There’s an old saying: “Make hay while the sun shines”. Although you can’t control the weather, it’s important when you work outside for a living to work as closely in tune with nature as you can.
When I worked in a corporate environment in the city my days were much the same. Get up, get dressed, drive to work – sit at a desk all day long, come home, LIVE LIFE. (Shower/Sleep/Repeat).
Now that my days are filled with ranch duties workdays are not only much longer since we work weekends and holidays, they’re less comfortable since there’s no climate control in the pastures, and they’re infinitely more fulfilling since I LOVE what I do!
Many of you know we run a small registered Hereford herd and that we breed our cows via A.I. That means action had to be taken for this little cutie 10 days prior to her conception with a synchronization program for her dam, then the actual A.I. procedure, then 28 days later the pregnancy was confirmed via lab blood test. From that very moment I’ve been anticipating this event, and oh my was she worth the wait!
One of our cows is due to deliver her calf next Monday. It’s always exciting when you’re expecting a calf but if you’re using the A.I. procedure you know the exact day that cow was bred and even the exact number of gestation days for that particular cow. For me it makes the waiting game all the more nail biting because I’ve known this blessed event is coming since just 28 days after her breeding.
Every day we make a round through the pastures, always including a thorough inspection of our girls and calves. Does everyone look good? Is everyone accounted for? Are all the calves bouncing & happy? Our herd is used to our presence and we’re allowed to come close to any of them without anyone becoming alarmed. If they’re laying down they don’t even bother getting up – to them I’m just one of the girls! Although it’s labor intensive to be in each cow’s physical presence so often, a gentle herd is worth all the work necessary to maintain it. Continue reading →
We utilize rotational grazing here on the ranch. We’ll allow the cows to graze only a small area for a short amount of time, then move them to a fresh paddock to graze fresh grass. It allows each paddock to be eaten down and then rested for a period of time to allow it to recover.
Although it’s more labor intensive it results in healthier pastures and healthier cows so it’s worth the work to us. The cows are all familiar with this routine and it’s easy to move them from one paddock to another – they know what to do. Occasionally a new girl in the herd will be confused and we’ll have to guide her through the gate separately but it’s seldom a lengthy process. We’re slow and deliberate with our animals and they know we’re the good guy.
The trouble starts when little ones are in the herd. The calves haven’t had as long to adjust to the routine. They’ll watch lazily as the rest of the herd gathers up and maybe yawn & stretch as the they all move through the gate. Then they’ll panic, not knowing where to go. Now anyone that ranches for a living knows that you cannot accomplish your goal smoothly with quick movements around an uncertain animal. So patiently we’ll walk behind them and gently push them toward the gate.
Now today there are three younger calves in the herd and they are looking to each other for direction – kinda like the blind leading the blind. As we slowly and gently guide them to the gate they’ll bunch up together. Then just as they finally get to the gate, one will veer left or right and then they’re all off in different directions. By this time the mamas are calling them to hurry up.
We’ll slowly gather them together again, leading them finally to the gate. Now they’ll promptly parade right past the gate and trot further down the fence line. REALLY?? The gate is RIGHT THERE! Your mom is even giving you the step-by-step directions to join her! But a patient hand will finally result in the calves getting through the gate. They’ll run to their mama – no doubt telling a wild tale of the bravery & valor it took to reach her. 😉
We’ve always had a saying: You can push even the most stubborn cow through the gate if you’re patient enough, but trying to push a calf through the gate is like trying to push cooked spaghetti in a straight line across the table.
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We’ve had the full round of weather here in NE Texas this past week – from several inches of rain to several inches of snow. Now the skies have turned brilliant blue and things in the pasture are beginning to return to normal. It’s so much fun watching calves playing together; skipping & jumping as in competition. These boys are the last two calves born and they’re almost inseparable best buds. Awwwww, cuteness…
C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea. There are lots of good folks sharing! And you can also follow along on Pinterest,Twitteror Instagram
If you’d like to receive an email when a new blog post goes live, subscribe to our Blog!
This summer we purchased a couple of bred stocker cows. We wanted to be able to stay flexible with our permanent herd numbers (our registered Hereford herd) while still utilizing some of our pasture excess. Our plan was to run these bred stockers in our pastures until they calve, then re-evaluate pasture conditions. If we still had plenty of grass we would retain them a little longer, but if we wanted to reduce our numbers we would sell the pair and still leave our permanent herd numbers untouched. Unfortunately these are hard-learned lessons from suffering two years of drought in a row. In 2011 the drought in NE Texas was so severe we were forced to reduce our stocking numbers. It was emotionally painful to be forced to sell some of our hand-picked registered Hereford girls. We now keep our permanent herd numbers at well below stocking rate and fill in the gaps with temporary stocker cows and calves.
Although the other bred stocker cow is long gone, the white stocker cow just calved today. As any rancher knows, the unspoken rule in ranching is that a cow will typically calf in the worst possible weather. Although our stocker cow missed that rule by only a few hours, I’m not sure you can convince this little guy that 28 degrees today is actually better than the heavy snow & blowing frigid wind of last night! Welcome to our ranch Little One.
~TxH~
C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea. There are lots of good folks sharing! And you can also follow along on Pinterest,Twitteror Instagram
If you’d like to receive an email when a new blog post goes live,
Well our fall-calving holdout finally presented us with this pretty little bull calf. This boy is the product of our Registered Hereford cow and a pure-blood Charolais sire. I love his coloring, it just screams “Fall” doesn’t it? Welcome to our ranch little one, you’re going to LOVE it here! ~TMR~
