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User:Baylover7/sandbox/Freeze branding

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Freeze branding is a branding process that involves the use of liquid nitrogen or dry ice and alcohol to cool a branding iron so that the iron may then be used to remove the pigmentation of an animal's hair follicles. This causes the hair in the branded area to grow back white. It is most commonly used as an identification mark for ownership.

Freeze branding is used as an alternative to the more traditional hot branding. This process involves the use of a hot iron to scar an animal's skin. This can be painful and traumatizing to the animal however. Freeze branding has been gaining in popularity as a more ethical way to permanently mark and identify animals. There has been some debate however as to if it truly is less painful, and studies have been done to determine the truth to this claim. Most agree that freeze branding is indeed less painful. [1]

Freeze branding is done by cooling the branding iron to a temperature of -160 to -250 degrees Celsius, depending on the coolant used, and then pressing the brand to a shaved patch of skin on a pigmented animal. The area will be temporarily inflamed but will heal within a few days. After two to three months the hair will be fully regrown, without pigment. The hair will continue to grow white from that point onward, so this is still permanent for animals that shed their coats.[2]

Overview

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Freeze branding was developed by Dr. Keith Farrell of Pullman, WA and was first used in Sweden around 1966.[3] Since then it has become more popular for use in marking and identifying animals. It is a relatively painless and easy way to permanently distinguish pigmented animals.

There are benefits and drawbacks to freeze branding as opposed to hot-iron branding. Some of the benefits are that it causes almost no permanent harm to the animal’s skin, it is far less painful than a hot-iron brand, the freeze brands are highly visible no matter the time of year, and there is less blotching and distortion with a freeze brand. However freeze branding can have some problems. For example, it takes a lot longer to do properly than a hot brand and requires a lot more specialized equipment. Also, the hair must grow back in before the brand can be read and results can vary from animal to animal. If it is to be used to denote ownership, one must be careful because some states do not recognize it as a legal marking of property.[4]


Why It Works

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The purpose of freeze branding is to change the color of the animal’s hair to white without preventing hair growth. This effect is created by killing the hair’s color follicle (CF), causing the hair to grow without pigment. It therefore appears white, even though it is actually colorless. If the branding iron is applied for too long however, it will also freeze the growth follicle (GF), causing the hair to stop growing entirely. On light colored animals, this is done intentionally to leave a bald patch of dark skin.[2]



Procedure

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Equipment Necessary

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There are a couple of pieces of equipment necessary for freeze branding. The first is a branding iron, which should be made of a copper alloy because of its temperature holding capacity. The second is hair clippers, which should be sharp so as to minimize the amount of hair leftover. A cleaning solution for the clippers should be obtained. A liquid coolant, either dry ice or liquid nitrogen, will be used as well as a special container that can hold it and the irons.[5]

Alcohol should be used to clean the area previous to the application if the brand. The alcohol must have a purity of 99%, or else it will not be effective because the other liquids will begin to freeze, turning the mixture into slush. The alcohol should be replaced after a time, because it automatically incorporates water from the air into itself.[2]

Preparation

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In order to prepare for branding, one must choose a site to brand. This is important because certain states and counties have different laws on legal brand placement. Another factor when choosing location is the muscle underneath the skin. If part of the brand is pressed against muscle and the other part against bone, this will cause the pressure exerted on the head of the brand to be uneven. This can result in an uneven brand.[2]

The branding irons will take approximately 20-30 minutes to cool. Ensure that the entire iron is submerged when cooling. Uneven cooling will cause the iron to brand unevenly. Liquid nitrogen should cool the iron to a temperature of -240 to -250 Celsius. Dry ice on the other hand will not get as cold, only -160 to -180 Celsius.[2]

Before branding, the indicated area must be shaved as close to the skin as possible. This area should then be soaked with alcohol before removing the excess liquid. The area must then be re-wet with the alcohol before applying the iron.[2]

Process

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The brand should be removed from the coolant and pressed to the animal’s hide for a few moments before being returned to the container.

The length of time the brand should be applied for varies based on a number of factors. These factors include the composition of the metal the irons are made from, the age of the animal, the thickness of the skin, the color or pigment to the coat, and the amount of hair in between the brand and skin.[2]

Example times given:

Animal Coolant Application Time
Colt Liquid Nitrogen (LN) 6-12 sec
Dry Ice and Alcohol (DI&A) 16-24 sec
Horse LN 8-12 sec
DI&A 20-24 sec
Calf LN 21-24 sec
DI&A 40-50 sec
Cow LN 25-30 sec
DI&A 50-60 sec
  • Darker animals require min amount of time suggested.[2]

If more than one animal is being branded, the clippers must be washed with liquid solvent in between the shaving of the animals. One or more minutes will be necessary in between brands for the iron to re-cool.[4]

Healing

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Immediately after branding the indented pattern shows for a few seconds. After a few minutes the swelling will begin and it will subside after five days. After a month the top layer of skin will shed and after two months the white hair will begin to grow. At three months the process is complete and the full freeze brand is visible.[2]

Debate on Freeze Branding vs Hot Branding

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Freeze branding is often hailed as a more ethical way to denote ownership of livestock instead of the theoretically more painful hot branding. However many doubt this claim. Studies have been done on the subject in order to try and scientifically measure the pain of the animals during and after the branding process. This will allow for impartial data on the subject.

In one study, pain was measured by monitoring heart rate as well as plasma cortisol, plasma epinephrine, and hormone concentration through the collection of blood samples. An increase in any of these or vocalization of behalf of the subject was said to indicate an increase in pain.

In order to do this, twenty-seven calves were branded with either a hot-iron brand (H), freeze brand (F), or a sham brand (S), with the sham branded cattle acting as a control group. A jugular cannula is a tube that is inserted into the jugular vein in order to convey fluid and collect data; these were inserted into each calf one day previous to the experiment. To minimize systematic bias, researchers used blocking to separate by temperament, weight, and sex. Random assignment was called upon to denote the order and day on which they were supposed to be branded.

While being branded, ten blood samples and heart rate measurements were taken at uneven intervals between five minutes pre- and twenty minutes post-branding. Mean concentrations of plasma epinephrine (EPI) at 30 seconds were higher for H calves than F and S calves. Heart rates, hormone concentrations, and EPI were increased for H calves. They were compared based on the proportions and differences of pre- vs post- branding levels. In terms of vocalization, one H and two F calves expressed distress during branding.[1]

In another similar experiment, they also monitored the calves’ escape-avoidance reaction. The vertical movement of a calf during branding was used as an operational definition for avoidance of the brand. It was determined that H calves tried to escape the branding iron more than the F and S calves.[6]

It was determined by these two experiments that due to the fact that the hot-iron branded calves experienced increased plasma epinephrine concentration, heart rate, plasma cortisol, and escape-avoidance reactions, that they experienced more pain than the freeze branded and sham branded calves.

Common Usage

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Freeze brands are used in a number of ways. For example, they are used as an indicator that an animal belongs to a herd, which are all marked with the same brand, and as a way to tag animals that will later be recaptured for research. It is typically used on cattle, horses, and dogs.

Horses

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Horses are often branded using a freeze brand as a way to denote ownership. Different ranches will usually have a unique brand that they mark their horses with. The brand is usually located on a horse’s haunches. A notable exception to this is mustangs, which have a freeze brand on their neck.

Horses are branded using both hot-iron branding and freeze branding. Freeze branding is gaining in popularity as dry ice becomes more widely available to the general public.


The above figure shows the International Alpha Angle System.

Mustangs

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Since April of 1978, all mustangs and burros rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service have been identified with a unique, painless freeze-mark on the left hand side of their neck. Since then it has become extremely rare to find a mustang without a freeze brand.[3]

The brand first denotes the registering organization, which is the US Government, as it is the BLM that brands the mustangs. This is followed by the year of birth of the mustang, which is the two numbers immediately following the registration symbol. They are stacked vertically and it only shows the last two digits of the birth year. The last section is the registration number. This consists of six numbers that indicates the area that the mustang comes from.[7]

All numbers are written using the International Alpha Angle Symbol because they cannot be changed or altered in any way. This is critical because it preserves the integrity of the original brand, making the mark unchangeable and the system reliable.[3]



Here are some registration numbers and the areas they represent:

AZ CA CO ID MT
080001-160000 160001-240000 240001-320000 320001-400000 400001-480000
NV NM OR UT WY
480001-640000 640001-720000 000000-080000 720001-800000 800001-880000

Eastern States: 880001+ [7]


Cattle

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Herds of cattle are often marked using a freeze brand to show the herd that they belong to. Other methods of doing this include ear tags, ear notches, ear tattoos, and electronic identification. These are often used in conjunction to freeze branding, with one being an individual marker and the other, usually the freeze brand, denoting the herd.[8]

Although it is generally accepted that freeze branding is less painful than hot-iron branding, it is still less commonly used. This is due to the fact that freeze branding is more expensive because the materials are less common and can evaporate if they are not kept properly cooled. To heat a brand, all you need is a fire, which is easily made. To freeze it requires either liquid nitrogen or dry ice. These are both relatively uncommon, especially in the rural areas that are more likely to have livestock.

Scientific Tagging

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Freeze branding is one of the few ways of marking an animal that meets all of William Ricker’s requirements for an effective marking system. William Ricker was a scientist interested in developing ways to effective mark animals in scientific experiments. His four requirements are 1) it shouldn’t change the animal’s behavior or their ability to survive; 2) it shouldn’t affect the animal’s vulnerability to capture; 3) it should allow each individual to be marked uniquely and 4) it should not be temporary. The purpose of this is to create an identifying system that does not unintentionally influence scientific data.[9]

Freeze branding was tested as a marking system on frogs. The two current ways of marking amphibians to be recaptured is tagging and mutilation. Freeze branding is an example of tagging. It has no permanent affects besides the ability to identify individuals. Mutilation on the other hand can particularly affect an individual’s life history. Toe-clipping is used fairly commonly, but it can affect the anuran’s motor skills and can cause weight loss. These things will all affect the mortality rate of the amphibians. Very few methods meet all of the requirements; however freeze branding is one of them.[9]

When testing freeze branding, it was used to mark frogs that were then released into the wild and later recaptured. One set of researchers used a branding iron made of copper wire, cooled by dry ice for 30 minutes. The brand was then applied to the anuran’s skin for about ten seconds. The brand was then re-cooled for 20-30 seconds before being applied to a new frog. By using different numbers, orientations, and differentiating by sex, it is possible to create a number of combinations in order to mark large numbers of frogs.

The brands were all healed and readable within 24 hours, making them immediately effective. The branded area gradually loses its pigmentation over time so that older brands are almost completely transparent, showing their long term benefit.[9]

Freeze branding meets all of Ricker’s requirements. It doesn’t change the animal’s ability to survive, either by making it more visible to predators or by inhibiting its movement or agility. It doesn’t affect the animal’s ease of capture. It allows for a large number of completely unique marks. Finally, it is permanent and irremovable.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Lay, D C; Friend, T H; Randel, R D; Bowers, C L; Grissom, K K; Jenkins, O C. "Behavioral and physiological effects of freeze or hot-iron branding on crossbred cattle". Journal of Animal Science. American Society of Animal Science. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Riggs, Paul; Householder, Doug. "Operating Instruction for L&H Freeze Branders". L&H Branding Irons. L&H Branding Irons. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Wild Horse and Burro Freezemarks". KBR's World of Wild Horses and Burros. KBR Horse Net. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b Torell, Ron; Riggs, Willie. "Freeze Branding Ranch Animals" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno. University of Nevada, Reno. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. ^ Lalman, Dave; Bates, Frank; Apple, Ken. "Freeze Branding Cattle" (PDF). Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. ^ Lay, Donald; Friend, Ted; Grissom, Ken; Bowers, Cynthia; Mal, Michael. "Effects of freeze or hot-iron branding of angus calves on some physiological and behavioral indicators of stress". Science Direct. Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. ^ a b "How to Read a Freezemark". Bureau of Land Management. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  8. ^ Parish, Jane; Rhinehart, Justin. "Freeze Branding Beef Cattle" (PDF). Mississippi State University. Extension Service Mississippi State University. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d Daugherty, Charles. "Freeze-Branding as a Technique for Marking Anurans". Copeia. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH). Retrieved 16 November 2014.
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