How to brand an animal for life

Theiss demonstrated the procedure. As with fire branding, at least in the best of worlds, the cattle to be branded should be restrained. Although the cattle and other animals do not react nearly as strongly to freeze branding as they do to fire branding, the irons must be held in place a little longer with freeze branding. > FROSTY WAY TO BRAND AN ANIMAL FOR LIFE

Historically, the origin of branding livestock dates from 2700 B.C., the year archeologists date paintings in Egyptian tombs that document branding oxen with hieroglyphics. Ancient Greeks and Romans marked livestock and slaves with a hot iron and, over on this side of the world, Hernando Cortez introduced branding from Spain to the New World in 1541.

People today use microchipping in their horses, but the chips travel around the horse’s body and offer no way for an owner looking for a lost animal to find that animal from afar, Theiss noted.