A Branding new day

A distinct smell fills the air as the branding iron singes the hair on a calf. The calf screams out, then lays still.

It may look like torture to the untrained eye, but branding day is an organized way to take care of all the calves’ needs at once; two injections, castration – when needed, clipping the ear, and putting the brand on the calf.

Every now and then a calf needs to be dehorned too.

Branding day at the Alden Condict Ranch brought neighbors from all over the Valley to help brand 250 calves in one day.

“Times are changing,” Sarah Keller said. She recalled branding with her and Charon T...