Alcohol is sprayed directly on the area to be branded.

Springtime freeze-branding is one of those jobs that gets squeezed in between calf working and A.I. & E.T. work! The irons are placed in a combination of dry ice and alcohol and allowed to get frosty. This takes about 30 minutes.

After cleaning the hair and hide with a cattle blower, the area to be branded is shaved close with a flathead clipper.

The procedure is repeated for each number and letter to be applied.

Then the irons are pressed onto the hide for approximately 45 seconds. This timing is done with a stopwatch to ensure that each number is branded for the full 45 seconds.

Weather details (wind, temp, rain), who held which irons on, whether the animal cooperated or not, etc., is all recorded so that we can look back on our records and see what worked and what didn't.