By Texas Homesteader~
This heifer born on our ranch last week is T-I-N-Y, only about 40 lbs! She’s the smallest calf we’ve ever had – but so beautiful. Welcome to the ranch, little one!
~TxH~
by Texas Homesteader
When we’re weaning calves we like to fenceline them when at all possible. This allows mama and baby to see each other and eases their anxiety during the weaning transition.
We typically bring the calves into the barn pen where we have pretty heavily-fortified fences to allow the mama and baby to see each other. But the fences are strong enough to keep baby separated.
by Texas Homesteader ~
We were forced to reduce our herd in 2011 and 2012 due to the gripping drought that held us captive those years. We have maintained a lower stocking rate and use temporary stocker cows of different breeds during times when the grass was plentiful, selling them when the grass waned. It was a painful decision but that flexibility allowed us to continue our ranching operation and emerge strong.
by Texas Homesteader ~
As much as we love our home in Northeast Texas, we’ve been pretty tied to the homestead while dealing with an illness and are just now able to get away for short familial visits. We had such occasion recently to venture to the west Texas town of Amarillo to visit a favored aunt and uncle for what was deemed Celebration Weekend.
We were treated to many beautiful sights along our travels west: There were all manner of beautiful country views spotlighting both current and long-forgotten ranch and farm buildings – some still bustling with activity and some merely whispers of the past.
by Texas Homesteader ~
When we first purchased our property neither one of us had ever lived or worked on a ranch and we had no idea where to start. Thankfully one of our first local acquaintances was a veteran cattleman who purchased our first calves for us at a livestock auction.
Not only were we holding down full-time jobs in Dallas without flexibility to attend these auctions ourselves but we’d never been to an auction before and were very intimidated by the entire process. This wonderful gentleman purchased those calves and brought them to his corrals to work them for us, then delivered them to our own fledgling ranch. He is a valued friend and mentor even today.
by Texas Homesteader
In November 2010, RancherMan became a certified A.I. technician. Our plan was to sell our registered black Angus bull and start producing our calves using A.I. instead. In April 2011 we began to A.I. our registered Hereford cows. That cow bred with her first A.I. The result was our very first A.I. calf. How exciting!
by RancherMan
We’ve all heard this at one time or another. Maybe at the vet, maybe at the auction or even while helping a friend work some new cattle. Wild cow!
No matter how hard you try or how carefully you watch them come through the ring, once in a while you end up with one. And once you get them home it doesn’t take long to figure out that this cow is going to be trouble.
Professional Cattle handlers wrangling a wild cow for us
by Texas Homesteader
We raise registered Hereford cows as our primary ranch mission. But we also have stocker cows/calves that we keep on a shorter-term basis to make proper use of our pasture grass excesses. We feel good about the fact that the stockers that come here are treated kindly and are allowed to just be cows – grazing under that blue Texas sky and interacting daily with us and all their cow friends. Our clients have said they appreciate the benefits of a calm animal that’s been treated with kindness and respect. We think it’s just the right thing to do.
