Art of Loading a Cattle Truck

Can you imagine all the factors that go into loading a truck full of f live animals?

Hollywood!

Olathe Boots ($225.), Wrangler Original Jeans ($27.), Scully Vest ($39.) Work Shirt ($30.) Stetson Hat ($85.).....Ranch Work - PRICELESS!

Weaning & Weighing!

Last week my job in the pens was to sort off some calves push them down an alley (close the gate behind me) then push the calves up onto the scales and close the gate to the scales. Its best if you push the same number of calves onto the scales each time so the person doing the weighing doesn't have to keep changing the weights. Doing this job with two people and you can usually push ten calves up onto the scales with one person its a little harder - you've got to be careful. I don't think people realize how athletic cows are - they are fast, can turn on a dime and when they decide to go the other direction - its 550 lbs that is headed towards you. So, when its two calves turning back on you its over a 1000 lbs...you get the picture. You've got to run behind them, shake your paddle, make noise and push them - I usually pushed 6 calves at a time onto the scales. Now, this job will get you in shape -

My work in a Gallery!

No not really. Check out this site - and make your own gallery showing.

King of the Pasture!

This is one of those times when its best to get out of the way! These bulls are usually very quiet but once in awhile one of them has to let the other ones know whose boss!

Busy Bulls!

The vet preg tested 360 of the cows in record time - 92% were pregnant!

Dental Check Up!

This time of year after the calves have been weaned from the mothers - it is time for the mothers to get preg tested. During the preg. test if the cow has any age on her then her teeth get checked! Of course, a cow needs teeth in order to eat - keeps up her strength during pregnancy and after she drops her calf. If she doesn't eat then the calf won't grow. And we all know less weight means less money! Some cows are more cooperative than others when it comes to the dental check!

Living Life

Cowgirl Mantra

I kept telling myself - I am smarter than these cows and three young bulls! It was almost like a mantra. We were moving more cows & calves to be weaned - I was told - you work the area between that gully and the fence line. I politely asked, "If any of them cross the gully am I still responsible for them?" I was told, "N0, just don't leave any behind." Since I once got reprimanded for leaving an ornery bull behind I knew he meant business. Seemed to me like the gully was pretty close to the fence line - I'm thinking this is going to be a piece of cake! Wrong.

My cows did not seem the least bit interested in moving south towards the gate we were pushing them thru. The gully began running further and further from the fence line. One cow insisted on running over to some other bellowing momma cows in the next pasture which was in the wrong direction. I worked Dudley back and forth and back forth from the gully to the fence line trying to get the cows to move. Now, it really didn't help that I had three young bulls in one group - leaderless bulls I must add. They would move about 25 feet and stop. I kept repeating my mantra - I am smarter than these cows and three young bulls..it felt like I was trying to move a mountain....What I did learn was I should of pushed the cows 100 to 200 yards towards the gate and then gone back for the bulls instead of trying to get them all gathered same time. But when my three young bulls crossed the gully and I handed them off to the ranch manager I grinned from ear to ear!! Later as we were riding together I told him my mantra - he laughed and said, "I've been doing this for over forty years and cows still do things that amaze me." He had also seen me struggling with the bulls.

Weaning Calves

We started early moving the cows and calves from the trap - into the pens (those dot in the top picture are cow and calves)- it was early, the air was crisp and the wind was beginning to blow...
After we gathered them into the pens, Dale started sorting off the calves. I stayed out of the way and tied Dudley inside a pen that wasn't being used. Then, I was asked to help!! The task at hand was to put 10 calves in the alley from one pen and push them onto the scale. The trick was to make sure we had only ten in the alley to push onto the scale -that way the scale didn't have to be reconfigured each time. I'm kind of short so counting calves from the ground accurately isn't one of my greatest talents! As we were getting our 10 calves in the alley the gate operators were allowing more calves into the alley as Dale was sorting them. So we had to move quickly either pushing the correct number of calves from the pen or using the ones Dale was pushing into the alley or a combination of both. It was fun and fast though around cows you need to move quietly as not to get them excited. The wind blew all day and I actually had wind burn on my face. Once we had all the calves weaned they were shipped to another area to graze for 45 days. What a fun day!

Ridin Fence, Findin Fence or Buildin Fence

For the past three weeks - I've either been ridin fence, findin fence or buildin fence. Which do I prefer? - ridin fence can become tedious and boring - hour after hour, up & down hills, climbin over rocks,.....as for findin fence - it can be rough - thick bushes, creeks, bogs, cliffs - it is definitely for the rough and tough! Don't get me wrong I've seen some beautiful country hunting for fences! Now, building and fixing fence thats the ultimate - take for instance the 20 yards of fence that was washed out in the creek -now, once we found it - trekking thru brush that was over my head down to a pretty little creek that only had a few inches of water - at 2 PM - no fence to speak off - armed with a machete and an ax - cutting down brush, limbs and looking for salvageable materials (wire/fence posts) - who wants to wade thru the throny bushes again to go back to the truck for materials? By 5:30 PM the fence it rebuilt in the creek! Now, thats satisfaction. Wish I had before and after pictures to show! You will have to settle for a ridin fence photo!