March 16, 2009

[Soapweed]

Brady getting his horse used to water

Rena getting her horse used to mud

Pairing up before we start across the meadow

Cowboy crew on yonder hill

Sometimes when driving cattle, it pays to just stick your leg up over the saddle horn and roll a cigarette. You will get more done than by trying to push the cattle hard.

This one is for your mom, Brady.

This one is for your mom, Rena.

Lining out across the meadow

Close up version of the same

Kids always like to play in water.

Don't pee in the pool.

Cattle on the move

Cool clear water, with a touch of tumbleweed for tantalizing taste

Brady working out a bronc

The bronc is working out Brady.

Rena cheers him on.

The young horse is a pretty nice buckskin mare.

Sundown is coming.

Looking west, interestingly enough. :wink:

 

[Cal]

Calving is sure a lot nicer when the weather cooperates. Are you getting close to being at it 21 days Soap. We always look foreward to that number, means the worst is behind you.

 

[Nicky]

Great pictures as usual I don't know if the pictures of Brady and Rena are for their moms or the guys and girls here who like to look at them!LOL

Do they bring their own horses, how many each? Is the buckskin his or yours? How old is she? How is your new horse coming along?

 

[Soapweed]

Calving is sure a lot nicer when the weather cooperates. Are you getting close to being at it 21 days Soap. We always look foreward to that number, means the worst is behind you.

We hit the halfway point yesterday. One "advantage" to calving earlier is that cows maybe don't breed back quite as fast as they would if they calve later. This means that they calve steady but not with quite as big of runs as they would later on. When Peach and I first got married, for several years we turned bulls out on June 1st and the cows started calving about the 10th of March. At the time we were calving out 200 cows. In one 24 hour period during a snowstorm the last week of March, we got 20 calves, which was 10 percent of our herd. That was a little too good of a deal, because we sure didn't have facilities at the time to put that many in a good calving barn. We put about 30 calves in the barn without their mothers. There were mix-ups galore when we let the calves have milk twice a day.

Our biggest runs this year have been just a tad less than 4% per 24 hour period. That is fast enough. One thing that has been noticeable is that several of our real late calving cows last spring, which calved in early May, have already calved in early March this year. They gained two months in a mere one year. This makes me realize that there is no particular value in getting rid of late calvers, because under the right conditions, they can sure make up time and calve fairly early the next year. One other year that I kept track two decades ago, out of our last fifteen cows to calve that spring, twelve of those cows calved in the first third of the herd the following year.

 

[Soapweed]

Great pictures as usual I don't know if the pictures of Brady and Rena are for their moms or the guys and girls here who like to look at them!LOL

Do they bring their own horses, how many each?

They keep two apiece here in the corral that they are riding. They buy hay and keep any extras at a separate location.

Is the buckskin his or yours?

It is a client that is paying them to break the mare.

How old is she?

Just two this spring. She is a registered AQHA and will be a fairly big mare when she is mature.

How is your new horse coming along?

He is pretty green and hard to bridle. I usually end up riding a broke horse so I can get something done. The young folks actually get quite a lot accomplished riding their colts.

 

[gcreekrch]

Don't pee in the pool.

The pee is silent as in pswimming. :wink:

 

[cowwrangler]

nice pics Soapweed,glad calving is going good,i seen a hint of green in the pics,grass is not far away for you,we have some snow to get rid of yet :roll:

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

Nice group of pics Soapweed.

 

[WyomingRancher]

Calving is sure a lot nicer when the weather cooperates. Are you getting close to being at it 21 days Soap. We always look foreward to that number, means the worst is behind you.

We hit the halfway point yesterday. One "advantage" to calving earlier is that cows maybe don't breed back quite as fast as they would if they calve later. This means that they calve steady but not with quite as big of runs as they would later on. When Peach and I first got married, for several years we turned bulls out on June 1st and the cows started calving about the 10th of March. At the time we were calving out 200 cows. In one 24 hour period during a snowstorm the last week of March, we got 20 calves, which was 10 percent of our herd. That was a little too good of a deal, because we sure didn't have facilities at the time to put that many in a good calving barn. We put about 30 calves in the barn without their mothers. There were mix-ups galore when we let the calves have milk twice a day.

Our biggest runs this year have been just a tad less than 4% per 24 hour period. That is fast enough. One thing that has been noticeable is that several of our real late calving cows last spring, which calved in early May, have already calved in early March this year. They gained two months in a mere one year. This makes me realize that there is no particular value in getting rid of late calvers, because under the right conditions, they can sure make up time and calve fairly early the next year. One other year that I kept track two decades ago, out of our last fifteen cows to calve that spring, twelve of those cows calved in the first third of the herd the following year.

I've been thinking about this since we seem to manage similarily regarding calving dates. Currently I'm a bit farther along in calving, but I'm attributing it to my stirring the cattle up multiple times during their first cycle of breeding. I usually move pastures at least twice, and then gather and sort pairs for the forest, then gather and separate pairs for the haul to the forest the following day. Seperating them seems to really bring them in, even though the calves are only off of them for a half day. My big calving surges seem to always coincide with these disturbances. My later calvers seem to also coincide with moving pastures later in the summer. Back when you ran the 200 head and calved later, were you moving them around more during breeding?

Also, I've observed the late cows breeding back fast. A few cows seem to always be later, but they are the exception, and not the rule .