Working ~and Playing~ for a Living

Today was quite a long day for my family and I. We woke up at about 5:30 this morning in order to head down to Wyoming to pick up some fencing and corral supplies. After quite a bit of coffee, my family left the house at around 6:30 a.m. It was my parents, my younger sister, and my two younger brothers. I'm not a morning person so I was crabby most of the morning, just cuz. After a few hour drive we arrived at the site where the company that my cousin works for sells discount panels, t-posts, and wooden posts. Everything sold at this site was lightly used and salvaged from oil and natural gas wells, so we got a great deal. I mean, like, GREAT! If you should know anything about me, it's that there's nothing I like more than a great deal. Except maybe coffee... Anywho, we loaded up 40 16-foot panels, 20 12-foot panels, and 20 12-foot panels with walk through gates on our gooseneck trailer by hand. We also loaded up about 100 t-posts and 25 wooden posts, this time by a skid steer. Manual labor is overrated anyway, right?? My sister and I also spotted a bent (aka free!) gate about 20 feet long and 3 feet tall that we thought would be perfect for a parking space by the house. No one knows what we are doing with it yet, so I'm hoping to cement it in one day as a surprise. To get the bend out I'll just have to lay it on the ground, bend up, and run it over with the skid steer. Nifty trick huh? When we finish I'll show you how it comes out. My sister and I also found a little sign holder that pushes into the ground. Ever since we moved to our current ranch I always thought we needed a sign. Now I just have to make a little something to insert then put it at the end of the driveway.

After all that commotion my baby cousin had his 1st birthday party. It's pretty conveinent that we we're able to get a little work in or there's no way my dad would have been okay spending a perfectly good Saturday at a party. So we were there for about two hours. Yes, two whole hours! I know it sounds crazy, but everyone, and by everyone I mean my dad and brothers, know that daylight is not for parties. After the party, everyone else headed home with our load while my sister and I did some grocery shopping before leaving town. We took seperate cars because 6 people in an extended cab pickup is about two or three too many. Maybe we're just spoiled. Or maybe it's a horrible experience riding in any vehicle with my loudmouth/ADHD brothers. One of the two ;)

Preparing for Calving Season

 Calving season is coming up and we will need all hands on deck at the ranch. This is especially true since we recently bought 35 head of bread first-year heifers to add to our 15 heifers that we already had. First-time calving heifers are a lot of work because they require constant supervision. They might have trouble calving and could very well possibly require one of us to pull a calf. It only takes a short time from the time the water breaks until the calf should be born. If the heifer is having trouble, the calf must be pulled or it will die and the heifer could go barren as well. In order for the calf to be pulled, the heifer has to be brought around to the barn and put in a chute so the puller can safely go behind the heifer and avoid being kicked or trampled. They can get a little heated because of the new experience, especially if they are having trouble. If the calf isn't pulled just right, it could kill the calf or cause the heifer to prolapse, which means her insides will come out her backside. You never, ever want this to happen! The heifers are expected to start calving on April 1st and could possibly calve up until May. That's a lot of around-the-clock observation. I'll be pulling the night shift, 8:00 p.m. through 4:00 a.m., so wish me luck! We also have 50 head of older cows who should be calving around March 1st, but according to the vet one or two could be as early as February 1st. These cows will need some mild observation, but should not need any help in calving since they are more experienced. Once every calf is born, it must be sexed and recorded for bookkeeping. After the calves are a couple days old they can be ear-tagged to indicate which mother they were born from, in case one goes missing or something.

We've prepared for calving this year by buying panels and building a large addition to our pen specifically for the heifers. We also built new calving pens in the barn for a mama and her new baby to re cooperate if needed. I hope all goes well because cattle prices were sky high this year. We paid about $1650 a head for our heifers, which is ridiculously high. The only way these new heifers will be a good investment is if they successfully produce a crop and remain fertile for the following years. Can ya tell I'm a business major? Well, in the words of Roy Rogers, "Until we meet again."