Wow, spring has been busy. We brought in all of the desert herds. This consisted of 5 different herds. We had them scattered North, East, and South of Baker. We covered many miles each day.
Moving cows with calves is a whole lot harder than cows without calves. The cowboys and horses work hard for every mile. Sometimes just for every step.
Occasionally a calf just won't cooperate. This little guy refused to cross the water. The cowboy had to rope it and carry it to it's mother.
It's just hard work.
When we bring the cattle home, we also process the calves. We ear mark, (this is a distinct mark in the right and left year, which identifies the calf as belonging to us), castrate, vaccinate and give them a fly tag.
Each person has a job that they are responsible for. We start recruiting the help at a young age.
We hold 5-7 "brandings" a year. We call them brandings, although we don't actually brand the calves. Most of them are sold after spending some time in the feedlot after weaning. Then later we will brand the heifers that we will be keeping.
The cowboys do a great job and they seem to really enjoy it.
It has been really dry here. Finally, we got a little rain in April. We were so excited.
As we bring each herd in, we process them, and continue until, all herds are in and calves are done.
In some of the pictures, you'll see the cowboys in Hawaiian shirts. This celebrated the end of our branding season.
Now summer is here, and we have a lot to do. Stay tuned.
Now summer is here, and we have a lot to do. Stay tuned.
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