Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Survived!

We got the load of wild cattle in and placed into pens.  The trucker also warned us before unloading that the heifers  were damn wild and would "take" ya.  The bull calves weren't too bad to handle.  They were still young enough to just be flighty and not mean.  We finished castrating and have an abundance of testicles for the super bowl party this Sunday. They have been cleaned (outer layers of membrane removed) and will be sliced thin, breaded in egg, milk, and cracker crumbs, then deep fried.  They taste a lot like chicken nuggets.
The wild heifers are going to be much more interesting.  They don't even come up and eat yet.  We have them in with some other cattle that quieter.  I still have hope.  If the Lord didn't think we could handle them, we wouldn't have them!  I guess my prayer life has been a bit on the weak side lately.  Nothing like fearing for your life to put things in perspective and remember to talk to the Keeper of All.
We have several other heifers getting really close to calving.  Any day now, things will explode with new life around here.  Calving is my favorite time of year.  It is extremely challenging yet awesomely rewarding to help bring those new little ones into the world.  Things don't always go as planned, and my tears come for a bit, but death is a part of the circle of life.






Sunday, January 29, 2012

Better Get Started

As I sit here listening to the PBR on TV, I am painfully aware that it is pretty hard to blog without coming to the computer and actually doing it!   I am pretty sure I can do both at the same time, or the PBR will win and the computer will be set aside for a couple more hours. 
Tomorrow will be another busy day here.  In the morning we will "sex" a couple pens of cattle.  That means sort them and put the steers (castrated bulls) and heifers ( young females) back in separate pens. 
We have a semi pulling in later in the afternoon and hopefully before dark! This one isn't feed, but a bull rack loaded with more cattle.  Things could get pretty exciting around here! 
These cattle  are from a ranch, that for some reason, has been mismanaged  for about 3 years. These cattle may not have been touched or seen people.  We purchased some young bulls and heifers, 900 lbs or less.   The cows were just too wild and mean to be handled by anyone.  I have "orders" to not go into the pens with these new cattle. " Devilish grin" Our order buyer even warned against my entering the pens.  Castration day may present quite a bit of blog material.  We are expecting the worst and hoping for the best. 
We have gotten some cows that were the  meanest, waspy, snakes I  have ever seen.  When they go back to the sale barn, I love to watch how they will react in the sale ring. The snakes turn into angles more often than not.  I guess that's how we ended up having them come to our place.   We buy a lot of bred cows and heifers to calve every year.  I guess you could say we get a few of everybody's problem cows.
What would life be without a little excitement and danger to keep us going?


 



Monday, January 23, 2012

Welcome to Ranch Wife Ramblings!

Hi everyone.  I have been talked into writing about my ordinary life.  Well, at least I think it is ordinary.  My daughter is a very beautiful wordsmith and I am proud of her.  However, our world's are polar opposite.  She is coffee shops, ipods, big city, and designer beers.  I on the other hand am cattle, horses, hunting, driving diesel pickups and any town over 10,000 is too big.  So here I am, setting out to write about my ranching experiences, past and present.
Thanks for stopping by!