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Poem that my cousin wrote

Soapweed

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
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Location
northern Nebraska Sandhills
Here is a poem that my cousin wrote a few years ago.

The Rookie's First Calving Season

by Ken Moreland

Week One:

It's a cool winter evening
With a breeze out of the west.
I just love this ranching life
And I love calving time the best.

I see the little calves,
As they wildly romp and run,
Then lie down on a grassy hill
For a short nap in the sun.

Every hour, on the hour,
I jump lightly on my feet,
And hustle to the calving lot,
Another baby sure to greet.

I rub him down with a sack
And put him in a stall.
I wait to make sure he sucks
For I'm a rancher, after all.

Week two:

The weather, which was balmy,
Has now turned bitter cold.
I know it's only been two weeks
But this calving's getting old.

There's a calf out in the barn,
That simply will not suck,
While another's in the calving lot,
At the hips he's fastly stuck.

The vet is on his way again.
He knows the way by heart,
But they always said the first two weeks
Would be the hardest part.

Week three:

I've got another prolapse
And I tried to get it back.
Try to push ten pounds of Jello
Into a five-pound sack.

The vet had to come out again,
It went back, just like he said.
Everything was looking good,
But by now the cow was dead.

Week four:

It's snowing hard again tonight,
The wind chill's ten below.
I'm going to need a wrecking bar
To pry that calf up from the snow.

I pulled four calves today,
Since breakfast, which I never had.
I got knocked down by a cow.
She hurt me pretty bad.

Week five:

I over-slept again last night
And missed my shift by hours.
I guess there'll be two less calves
That won't up and die from scours!

I've got another head cold.
My knee is swelling bad.
This month of March has got to be
The worst month I've ever had.

Week six:

I'm so sick of calving;
I've never been so tired.
No sleep and too much coffee,
I've never been so wired.

I've been sleeping in my clothes
For over four days now.
My banker never mentioned this
When I bought this bunch of cows.

Don't know how real ranchers do it,
This calving has got me down.
Call the sale barn, woman;
These cows are going to town!
 
Great poem it reminds me of the snow shovelers diary that was in an email last year about how beautiful the first snow is and by the end how much of a pain it is. Thanks for sharing.
 
I don't envy anyone having to manage their calving like this. A lot of work and frustration for sure. I guess I've (we've) been extremely fortunate in that regard. Ranching has been in my family for more than a 100 years and I've been doing it for 50 years. I've only had to pull one calf and that was recently. Calf tried to come out weighing close to 200 lbs (I'm guessing - huge calf). It's a wonder we didn't lose the mother.

You have to understand also I am in a different part of the country. Reasonably mild winters but we did have two freezes this year. Don't know how long I could put up with the kind of work you fellers have to do to manage your cattle. There's an old gentleman on the other board I used to belong to and he has a saying that goes something like this. "Put grass in front of the cow and a bull behind and leave them alone". Kinda fits my cattling to a "T".
 
Appropriate bump, Soap, thanks. Lava, if you saw how our surviving calves grow, it would explain some. We also are using forage and land not really suited for anything else. That we have in common in my opinion.
 

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