Farm animal identification : brand legiblility in beef cattle as affected by various freeze branding procedures

The purposes of this study were to determine the effects of exposure time, refrigerant, site preparation, breed and location on legibility, the amount of white hair and baldness in beef cattle resulting from freeze branding.

Data for this study were obtained from cattle at The University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Stations at Crossville and Alcoa. The legibility scores, white hair scores and baldness scores were determined by four independent scorers. Eighteen Angus, twelve Hereford-Angus crossbreds and thirty-six Herefords were used in this experiment.

The results of this study show that the most useful brand was obtained by using dry ice and alcohol for fifty seconds, after the branding site had been surgically clipped. The results indicated that there is indeed a need for longer exposure times for freeze branders. Closer clipping of the brand site prior to branding also resulted in a greater number of acceptable brands.

Both refrigerants used in this study, dry ice with alcohol and liquid nitrogen, resulted in readable and acceptable brands.