Party til the cows come home...

Ever hear that saying "Party til the cows come home!!"?  Well... I guess our party's over because we brought the cows home a while back!!  Every rancher has a different set up in terms of locations, pasture availability, winter feeding or grazing programs, calving season, etc...  There is no right or wrong answers but you have to make the best use of what resources you have available.  It might even vary year to year within an operation, so the key is flexibility! 

In our case, we happened to end up with an unused pasture last summer so it made perfect early winter grazing for a set of our cows.  Some of our cows went to cornstalks last fall (you can read all about it here and here) but the balance were able to go to this pasture.  The grass goes dormant so that means it quits growing, but if it hasn't been grazed all summer, there is plenty for them to eat.  As it dries down after the first few freezes, it's sort of like the cows eating dry hay but they do the work so you don't have to cut, bale, store and feed! Plus they get more exercise out walking and grazing pastures instead of waiting for their next meal to be delivered!  It's really a WIN-WIN for all of us!!

Watching the process from my rear view mirror!

But as they say, all good things must come to an end.  When the grass is sufficiently eaten down, the weather has turned colder, calving season is nearing, or any combination of these... it's time to bring the girls home.  This year was the first time we actually let the cattle walk home.  It is about 2 miles from our house to the pasture in question, so it wasn't too far.  The alternative is to gather them and load them onto trailers to haul them home.  Since the kids are getting older, the weather was beautiful, and this particular set of cows is very quiet to work, we decided to bring them home via horseback. 

With Nate on his mare, Tilly, and Ally on her mare, Paige, we let the kids practice their skills and head of the process.  Gail had a 4-wheeler to follow up and prevent strays and I was in the lead with the pickup and some hay to entice the girls to follow me down the road.  Nate was in charge of keeping the cows out of the neighbor's fields, while Ally was bringing them down the road. 


My passengers were VERY helpful in the whole process!!

Everything went smooth and they were settled into their new location in less than two hours.  Good help, good cows, and a good time!!  Even the dogs got in on the action... Just another day in the life on our little Nebraska farm!!

Teamwork

If you've ever been involved in Agriculture, you know the term "family farm" means EVERYBODY in the family pitches in.  There are always age-appropriate jobs to be had and one can often learn a lesson from the enthusiasm and pride of a small child in completing even the most simple tasks.  I'm a little late in this post, but a few months ago it was time to work the cows and calves for another year.  Generally done before going to spring grass and prior to starting another breeding season, it is important that you vaccinate your cows and calves to keep them healthy for the year.  It is not much different than taking your child into the health clinic for a booster shot of the chicken pox vaccine.  It is also one of the many opportunities to work together as a family, teach the importance of agriculture and food production to our kids, and develop the work ethic that will see them thru a successful life no matter where they go.  Here a few of my favorite pics of the day...

Bringing in the cows...  sometimes we use horses, sometimes we use 4-wheelers, and sometimes we just shake the feed bucket!  Either way, it's always a beautiful sight watching them come up the lane.

Feeding time... Everything gets hand fed each night thru the winter.  This provides a good source of protein and energy to maintain weight, improve milk production, and get them ready for a new pregnancy in the spring.

Working the calves... All of the baby calves get vaccinations for multiple respiratory diseases to keep them healthy after their initial immunity wears off from mama's colostrum at birth.  This is a great place for the kids to help.

 

Record keeping is essential...  Another great job for the kids is having them keep track of what animals have been worked.  They write down all the tag numbers for us and keep track of steers and heifers.  This is a fun way for little ones to learn and practice writing numbers.  They started doing this at a pretty young age! 

As my buddy "B" says, it doesn't matter what you're doing, as long as you're doing it together!