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Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to hot branding large stock with a branding iron , though the term now includes alternative techniques.
The history of branding is very much tied to the history of using animals as a commodity. The act of marking livestock with fire-heated marks to identify ownership begins in ancient times with the ancient Egyptians. [1] The process continued throughout the ages, with both Romans and American colonists using the process to brand slaves as well. [2]
Cattle being earmarked and electrically branded An earmarked donkey. An earmark is a cut or mark in the ear of livestock animals such as cattle, deer, pigs, goats, camels or sheep, made to show ownership, year of birth or sex. The term dates to the 16th century in England. [1]
Branding of the Huguenot John Leclerc during the 16th century persecutions. Whipping and branding of thieves in Denmark, 1728. In criminal law, branding with a hot iron was a mode of punishment consisting of marking the subject as if goods or animals, sometimes concurrently with their reduction of status in life.
Cowboys at the XIT Ranch in 1891. The XIT Ranch was a cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle which operated from 1885 to 1912. Comprising over 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km 2) of land, it ran for 200 miles (300 km) along the border with New Mexico, varying in width from 20 to 30 miles (30 to 50 km).
Livestock branding is known for thousands of years (the Code of Hammurabi mandated it almost 4000 years ago [6]); other forms of signs indicating ownership are monograms and heraldic symbols. [11] Libraries use ownership marks in the form of bookplates, rubber stamps, embossed seals. [12]
Most report pain, edema and sloughing of skin. Branding times vary but most are strongly overbranded, perhaps due a naive assumption that human skin requires the same brand durations as those of cattle and horses. Branding times up to 30 seconds have been recorded, although even 10 seconds have proved sufficient to produce a third degree cryoburn.
The Branding is traditionally concluded with a large western dinner. Cattle are no longer shipped to market by train, but rather by cattle truck. Aircraft are used to locate cattle in large pastures, spot downed fences and for ranch business abroad. Bixby Black Angus cattle are nationally recognized for both their quality and genetics.