Well, I've never branded, hot or cold, so this is an opinion not based on experience, but on what I've read. I agree with pdfangus for the following reasons. Most registrys demand some kind of permanent I.D. on the animals. From what I've read, cold branding is less painful than hot branding for the reasons pdfangus stated. I have another consideration. I have mules, in addition to horses and donkeys. Mules have an incredible memory, and I don't want to be the one out for a ride or drive when that mule remembers that I put a hot iron to his butt. Mules make much better friends than enemies. Also, if you had to be branded and had a choice, which would you choose? As pdfangus says, you can do it with dry ice and alcohol. Besides, the dry ice will be quite efficient at keeping the beer cold and the nuts preserved so you can take them back to the ranch house for a proper nutfest.....

I feel the same way. I don't believe in docking rubbers either. A hot iron and a sharp knife is the only way to go.

I've grown up with regular fire branding and i don't think that i would even dare true to freeze brand. it sound's like to much of a mess and way to expensive. I think that i'll stick with the regular good old fire branding so that i can still smell the hide burnin!!!

I gotta agree whole heartedly. Maby it's the idea that like other things today they are takeing away another part of our way of liveing history. As to the idea they will quit cutting nuts, some have, with their banding and bezezring practices. I proved to many a few years back that a calf or goat that was cut would get over it quicker and be back on the gain. Besides. where would a cowboy get lunch if he didn't have a few oysters to cook in the branding fire that heated his branding iron?

I have hot branded and I have freeze branded.

I made the decision years ago that freeze branding was the way for me to go.

Just because somthing is traditional does not make it necessarily the best way.

done right the freeze makes a better and more readable brand and it is certainly more humane.

also with the freeze there is the option of actually making the brand individual animal ID rather than just a mark of ownership.

I could not bear to put four hot irons on an animal but four cold irons are almost pain free. the cold numbs the area.

I use dry ice and alcohol rather than the nitrogen.