Time To Work Cattle

Although I grew up on a dairy farm, I have to admit I did not have much interest in the goings-on of the farm operation.  I was usually busier with taming the kittens and watching The Price is Right at Grandma Schmidt's house.

However, I am now married to a farmer - a beef cattle farmer - not to be confused with a dairy farmer.  They are actually quite a bit different from each other.  On one hand, I still don't know a lot about what goes on at this farm.  On the other hand, I know a lot more than I did 9 years ago.  

One of the first things I learned about these cows is that in the spring (around mid-April), they are let out to pasture for the summer.  In the fall, they return to the farm so we can feed them throughout the winter.

This brings me to last Saturday (the most gorgeous day on record)!  It was time to "work cattle" - another term I've learned along the way.  This means that the cattle had to be rounded up, separated from their calves, vaccinated one at a time, given Ivomec (a medicine used to kill pests like lice), and then let back into the corral.  After all this, they are ready to go out to the pastures in a couple of weeks.  I think the best way to describe this process is "organized chaos!"  It's loud - mama cows are hollering for their calves, the calves are hollering for their mamas, Chelan is hollering at the cows, who won't move.  Yet, somehow, the cows get sorted and everything gets done!

This year, Caiden worked alongside Chelan, Grandpa, and Grandma to get the cows rounded up.  It was particularly difficult this time because we had 2 inches of rain during the week.  You can imagine how hard it was to get around when the mud/manure slop was, for sure, ankle-deep.  He did a great job of helping, I think.  I wasn't out there at that point, yet.  Cambry got in on the action, too.  She helped in the pen when they were trying to get the calves into the barn.  It sure is fun to see the older kids getting big enough to help with some things on the farm.

Here are a few pictures from the morning:

The calves are all together in the barn - away from their mamas

Chelan is trying to get this one into the squeeze chute

This cow is getting a new ear tag

Then, they let the cow go

Caiden manned the gate

Caiden mostly had fun piling manure onto his boots
and then scraping it off - he's such a boy!

Delaney just had fun playing on the tractor!