William (Bill) Armstrong's photos with the keyword: branding

After the cattle are branded, and in some cases given ear tags, they are released from the corral and begin the journey back to their respective ranches.

In 2006 I witnessed a cattle branding for the first time. Cattle form six ranches were trailed to a corral, where cowboys sorted them out for branding. To a tenderfoot like me it looks like organized chaos, which I tried to portray in this image.

At a community branding event a cowboy prepares to lasso an uncooperative cow. This image was taken from a file of jpegs on a cd, transferred from film.

Ranchers preparing to bring calves out of a holding pen. This image taken originally on film.

It appears the calf on the left is receiving two branding irons, while two ranchers on the right prepare another calf for branding. This image was taken at a community branding event near Val Marie, Saskatchewan, in 2006.

A calf is lassoed in preparation for the branding. I think the cow on the other side of the fence is likely the anxious mother.

Cows and their calves are gathered for a community branding near Val Marie, Saskatchewan. About a dozen ranchers gathered their cattle for this event. One white cow on the left really stands out.

At a community branding almost everyone has a job to do. The exceptions are the young ones, who watch from the sidelines. Within a few years these boys will be assigned chores.

Cattle being herded into a holding pen on branding day, near Val Mare, Saskatchewan. The calves are then separated from their mothers, branded and returned to their mothers.

Calves being branded as six ranchers come together for the annual branding event. Taken near Val Marie, Saskatchewan in 2006.

In 2006 I witnessed a community branding event for the first time. Five or six ranchers drove their cattle to a central corral, where the calves were separated from their mothers and branded. It is a well organized operation, with each calf branded with the distinctive mark of the ranch it belongs to. This image shows the cattle being sorted before the branding.