Some of the girls on the crew…………………………………….some of the guys……………………………………… Our first branding of the year took place last Saturday. Branding is a stressful day. For my husband, he has to gather cattle, branding supplies (vaccine, medicine, barrels, irons, wood, and all the little details) and arrrange the time and place for friends, neighbors,…
Tag: cattle
They’re gone!
We have turned out virtually all of our cows! Yay! This is our crew that helped Johnny, Vernon, and I push the last big bunch out Wednesday. I had had a big trip to the dentist the day before… a root canal, temporary crown, and a tooth pulled…yeccchhh! So I helped move cows for just…
Spring trail
It is time FINALLY to turn the cows out to graze…and we’ve been doing exactly that the past three days. It is a time-consuming process. Step One is gathering the pasture they are in and often keeping them in a corner to work them where Step Two takes place. Pairing the cows and baby calves. If…
Scrambled
I have been very lazy with entries lately…and even reading my last one, I can tell how tired I was! I remember falling asleep as I typed. Late nights, early mornings, feeding, and getting extra kinds of exercise are taking its toll. I now doze before my 10 pm checks…and really really want to sleep…
Yawn…
My evening shift at 10 pm has often turned into expeditions lasting until midnight or 1 am. This morning it was EXTREMELY difficult to pull myself out of bed! After my short walk, I turn on the unstable light for the calving shed… half of the time, it turns itself back off as I walk…
Calving Season
It has arrived. Our first babies have hit the ground. What follows will be restless nights and multiple trips to the calving shed. We have a pretty good setup here for calving. To the east side of my yard sits the heifer lot, where this year, 58 heifers will have their first babies. If I…
Preparations
The past few days have been filled with preparations. We begin our calving season soon. Our first due date will be on the 23rd, so we are trying to get ready. The days have been extraordinarily nice with the temperature reaching well into the 40’s. While that sounds, and is, a luxurious warmth, it has…
Glimpses
Glimpses Saw two coyotes head over the rimrock this morning, unhurried, curious, yet wise enough to leave the territory. Dally must be locked up the past few mornings, or she follows us, eager to learn and I am unable to watch her carefully around the hay trailer, yearlings, and soon-to-be momma cows. She must learn…
A Fox Visits
When you get that feeling in the morning that perhaps you should drag your camera along… just in case. Do it! The thought crossed my mind this morning, but protecting it from hay and grain dust seemed too much to bother with. Bad decision. A young fox came by not 15 feet away from Vernon…packing…