable to Live Without Chocolate or Coffee
Posts: 1849
| we have a L and H electric brand and its a 4". we try to wait until the calves ae at least 3-4 months old. If you do it sooner the brand gets huge. We got the 4" because we buy yearlings and cows sometimes and I didn't want it to be too small. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | ND3canAddict - 2016-03-14 2:44 PM
Peewee212 - 2016-03-14 1:04 PM ND3canAddict - 2016-03-14 12:06 PM It's also helpful to know that if you aren't running them through very fast, the electric irons get REALLY hot (a lot hotter than a steel iron in a branding pot)- so they flare hair worse and don't take long to blister them. You don't want blisters, just a pretty tan color. Be sure to tan the hide, otherwise you end up with a "hair brand" that's useless later on. Thanks for the info, my family has actually been branding for years, with an electric one, so I've gotten the hang of actually doing/using it. My folks brand has always just been a G6, so we've always been careful since they are closed (like you mentioned above ), they use a 4inch, but we only brand registered replacement heifers and bulls, so were not doing everything. When I designed my husbands and mine I went with an open letter to avoid any issues, he had had trouble in the past about cattle rubbing them off and ruining them as they run them through, but part of it is their working facility also, so when I went to design BIL I stayed with open letters also, so will hopefully keep us from having any major problems, thanks again for all your info.
Oh no, that's fine, I wasn't taking it that way, I appreciate the advice, thanks again. Not going to lie and no offense to men, but my dad has always preferred my mom or I do it (I have 3 brothers), almost like we have just the right touch! Or maybe just more sensitive. I always wanted to be a part of the old fashion branding, absolutely no one does that kind of branding in our area anymore, we round most of our cattle up on four-wheelers too, very rarely do we get the horses out. It actually works really well for us, our cows are pretty tame theses days, so no sense in changing it back.
I will take in to account the calves being thinner skinned, thanks. This will be my first year to do such young ones, still on mama, ours have always been around that 700-900lbs before we brand. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | camocowgirl - 2016-03-14 2:54 PM
we have a L and H electric brand and its a 4". we try to wait until the calves ae at least 3-4 months old. If you do it sooner the brand gets huge. We got the 4" because we buy yearlings and cows sometimes and I didn't want it to be too small.
^^^this is kinda what I was worried about, it being to big or to small. Most everything now is home grown, we have a pretty good genetic program going so nothing is normally purchased from sale barns or others, we keep our own replacements, but with it being my husbands brother im not sure what he'll plan to do in the future. Most all the calves will be around 3 months old, but there could be a few that are only weeks old depending on when we decide to go out to grass this year. Do you think the 4 inch is just overly huge for baby calves? I kinda had in my head I would just stick with a 3inch, but if he were to buy something a little older and brand, would it be way to small? His brand is just and LP, that's off centered, the P connects with the bottom of the L. | |
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Unable to Live Without Chocolate or Coffee
Posts: 1849
| Peewee212 - 2016-03-14 1:02 AM camocowgirl - 2016-03-14 2:54 PM we have a L and H electric brand and its a 4". we try to wait until the calves ae at least 3-4 months old. If you do it sooner the brand gets huge. We got the 4" because we buy yearlings and cows sometimes and I didn't want it to be too small. ^^^this is kinda what I was worried about, it being to big or to small. Most everything now is home grown, we have a pretty good genetic program going so nothing is normally purchased from sale barns or others, we keep our own replacements, but with it being my husbands brother im not sure what he'll plan to do in the future. Most all the calves will be around 3 months old, but there could be a few that are only weeks old depending on when we decide to go out to grass this year. Do you think the 4 inch is just overly huge for baby calves? I kinda had in my head I would just stick with a 3inch, but if he were to buy something a little older and brand, would it be way to small? His brand is just and LP, that's off centered, the P connects with the bottom of the L.
Yeah 4" is too big for babies. We did one calf that was like a few weeks old and the brand is huge. So go with 3" if your going to do them less than 2 months old. It will be small on a full grown cow but just have to deal with that I guess. Unless you want to get two sizes lol | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | camocowgirl - 2016-03-14 4:41 PM
Peewee212 - 2016-03-14 1:02 AM camocowgirl - 2016-03-14 2:54 PM we have a L and H electric brand and its a 4". we try to wait until the calves ae at least 3-4 months old. If you do it sooner the brand gets huge. We got the 4" because we buy yearlings and cows sometimes and I didn't want it to be too small. ^^^this is kinda what I was worried about, it being to big or to small. Most everything now is home grown, we have a pretty good genetic program going so nothing is normally purchased from sale barns or others, we keep our own replacements, but with it being my husbands brother im not sure what he'll plan to do in the future. Most all the calves will be around 3 months old, but there could be a few that are only weeks old depending on when we decide to go out to grass this year. Do you think the 4 inch is just overly huge for baby calves? I kinda had in my head I would just stick with a 3inch, but if he were to buy something a little older and brand, would it be way to small? His brand is just and LP, that's off centered, the P connects with the bottom of the L.
Ill just worry about the babies for now and go with the smaller one. Thanks. | |
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