J.P. Sunshine's calf is about 1 1/2 months old. Early on the morning of June 13th, she sees several riders coming towards her on horseback. JP Sunshine runs to find her calf and get bunched up in a herd with the rest of the cattle. It is Branding Day!

Branding day is an exciting day on Moore Ranch. We brand much like they did in the old times by roping and dragging to the fire. Many of the neighboring cowboys come over to help with the roundup and the work. It is a fun time to see friends and work together.

The cowboys herd JP Sunshine and her calf to the corrals. Once in the corrals, the calves are sorted off in one pen and the cows are sorted into another pen. It is a very loud process.

All of the cows are mooing for their calves and the calves are bellering for their mothers. The cowboys are interested in the day going quickly and smoothly so the mother cows and calves can be reunited as soon as possible. Once all the calves are separated, the branding begins. Everyone has a job.

One cowboy, on a horse, ropes a calf by its back legs. This is the safest way to enable the cowboys to "flank" the calves. It is also much better for the calf than roping it around the neck. The cowboy ropes the calf and pulls him to the fire.

Another cowboy called a "mugger" knows how to handle the calf. One mugger pushes on the rope one direction as another tugs on the tail of the calf in the other direction to roll him over. In a quick instant, the mugger snatches up the calf's front leg and holds him on the ground. Another cowboy takes the rope off the calf's back legs and holds onto the back legs with his hands.

Now the action begins. Two vaccinations or shots are given. This will prevent the calf from getting diseases that often kill young calves. Do you remember getting shots at the doctor's office? Those shots were also vaccinations. They were given to keep you healthy also.

Next the calf is branded and sometimes castrated to make it a steer instead of a bull. The process is over very quickly and the calf is turned loose to return to its mother.

Some ranches also implant the calves. Implanting means putting a chemical called a hormone under the skin in the calf's ear. This implant enhances the calf's growth. At our ranch we do not use implants. We let the calves grow at their own pace naturally.

This is a picture of JP Sunshine's calf being branded. She isn't being hurt, and will be fine as soon as she is back with her mama! A calf's hide is a lot thicker than yours, and tomorrow she will feel like you do when you've skinned your knee.

We got done branding all the calves at 12:30. All the cowboys and kids came to the house for a huge dinner and lots of visiting. In the evening, all the cowboys and their families returned for a great supper and lots of fun.

We brand our calves for the same reason they were branded in the old west. In the old west, there were no fences, and cattle would sometimes end up in the neighboring herds. In order to identify which calves belonged to whom, branding began. Branding was also necessary since cattle rustling occurred. Cattle rustling means someone would come on a ranch and steal cattle. We do have fences today to keep cattle separated, but once in a while cattle will stray and end up with someone else's herd. Cattle with someone else's brand are returned to their owners.

Unfortunately, today, there is still cattle rustling happening. A few years ago, we had 13 head of cattle rustled off of our ranch. If they had not been branded, we wouldn't have been able to prove they belonged to us. The cattle rustler would have stolen $13,000.00 worth of cattle from us! Thanks to the brands, we were able to get the cattle that belonged to us back.