Yes, there’s snow on the ground, and I spent the day cooking. Yesterday, though, I took pics of a new piece of equipment… This is our new maternity pen for cows. Betchya never heard of these! When cows need help calving for whatever reason… large calf, breech presentation, or whatever, we can use this setup…
Category: Cattle
Being Here
I have to admit, running inside from putting up outdoor Christmas decorations because Brandon just texted me is one thing… but to be able to pull up the live auction happening in Riverton, Wyoming is super cool. Lacee and Reagan and I could text Brandon… watch it be delivered and read by him on his…
Yay or Nay?
Time to help the guys… Our heifers have been around my house, eating in the fields… but it’s time to sort them. Brandon has the paperwork and their lifetime stats. Birthweight. Wean weight. Average Daily Gain. Due dates. Genetics. Now it’s time to gather them up and sort them. Will they stay or will they…
Time to Pony Up Again
Initially, I had said I’d help trail the cows out, but that I may use the side by side. After that last long ride down the Mesa, my knee bothered me for quite a while. I’ve rolled my eyes plenty of times when the quiet is broken by loud motors… but better to have wheeled…
The Sort
So between cowboys and four wheeler riders, the cows and calves were penned. Time to separate them. Cows out the gate, calves into another pen. That meant two guys sorting them… with others running backup for when calves scooted by on accident. Three cowboys gathered up a dozen or so and urged them towards the…
Today’s Strategy
Sunrise at 7:45 or so. We’d left the house sooner than that. We had sold our steer calves in July and it was time to load them on trucks. It’s never so simple. They were grazing with their mommas in the fields, so gathering said fields was the first order of business. Vernon, me, Daniel,…
Miserable
After the big long day, the next day, I headed to work. I only work two days a week at the library, but often it seems, I miss out on ranch work. Megan took this one photo for me on Wednesday. Leaving the heifers behind at my place, they trailed the rest of the herd…
Long Day
The fog had hung low and so we waited for sunshine. An hour later than anticipated, we began. Daniel and I on the lower end, Vernon, Brandon, Megan, and Quinlan on the upper side. The cows were not very cooperative and we couldn’t blame them. Fall had been glorious. Moisture was abundant. Grass was plentiful….
Gate Guardian
This is our “Horse Pasture” where the cows we had gathered the afternoon before got to spend the night. We arrived early, with frost still on the ground, to saddle up. There was a slight delay as some cowboys were sent to bring in three that had given us the slip and more cowboys had…
Breathe
Thanks to those of you who commented on yesterday’s post. I believe they were probably the most thoughtful and heartfelt comments I’ve received. I’ve had to spend a great deal of time in Worland this week and lunch hour was a quiet time. I’d sit out in the sunshine and have to give my stomach…
I Needed This
I needed this. All eight grandkids, my “kids”, two sweet daughters-in-law, and Vernon zipping around somewhere in the side by side. Gorgeous fall day. Horseback. Riding the mountain pasture to prepare to bring them off the top of the mountain tomorrow. “This God forsaken Land” by Juanita Leach has been rolling through my mind lately….
Memory Lingers
The creak of leather and horseshoes on rock. The squelch of mud as you cross a boggy spring. A calf bawls for its mom and ten cows reply. The panting of dogs gets louder then recedes as they weave behind the herd in an intricate pattern. A barely perceptible swiiiiish as tall grass grazes your…