Freeze branding is a pretty basic procedure for permanently identifying livestock. Whether learning to brand to do your own livestock or to provide a service for the public, the procedure is the same. There are a few required items needed for a successful brand to be put on an animal. Since liquid nitrogen is used, you will need some sort of storage container for it. If you are only doing a few animals from time to time, you might find it more feasible to rent a tank from a liquid nitrogen supplier than actually purchasing one. You can locate a supplier in your area by contacting local welding, medical or artificial insemination businesses. Used nitrogen tanks can be located at online auction sites but be careful of costly shipping amounts, as some tanks are extremely heavy. Expect to pay $150 and up for a used tank. You will need a good pair of clippers with replaceable blades. Electric or battery operated will depend on whether you will be branding your own livestock at the barn or if you will be working for the public and possibly branding out in an open field. I personally have battery clippers that run approximately $150.00. Clipper blades (you will need a #40 or surgical blade) will cost anywhere from $20 to $45 each. You will also need to locate someone that will sharpen your blades for you from time to time. This will cost you approximately $3.00 - $5.00 each. You will need to restrain the animal in some way while being branded. A simple twitch can be used on horses and can be made out of an axe handle with soft cotton rope or a metal twitch can be purchased for about $5.00. Cattle will need to be put in a squeeze chute, which most cattle owners should have access to. A simple kitchen timer is used, preferably a digital counter-timer that you set how many seconds you want on it and it counts down to zero then an alarm goes off. These can be found at any store that carries small kitchenware and runs about $10.00 each. A styrofoam container is needed for placing the irons into the nitrogen. A cheap cooler is perfect for this but make sure it has thick walls on it so that the irons bumping it will not break it. I have found that placing the cooler in a plastic storage crate helps to reinforce it and prevent breakage. You will need a plastic spray bottle to dispense the alcohol (99%) which can be located in mail order catalogs (shipping is expensive as it is considered hazardous material) or from a local supplier. I purchase mine from a local auto paint shop that buys it in 55-gallon drums and sells it to me for about $5.00 a gallon as I need it. Now the big expense naturally, is your branding irons. Irons come in different sizes for different types of animals. Most cattle owners prefer a larger brand than horse owners do, as the brands will be easier to read from a distance. Average size irons for cattle run 3 - 4 inches, while horse irons run from 2 - 3 inches. I have one set of irons and they are 2 1/2 inches to use both on the horses and cattle. My business is mainly horses so I tend to cater more to the size needed for horses. If a cattle owner prefers a larger size, I will offer to sell him a larger set of numbers/letters if he so desires. A set of 2 1/2 letters runs approximately $345.00 and numbers $133.00 plus shipping. Additional irons to be considered to start off with would be the basic rafter (^), rocker (half circle), circle, bar, etc. These run approximately $25.00 to $50.00 each. (PLEASE CHECK CURRENT PRICES ON WEB SITE!!)
With any brands that I sell, I will help in any way to teach you how to brand effectively and will continue to answer any questions that might come up. To help you get started, there is a video put out that will cover the branding process from beginning to end which is helpful if you have never seen this process done. It sells for $29.95 plus shipping.