A Hot Day for Branding

A couple weeks ago I took the kids to check out the last branding of the spring. It didn't feel like spring, it was approaching 90 and windy. About 270 calves had to be processed, and the cowboys and cowgirls were doing it the old-fashioned way. The calves were sorted from their moms, then they were roped individually.

Each calf was ear-marked (instead of an actual brand), an ear tag put in, vaccinated, and for males, a rubber band was applied to a delicate part to restrict blood flow (let's just say that too many bulls are trouble). It took about a minute or two for each calf to be processed. Then it was marked with chalk and let go.

I find watching the roping to be fascinating. It takes a lot of skill and practice to be able to get a rope around a calf's back legs.

I'm told that the elbow position is extremely important.

When the right moment is spotted, the lasso is thrown out.

The slipknot is tightened...

...and if all goes well, a calf is caught. Oftentimes it takes multiple tries to catch a calf.

Several ropers were out there working their magic.

Meanwhile the calves were moving around. Did I mention that it was windy? The kids weren't so fond of all the dust. I found sunglasses a necessity to keep grit out of my eyes.

 The horses are so well trained. They were fun to watch along with the riders.

Baylee kept pulling calf after calf.

It was kind of neat getting down low and seeing what it all looked like from there.

In this corral, a metal doohickey called a Nord Fork is put on the calf's head to keep it from moving during the procedures.

The next corral over didn't have those, so a calf was held by two ropes, each attached to a horse on either end. I hadn't seen that before, so it was neat to check out.

It took about eight hours, but they got all the calves processed. Way to go!

You can see more about moving and processing calves (and other things about ranching) on this fun blog, written by my sister-in-law.

Branding in the Rain

 It's May, which means it's the month of branding. Actually on our ranch we don't brand, but the calves are ear marked, banded (a form of castration), fly-tagged, and vaccinated. And it's a lot easier to say brand than all those other things!

May has turned out to be the month of rain here, which is so welcome after our dry winter. But it makes for some messy branding. I took the kids for a quick look on our way to Grandma's house, but they didn't want to get out in the rain, and I wanted to get a few photos, so  I left them in the van. The cowboys were just getting started.

The first calf roped was by one of our neighbors.

The calf was secured.

Then the crew came in and administered everything in less than a minute. The calf was released and it went back to its friends.

I am amazed at how talented some of these young cowboys are. They already are more skilled with a horse and rope than I ever will be.

The orange tag is the fly tag, which is so useful later in the summer.

A couple more cowboys roped calves.

Three stations were set up, so when three cowboys were holding tension on the calves, that meant the operation was going just right.

Watching the roping was fascinating. The timing is critical to get that rope around the calves' back legs. If you think about it, those back legs are only off the ground for a fraction of a second as the calf walks, so the rope has to be there just as the legs come up and then tighten at just the right moment otherwise the rope falls off and the calf walks away. There are easier ways to do the branding, but this is the way the cowboys prefer, as it gives them a chance to practice their skills.

Below is the overall view of the horses and cowboys keeping the calf at the station and the calves getting treated.

Everyone seemed to be handling the rain really well.
We had to go, so I couldn't stay longer. Later some of the ladies took a turn roping, and you can see that and more on Life on the Ranch blog.

Checking Out the New Calves

 The heifers have been calving for over a month, and I've been wanting to take a closer look. Finally we had an opportunity on President's Day. Cousin Clay took the kids and me out to look at them.

I think one of the reasons I like looking at the new calves is that they seem to have a lot of fun, running around and playing.

And they look a little funny, but in a cute way.

The calves spend a lot of time nursing, which means mom needs good food.

Our next task was to take some hay to the pasture that's in between the Circle Field, where the heifers give birth, and the Lane Pasture, which is where they go when they're about a week old. In between they spend a night, and they need some extra food. Clay backed up the truck to a pile of hay and lifted the heavy bales on board.

The human kids are always playing games, too, in this case hide-n-seek.

Almost done!

The kids had discovered some old hay and couldn't resist playing on it.

Then it was time to load up.

I drove in circles in the pasture while the kids helped Clay push off the hay.

The fun wasn't over yet. One heifer had gotten sick and wasn't producing enough milk, so her calf needed extra milk. Clay mixed up some milk supplement and the kids happily fed the little one.

They needed a little guidance on how to hold the bottle correctly so the nipple would stay on.

What fun!

And the calf was certainly happy.

What a wonderful couple of hours. Thanks, Clay!

White Pine County Fair-2014

 White Pine County Fair is held in mid-August each year, usually right after school starts for us (which makes it a little challenging!). I took the kids in Friday to enter projects (it's a very short fair, just Friday to Sunday).  In the evening we went to the delicious Cattlewoman's BBQ and stayed for the dance. The kids had a super time dancing.

The next morning we got to the fair just in time to see the cousins showing their steers. They've put a lot of time and energy into raising these steers, so it was cool seeing how well they've done.

At 10 am they opened the exhibit hall doors, and Desert Boy couldn't wait to see how he had done on his projects. We had had a talk beforehand about ribbons, and he had decided he wanted Grand Champion. I told him very few grand champions were awarded, so he shouldn't expect one as this was only the second year he had entered projects in the fair, and only the best of the best got grand champions. His various arts and crafts projects (string art, pottery, legos, wall hangings) won blue and red ribbons.

Then we went over to look at how his photos had done, and were astounded to see that he had won both Grand and Reserve Grand Champion ribbons for the children's division! He was so stoked! I won a Reserve Grand Champion for one of my night sky photos, so I was delighted. Desert Boy made sure to let me know that he had beat me. I guess he might be a wee bit competitive.

Later we wandered around the booths, buying food, doing activities, and chatting.

Desert Girl was very excited to see Smokey Bear.

We went back over to the animals and watched rabbit and chicken judging, something I had never seen before. I learned that market rabbits are supposed to weigh 3 to 5 pounds each, and since there are three of them, they are all supposed to be the same size. These white ones won Grand Champion. While we were watching, I got into a conversation with the lady next to me about chickens, and one thing led to another (keep reading!).

 Another highlight of the fair was the climbing wall. I asked the climbing wall guy how he went to events, and he said he had to pay to take the climbing wall to the bigger events, but for small ones like the fair, they paid him to come. Plus he charged money for the climbers, so he has a pretty good business. Desert Boy loved scampering up.

I had to take a turn too. And one wall even had a timer so you could see how fast you went up. (Now who's being competitive? ha)

We had to stay until Sunday afternoon to pick up our projects. What sweetened the wait was that we had bought the grand champion rooster and a couple hens. Yahoo, we're back to having chickens! 

Hopefully we will be more successful keeping these chickens away from predators and maybe even get an egg someday! For now, we sure like hearing the cock-a-doodle-doos every morning and watching the birds.

We're already setting aside the kids' artwork for next year's fair. That makes it so much easier when it comes time to look for entries. They love it, too, when I tell them something they created might be good enough to enter in the fair.