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Branding calves from first calf heifers, May 29, 2008

Soapweed

Well-known member
Acoupletoughhombres.jpg

A couple tough hombres
Thetophandofthewholeoutfit.jpg

Peach Blossom, the top hand of the whole outfit
Calvesreadytogetbranded.jpg

Calves ready to get branded
Calfreadytogetkicked.jpg

Calf ready to get kicked
Ournewsystemthatworkedrealwell.jpg

Our new system that worked real well
Weusedanelectricbrandingironthistim.jpg

We used an electric generator and an electric branding iron. The generator was at the front of the pickup for quietness consideraton, and the cord was run under the truck. It worked very well.
Thisdraftof27isdone.jpg

This draft of 27 is done.
Andheadedbacktotheirmommas.jpg

And headed back to their mommas
Saddletrampbringingoneintogetproces.jpg

Saddletramp bringing one in to get processed
Puttingitonthewheel.jpg

Putting it on the wheel
Anotherpasturepicnic-1.jpg

Another pasture picnic
TheKosmoKidistryingtolookinkognito.jpg

The Kosmo Kid is trying to look inkognito.
Loungingaround.jpg

Lounging around
Eatingascrumptiousbrandingdinner.jpg

Eating our scrumptious branding dinner
CAlveswaitingtheirturn.jpg

Calves waiting their turn
Thesecalvesarealloutoffirstcalfheif.jpg

These calves are all out of first-calf two-year-old heifers. This is one of the oldest ones, and he was born on February 20th.
KosmoKidandGooseontheloose.jpg

Kosmo Kid and Goose on the loose
 

Big Muddy rancher

Well-known member
Soap, I hope everybody appreciates the job you do with a pretty small crew. You guys make it look easy in these pics but moving pairs and getting them corraled or sorting str from hfrs pairs is quite a job.

I know it comes all in a days work but it takes a special skill that not everybody has. :D
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Big Muddy rancher said:
Soap, I hope everybody appreciates the job you do with a pretty small crew. You guys make it look easy in these pics but moving pairs and getting them corraled or sorting str from hfrs pairs is quite a job.

I know it comes all in a days work but it takes a special skill that not everybody has. :D

Thank you, kind sir. I am at the point in my life where I'd rather work cattle with a small competent crew than with all the hassle of a big crew. It is just easier when everyone knows what the others will be doing. Before we ever started branding today, we thought we might have too big a bunch for just the four of us to handle. We gathered the herd and paired off 85 heifers and their calves. We branded the remaining 150 calves today, and plan to do the other 85 calves tomorrow.

It is a good thing we did it this way, because about the middle of the afternoon quite a lightning storm came up. There were some close strikes, and we turned out the main herd before we actually had planned to do so. We all sat in the pickup while it rained about a tenth of an inch, and after the storm we did the remaining 30 calves.

We have spent pretty much the past two weeks horseback doing cattle work. As we mounted our horses this morning, the Kosmo Kid was heard to say, "Boy, it feels good to get back in the saddle again." :wink: :)
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
OldDog/NewTricks said:
Soapweed said:
Andheadedbacktotheirmommas.jpg

And headed back to their mommas

Why do you need a Gen. when you should have/have 110V on the Pole there

Actually, our electicity wasn't working there today. In this picture, you can see a water well repairman who came to figure out why the electric well wasn't working. He got it fixed.

Welltruckinbackground.jpg


My photo was taken with a telephoto lens. It would take two or three pretty long electric cords to reach the pole where the power comes from. It was just easier to use an electric generator. Besides, it only took a couple gallons of $3.70 per gallon gasoline to accomplish our task. :wink: :)
 

leanin' H

Well-known member
Nice pen of calves from your beautiful heifers! And your crew is top-notch as well. I'd come a runnin' to help if ya'd just call! But you'll have to buy the diesel if ya wouldnt mind! :wink:
 

Hooks

Well-known member
Soap, I hope everybody appreciates the job you do with a pretty small crew. You guys make it look easy in these pics but moving pairs and getting them corraled or sorting str from hfrs pairs is quite a job.

I know it comes all in a days work but it takes a special skill that not everybody has.

:agree:

..one question tho...how come Saddletramp's white shirt never gets dirty......is he really that good? :wink: :lol: :lol:
 

Frank in West Dakota

Well-known member
OldDog/NewTricks said:
Why do you need a Gen. when you should have/have 110V on the Pole there

I use a generator when we brand, the irons stay hotter, cords stay cooler. Tried electricity out of the barn once, and don't have high enough amperage box to keep two irons going.
 

Big Muddy rancher

Well-known member
Since Soap put on the picture of the electric iron let me ask how people hang their irons.

We hang ours element up, I see Soap hangs his from the handle and i have heard others set it in a pail of gravel.

We hang ours with the element up to keep the heat from traveling up the handle.


What do the rest of you do?
 

Frank in West Dakota

Well-known member
Big Muddy rancher said:
Since Soap put on the picture of the electric iron let me ask how people hang their irons.
We hang ours element up, I see Soap hangs his from the handle and i have heard others set it in a pail of gravel.
We hang ours with the element up to keep the heat from traveling up the handle.
What do the rest of you do?

I use a cinder block, each "hole" holds an iron. Never had to worry about the heat traveling up the handle, cause it never sits in the cinder block long enough. One of the main reasons I started using an electric iron, is to keep up with 3-4 calves on the ground, just keep going from calf to calf.
 

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