418 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



been quite vicious. The operation of 

 dehorning adult cattle should prefera- 

 bly be performed in mild weather, 

 neither during extreme cold nor during 

 fly time. If flies cause trouble by de- 

 positing eggs in the wounds where the 

 horns are removed, these wounds may 

 be protected by tar or some similar ap- 

 plication. 



The removal of the horns from adult 

 cattle has the effect of checking their 

 growth for a few days. In steers some 

 loss of weight may take place. Other- 

 wise no serious bad effects are noted, 

 and the animals usually recover entirely 

 from dehorning within about two weeks. 

 In dehorning steers it is usually neces- 

 sary to confine them in some form of 

 chute. In a dehorning experiment 

 made in Arizona it was found that 



and which cannot be changed without 

 legal procedure. Cattle bearing this 

 brand belong to the man whose legal 

 brand it is, wherever the cattle may be 

 found. Local and in some cases quite 

 extensive cattle associations have been 

 formed to attend to the management of 

 range cattle in a more economical man- 

 ner. In the spring the first annual 

 round-up occurs, at which time the 

 calves are all branded, each calf receiv- 

 ing the brand carried by its mother. 

 Again in the fall, at the second round- 

 up, those steers which are suitable for 

 shipment to cattle markets are cut out 

 from the herd, sold, and returns made 

 for them to the righful owners, as in- 

 dicated by the brands which they bear. 

 Any calves which are found in the fall 

 to have escaped branding are branded 



274 — BRANDING 



steers lost about 50 pounds as a result 

 of the process. Where the wounds were 

 covered with a coat of cresylic ointment 

 and pine tar, flies did no damage; 

 otherwise some trouble was experienced 

 with fly maggots; a treatment with the 

 same ointment was sufficient to check 

 the trouble. 



Branding — Throughout the western 

 range country, conditions prevail which 

 make it absolutely necessary to brand 

 all cattle. The absence of fences and 

 the fact that cattle are allowed to roam 

 sometimes hundreds of miles from the 

 owner's ranch house and mingle with 

 the cattle of other range men precludes 

 the possibility of identifying cattle ex- 

 cept by the use of a brand. In order 

 to prevent theft and irregularities it has 

 been found necessary for each ranchman 

 to adopt a brand for his cattle, which 

 must be registered with state officials 



with a design adopted by the associa- 

 tion and become the property of the as- 

 sociation, being sold to help in meeting 

 the expenses of the round-ups and 

 branding. 



In branding cattle several methods 

 have been adopted. They may be roped 

 singly, without confining in chutes, and 

 held by trained horses, to which the 

 ropes are attached while the hot iron 

 is applied. Some cattlemen, however, 

 prefer to run the cattle into a corral, 

 from which they are passed through a 

 regular branding chute, in which they 

 may be confined by a swinging gate 

 while they are branded. Some injury 

 is done to the hide by the process of 

 branding, and on this account the hide 

 is worth somewhat less than that of un- 

 branded cattle; there seems, however, 

 no way of avoiding this slight injury. 

 On our western ranges, as well as in 



