Cow Tales

We've been doing little cow projects this last week, like branding the 16 pairs of late calvers.  We did those 16 with just the Farmer, his father and me and it was surprisingly calm and uneventful. (Translation: I didn't get yelled at.)  After we finished, we dispersed the cows and calves to the different pastures they belong.  My father-in-law hauled 8 pair to the Jacobsen place with a horse trailer (2 loads) and the assistance of the little bosses, Maggie and Angus.  The Farmer and I trailed the other pairs north to Thelma's.

*Little note, here.  Pastures are named for the people who USED to own them. Or for what grows in them.  Or for a land feature. 

Anyway, the bunch we were trailing took off confidently to the north, at a good clip.  When they got to the first gate (not the one they needed to go through) the lead cow pulled up and looked at me with that "Open the dang gate, already! We're here!" look and I had to deny her. She was extremely disgusted and with great reluctance turned to the west where the right gate was.  And appeared to pout a little the rest of the trip. 

In the next pasture, we encountered a cow-eating salt trough that had been tipped upside down to keep the water out.  One cow could NOT stop looking at it, circling gingerly with her calf, nose pointed at the salt trough, ears forward.  She was convinced it was gonna "get her".  It was just wrong and she knew it. 

At the next gate, it was as though we had given them a break off the freeway at a rest area.  But when they got through that gate, they were close to the pasture they needed to be in and finally staggered up to the final gate with a whole lot less ginger than they'd started out with.

Last night, we moved the yearling heifers to thier breeding pasture.  As I've mentioned before, anything to do with yearling heifers is like junior high girls....extreme.  High speed or dead stop.  They don't just slightly turn, they do a 180 degree turn.  And whatever the FIRST heifer does, they ALL do. 

They are in good shape and they should be....all the green grass they can eat in a day and mild weather (for cows).  I was excited that we couldn't pick Daisy, my yearling bum, out of the herd! She fits right in, which is amazing. 

Once those girls were moved, we went back and sorted off the little bulls that will join them today to (as Maggie puts it) "get married".  Maggie is completely mystified as to why we don't have a bull for each heifer.  How does THAT work? She already knows quite a bit about the birds and the bees at age 5, but she still thinks it's a bit unfair that there's only one bull for 30 heifers. 

So this is Daisy's big moment.  If she doesn't breed up, she's down the road and that's the end of the OC herd for a while.  Pray that she's alluring.  And fertile.  (It's terrible to have one heifer that carries the brand. And she won't even GET her brand until we're SURE she's bred.)

And finally, my two bum calves for this year, Cosmo and Linnie are doing just fine.  The Farmer and I had to doctor them this last week for scours, give them the Ivermectin treatment and put fly-tags in their ears.  The Farmer got Linnie's tag a little close to the end of her ear, on the same side as the number tag, and she has a goofy, loppy-eared look now.  It makes me laugh every time I see her, but she's embarrassed and feels silly. 

That's about all the cow news you can handle...and more.