FOUND!!!

I started this blog about 10 years ago.  Recently I lost it all.  It just disappeared into thin air.  Today I spent 5 hours with the blog site trying to figure out the issue.  Finally,  I succeeded in bringing it back.  The blog is not just for entertainment and knowledge, it also is a record of our ranching, including; range, cattle, farming, employees, family and children, all changing throughout the years. 
Hopefully I can hang on to it for a while longer.  

Here we are, summer 2024.  I will share some of the things we have been doing this summer.
These are the cows that we took to the mountain for the summer.  

The feed on the mountain is pretty good this year.  Still, some of the cows insist on trying to come home early and the cowboys need to push them back up, higher onto the mountain.

Pre-conditioning also has been part of the summer work.  In July we gathered all of the cows and calves, separated the calves and gave them vaccinations.  The vaccinations will help keep them from getting sick when we wean them a few weeks later.

We work in a lot of dust.  

The summer days are hot, so we get started at sun up.

The cattle are gathered, calves separated and at this time we also pull the bulls out of the herd.  They have been in with the cows for a couple of months to do their "job".

I'm not a fan of the big boys.

After a few weeks have passed, and the calves have been back in the meadows with their moms, and doing well, we begin to gather them again.  This time for weaning.

The sorting pen is a place  where the horses have a chance to show off their skills.

This cow horse has a lot of passion.  Not much gets by her.

The calves are trucked back to the main ranch in Baker. Here they are unloaded, sorted, weighed and put in pens with fresh hay and water.  As they adjust to being without mom, they will also be started on a silage ration. (silage is grass or other green fodder compacted and stored in airtight conditions, typically in a silo, or bagged in our case, without first being dried, and used as animal feed in the winter.)

Summer is winding down.  Soon it will be time to bring the cows home from the mountain and start to preg-check.  We have a vet come out and check all of our cows and first year heifers to make sure they are pregnant.  Anything not pregnant will be sold. 
​ Good times ahead. haha
Now that I'm back, stay tuned for more of LIFE ON THE RANCH.  
Thank you.

P.S.  We don't want to forget about all of our farmers out there putting in long hours to get all the hay up.  They have had a very busy summer.