Freeze Branding

Improving the performance of any herd requires good cow identification. One of the best ways for identifying individual cows is freeze branding.

Freeze branding is a relatively painless and very effective form of permanent identification for cattle. It is of great visibility from a distance providing a crisp and clear mark, thus enabling easy identification of cattle without having to restrain the animal to examine ear tags. Freeze branding is particularly effective in large herds where visually recognising each cow is impossible. As freeze branding is permanent, it can also be useful for identifying a cow should the worse happen and both ear tags go missing. 

Freeze branding is the process of using a super cold iron to alter the colour pigment producing cells in the hair follicles, the result is that white or colourless hair instead of coloured hair grows at the brand site. On light coloured animals the bald appearance is desirable, as the bald appearance with no hair shows up better than a white brand. Traditionally dairy cows have been branded on the top of the  leg to either side of the tail and beef cows on the front shoulder or rear plate.

After the animal has been branded a scab will form over the brand. This will fall off after 3-4 weeks and after this healthy un-pigmented hair will start to grow. It will be a further 3-4 weeks before the brands are fully formed.

We offer a top quality freeze branding service for cattle throughout Scotland and wider. There is no call out fee or minimum charge. No job is too small or too big. Numbers and letters are available. As standard we use 3” number and letter irons, though 2” and 4 ½ ” are available on request. To discuss freeze branding or to book a visit, please call Stevie on 07850184313 or 01501 785323. Alternatively email srcattleservices@btconnect.com.