Paint Sticks

My camera is broke, and it's been raining around here the past few days! What that means is I don't have much for photos to show you.
In the meantime, here is a story for you. Any young ranch wives may particularly enjoy this tale.
When my parents were first married, my grandfather (my dad's dad) stopped by after gathering supplies in town for a day of fall cattle work, and realized he forgot paint sticks. He was a little frustrated after going all the way to town just for supplies. My mom wasn't sure what he needed paint sticks for when working cattle, but was excited to be able to help, and informed him she had a whole bunch and would bring them along in the morning.
My grandfather gave her an odd look, likely wondering why she had a supply of paint sticks laying around (my mom wasn't raised on a ranch), but agreed and left for home.
The next morning, early I'm sure, my mom dutifully and happily presented my grandfather with about eight paint sticks - as in paint stirring sticks.
To hear my parents tell it, my grandfather just looked at her, dumbfounded. You see, he was referring to cattle marking paint sticks.
"What could you say?" was my dad's laughing remark to how his dad responded to his new daughter-in-law's happy attempt to help him with his odd supply list request.
Good luck to all you ladies who marry into ranching families, especially those who weren't raised in agriculture! After 27 years, I can assure you my mom has learned a lot, and taught a lot, to everyone in the family she married into : )

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

 Lately I've been busy telling you about what I've been up to off the ranch, and covering a few other issues and topics. While I was doing that things certainly didn't stop at home. Among the latest events on the ranch are the following:
We're still feeding, everything. The sight of cows still trailing in for feed in late May isn't something we like to see, or something we had planned to spend a chunk of every morning completing.

We aren't the only ones still feeding, and my dad and brother's hay hauling business is seeing an unheard-of upswing for May. Combined with the usual cattle hauling jobs, they've been exceptionally busy this spring.

 We branded our heifer's calves on Friday, and have three more brandings scheduled between today and Memorial Day. We've also sorted out us kid's pairs and tagged them (most of them so far). Immediately following branding week will be a 10-day marathon of shipping pairs to summer pasture.
We also have pairs to gather out of a couple neighbors prior to branding.

The weight of our yearling steers has been thoroughly evaluated and discussed in preparation for possibly marketing them earlier than usual this year due to the drought.
The new bull I purchased earlier in the year has been branded and turned out with the other bulls and steers you see above.

We hauled in several loads of gravel, put in a sewer system, tore down a fence and cut tree branches to prepare for the arrival of my brother and I's new abode (aka the trailer). The trailer is now here, blocked and leveled on the gravel pad being dumped in the above photo. Cleaning the inside, skirting the outside and treating the roof are all on the immediate to-do list. I have also decided it would be wonderful to paint (I'm crazy I think) at least part of the interior.
Fencing projects, corral chores, repair and maintenance to various vehicles, a birthday part for my sister, a flat tire on the tractor, a sprinkle of rain and numerous other odd ball events here and there have capped off the very busy past few weeks.
Hope spring is going well at your house!

Lusk Ag Expo

Yesterday I was busy manning a station at the Lusk Ag Expo, where the local 3rd grade spent an entire day learning about agriculture. A variety of ag people from our community provided live animal demonstrations, or hosted stations where they taught the students about a specific ag-related topic.
Here are a few highlights from the day:

The kids got to meet "Uggs," a hound owned by a local game warden. Part of his job is predator control on area ranches.

Uggs's owner put on a demonstration where he drug a hide around the fairgrounds, then let his dogs loose to track the "raccoon." The students were able to sit in the grandstands and watch the dogs roam all over the hill you can see in the back of this photo as a they followed the trail to this tree, located right next to the grandstands. The dogs were very interesting to watch, and while they were tracking the owner was explaining various aspects of each dog's personality, and about tracking in general.

 From the hounds, the kids headed to a horse demonstration put on by a great friend of mine I've known since grade school. She is a very talented horse trainer, and brought in the gelding she showed all throughout her 4-H years. She demonstrated various trail activities, and explained how they were also skills desirable in a ranch horse - like being able to open and close a gate while mounted.

Then she answered a lot of questions while "Snipe" stood patiently by. At the end of her session each kid got to pet the horse, which was a highlight for many.

 Up next was my next door neighbor, who is a a renowned stock dog trainer with several sheep and cattle dog trial wins under his belt. He brought his nine year old Border Collie, Shawn, and demonstrated working sheep with a dog.

 He also took the time to explain various commands, then demonstrate them. He can speed up or slow down this dog at any time with a specific whistle command, and was literally having him take the sheep around him in a circle as a talked to the kids.

In between the outside demonstrations were stations where the kids learned about a specific topic. These included making lip balm with honey and beeswax and discussing the role of bees, learning about how wheat is grown and used to make bread, and my station, where we discussed what cows eat and how the rumen works. We also got into how the rumen enables cows to digest and get nutrients from grasses, hays and other feedstuffs that we as humans cannot digest, then convert those feeds into meat or milk, which humans can digest. Furthermore, we talked about what would happen if the rancher didn't feed his cows or make sure they had enough grass (they will starve, die, get sick....), and then what will happen to the rancher? (They will got out of business, have no meat to sell, lose their money, lose their ranch, and my personal favorite answer of the day - they will have no meat to sell and we will have no meat to eat)
I had a blast, and loved the small groups that enabled kids to ask questions, and me to really get the point across of how much ranchers care about their animals, and how important a healthy diet is for livestock, just like it is for kids. It was a great day, and I'm already tossing around ideas in my head for next year.

Monday Calves

For those of you who like the photos on here, I apologize for the lack of them in recent weeks. It is extremely dry in Eastern Wyoming this spring, and that just doesn't inspire me to take a lot of livestock photos. But, I did sure to snap a few the last few days, and here they are. The calves are growing, even if the grass isn't. Hope you have a great Monday!