They predicted 2″ – 4″. We are laying under a blanket of 9.5″. With .9″ of moisture. It looks like Christmas now!
Today was Bangs Vaccination Day, did you celebrate??? Well, no, I don’t suppose you did… but this annual inoculation for our yearling heifers took up most of the day. This morning was spent with a dab of cleaning, and making of lunch (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and brownies). I then rushed off to help with the bangs paperwork…
Our vet administers the brucellosis, or bangs, vaccination. He then tattoos his vet seal and number into the right ear. A metal id clip is then pierced onto the top of the ear. Brucellosis is a constant fight for some ranchers, especially those on the western side of Wyoming, where oftentimes elk can spread it to cattle. We don’t have that fight over here, thank goodness, but we have to vaccinate for it anyway. Brucellosis can cause cattle to abort their calves and the bacteria is shed at the time of the abortion. Other cattle can then pick it up and continue the cycle.
My job consists of writing down our eartag number and the bangs id number. We can cross check if one or the other tags is lost. I then called out which way they went as we split them into two corrals.
After an hour or so of work, we came back to my place where I zapped lunch… cleaned up… and we went back to work.
It was mostly a grey day, but at the end, blue skies and sunshine broke through. Although, my hands were freezing anyway! It’s pretty hard to wear gloves and turn pages of paper… I wasn’t thinking and left my fingertip gloves at home. Silly me! Even my stash of chemical hand warmer was pathetic! I’m going to have to buy some new ones!!!
We finished this little project just as the sun was sinking and I was gifted a few good photos on the way home.
Hard work always pays off. Just sorry for your cold hands. But, part of me envies you. I miss working the cows. I do get to help one neighbor during calving in Feb./March. There is something inside you that makes you smile when a hard job gets done.