This post has been in the works for a while. Over Easter weekend we poured our calves for parasites. This is much like worming your dog, only at a larger scale. To take you through the process I managed to get quite a few photos.
First we gathered. Obviously it's very hard... They love the feed pickup and will happily chase it anywhere in hopes of some cake. I am on a 4-wheeler to keep any stragglers from getting away.
After getting the calves into the corral my parents tried to read the directions on the box without their glasses...hehe...and we got everything set up, the cattle sorted and put in the alley way
My job is to bring the calves down the alley, into what is called the, "tub" ( you can see it down there)and up a narrower alley to the chute, where they will be caught individually and poured.
Here we come, my mom was taking pictures too
Yep, that's me, and yep, it was cold. This is how I dress at home in the winter. It might be part of the reason I love shopping and looking nice when I'm in public...sounds like a good excuse anyway :)
Here is the smaller alley leading to the chute, which is run by hydraulics, hence the pickup my mom is standing by and the hydraulic lines.
In addition to pouring we also weighed one bunch individually because we were getting ready to sell them. Our scales were set in front of the chute and as you can see they would hop right in. My mom in the previous picture is reading a weight and getting ready to record it.
My sister, Holly (who will have a post devoted to her soon) was in charge of letting the calves out of the chute. Here she is demonstrating because I couldn't get a photo while in the tub.
Here is the second bunch we didn't weigh, so the scales aren't sitting in front of the chute.
After everyone had been run through and poured we fed.
You may have noticed a few tales with duck tape wrapped around them. This is how we identify our replacement heifers (those we're keeping for breeding) from the cull heifers (those we are selling). It's not something very many people I know of use, but paint sticks and snow just don't mix very well and this works great and as you can see is highly visible.
First we gathered. Obviously it's very hard... They love the feed pickup and will happily chase it anywhere in hopes of some cake. I am on a 4-wheeler to keep any stragglers from getting away.
After getting the calves into the corral my parents tried to read the directions on the box without their glasses...hehe...and we got everything set up, the cattle sorted and put in the alley way
My job is to bring the calves down the alley, into what is called the, "tub" ( you can see it down there)and up a narrower alley to the chute, where they will be caught individually and poured.
Here we come, my mom was taking pictures too
Yep, that's me, and yep, it was cold. This is how I dress at home in the winter. It might be part of the reason I love shopping and looking nice when I'm in public...sounds like a good excuse anyway :)
Here is the smaller alley leading to the chute, which is run by hydraulics, hence the pickup my mom is standing by and the hydraulic lines.
In addition to pouring we also weighed one bunch individually because we were getting ready to sell them. Our scales were set in front of the chute and as you can see they would hop right in. My mom in the previous picture is reading a weight and getting ready to record it.
My sister, Holly (who will have a post devoted to her soon) was in charge of letting the calves out of the chute. Here she is demonstrating because I couldn't get a photo while in the tub.
Here is the second bunch we didn't weigh, so the scales aren't sitting in front of the chute.
After everyone had been run through and poured we fed.
You may have noticed a few tales with duck tape wrapped around them. This is how we identify our replacement heifers (those we're keeping for breeding) from the cull heifers (those we are selling). It's not something very many people I know of use, but paint sticks and snow just don't mix very well and this works great and as you can see is highly visible.
I love your blog! I'm writing a novel about a contemporary cowboy. It's been years since I lived in Wyoming, but my roots are still there, so this book is set somewhere around Green River. It's helpful to see the ranching process and your photographs are amazing. One of my characters actually has her heart set on photographing dew on moose whiskers. I found a nature photographer who answered a bunch of questions for me, including, is this even possible. He sent me a couple of his photos to prove it is, indeed, possible. Thanks for your blog! I'll be stopping by from time to time.
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