• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Times are changing

Help Support Ranchers.net:

F

flyingS

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
781
Reaction score
5
Location
Northern Sandhills Just East of Soapweed
I have been to two different brandings in the last two days. After we finished this evening I noticed I had a blood blister on my pinky finger. I don't do dishes and I haven't done anything but fence pretty much for the last week, so I would hope to be able to rule out soft hands. When I was a kid all the way until the last 6 or 7 years I never got sores on my hands. As I look back and ponder a reason, the first thing that comes to mind is herd health. The only thing that I can think of is people are doing a better job of managing sickness in their calves. By the time branding season started I had generally already been doctoring calves for a month or so. This spring I roped one calf to put him through the fence and roped two cows to drag them in the corral, other than that the only time I took my rope down was to play. I don't see the scour problems and pneumonia problems that I used to. Maybe I am off base but it seems like people are just doing a better job of disease prevention. Unfortunately for me I am going to have to deal with blisters and cracked hands for the next month and a half.
 
I have to agree with you. I know Mr. FH said that feeding mineral sure
ruined him and his horses for roping since they didn't have to do it anymore.
A few years ago we had a steer calf swell from being castrated and he
had to rope him to take care of that. As I watched him go after the
calf I thought, "gee, I haven't seen this for a long time."
 
flyingS said:
I have been to two different brandings in the last two days. After we finished this evening I noticed I had a blood blister on my pinky finger. I don't do dishes and I haven't done anything but fence pretty much for the last week, so I would hope to be able to rule out soft hands. When I was a kid all the way until the last 6 or 7 years I never got sores on my hands. As I look back and ponder a reason, the first thing that comes to mind is herd health. The only thing that I can think of is people are doing a better job of managing sickness in their calves. By the time branding season started I had generally already been doctoring calves for a month or so. This spring I roped one calf to put him through the fence and roped two cows to drag them in the corral, other than that the only time I took my rope down was to play. I don't see the scour problems and pneumonia problems that I used to. Maybe I am off base but it seems like people are just doing a better job of disease prevention. Unfortunately for me I am going to have to deal with blisters and cracked hands for the next month and a half.
Click to expand...

Wondering what breed the cows were, and if there was "too much" help or not enough to get them in by the normal method of walking them through the gate. Also, were there any dogs involved, pro or con?

Inquiring minds would like to know. :wink: :)
 
"..............Also, were there any dogs involved, pro or con? .........."

And if so---what were the dogs names? I kinda keep kinda an informal survey of stock dogs names---97% of the dogs in the state of Montana seem to have the same name, and it's quite long: "Get in the pickup, You Son of a B@#$%!"
 
No Dogs involved, I wish I would have had one though. The calf was mixed in with another set of pairs without the cow. One cow was a sucker and wanted to go back to the cow she was sucking and the other cow was a dry that jumped out to begin with. Both times I was riding a colt and neither cow was tagged. The first I just roped the cow so I could keep track of her, the second I roped and drug her back into the corral. Generally it only takes me a few seconds to rope a cow and a minute or two to get her attention so that I can teach her to drive without fighting her or getting her on the fight. The other advantage is I don't wear a horse out or my patience and I can control the cow. I very seldom every try to drag a cow, I just try to control her and teach her to drive so I can handle her and not spend much time doing it. I don't see taking 10x as long messing with a spoiled cow so that I can tell someone I walked her right in, when the only difference is it took way less time and when she walked in she had a rope around her neck and she wasn't on the fight. :wink: They were black angus cross cows.
 
Oh the dogs names are Maddie, Giggles and Babe. We have also had Smoke, Jazz, Maggie, Bell, Skeeter Bug and Laney Jane. We try not to result to vulgarity while working, mainly due to the 4yr old and 2yr old that remember their names. Not cute when a 4yr old says get by you B!@#ch, or says dad thats a notty word you say dog gone it. :shock:
 
We were talking about this subject the other day that last year was the first year that I didn't rope anything to doctor I don't know what the difference was we never changed anything. In most years I will doctor a half dozen or so mainly foot rot or pink eye.
 
Probably the fact most cattle are now are Angus or have Angus in them has to do with less doctoring and maintenance. That should get them going. :lol: :lol:
 
We rope every calf to tag it-if your half handy it doesn't stir the cows much at all-finding some maneaters at the new job. We'll sort them off and not even breed them. Ty got 28 freshies tagged this afternoon so it's going well. Any cow that has a less than perfect udder or any other flaw gets her calf tagged pink so we don't keep any heifers from them. The desireable cows get their heifers tagged yellow-the goal is a sea of yellow tags lol.
 
My grand daughter ( 2 at the time ) thought it was terrible that we had no "pretty red and white " cows.

My soft hearted son got her a registered herford from people in the area that were supposed to have the best herfords in the state.

Bred her to an angus ( ran with the rest of the herd ) and she has come up with a very pretty baldie hiefer.

Problem I have is she seems to have no mothering abilities at all. She does not care if the calf comes with her or not, does not care if you walk up and grab the calf, if you have the dogs go right up to the calf.

She seems to have plenty of milk and could care less if the calf nurses so I feel it will do OK in spite of her.

My question is should I have expected this? I have never had a herford before and was quite suprised that she just does not care!

I'm used to calm cows but nothing like this.
 
And here I thought you were gonna say it was because you took the whole winter off to go play order buyer. :D
 
Northern Rancher said:
We rope every calf to tag it-if your half handy it doesn't stir the cows much at all-finding some maneaters at the new job. We'll sort them off and not even breed them. Ty got 28 freshies tagged this afternoon so it's going well. Any cow that has a less than perfect udder or any other flaw gets her calf tagged pink so we don't keep any heifers from them. The desireable cows get their heifers tagged yellow-the goal is a sea of yellow tags lol.
Click to expand...

Makes good sense to me :wink: :D .
 
ANGUS327 said:
Probably the fact most cattle are now are Angus or have Angus in them has to do with less doctoring and maintenance. That should get them going. :lol: :lol:
Click to expand...

Think your right there.here sims winter kill. Calving 100 herefords is more work than calving 1000 angus cows.is nice to have soom herefords around.teaches the kids about cancer eyes.prolapses. stupid calves.big teats. sunburned udders and cows with no milk.Angus will stand of wolves and bears.but herefords seem to invite em in.but there is good in every breed.in some its harder to find
 
George said:
My grand daughter ( 2 at the time ) thought it was terrible that we had no "pretty red and white " cows.

My soft hearted son got her a registered herford from people in the area that were supposed to have the best herfords in the state.

Bred her to an angus ( ran with the rest of the herd ) and she has come up with a very pretty baldie hiefer.

Problem I have is she seems to have no mothering abilities at all. She does not care if the calf comes with her or not, does not care if you walk up and grab the calf, if you have the dogs go right up to the calf.

She seems to have plenty of milk and could care less if the calf nurses so I feel it will do OK in spite of her.

My question is should I have expected this? I have never had a herford before and was quite suprised that she just does not care!

I'm used to calm cows but nothing like this.
Click to expand...

She is probably used to people and dogs being in and out all the time so thinks nothing of it when you are around. More than likely a strange dog/predator that comes around she will have a different temperment. 99% of my herd I can walk through them without them batting an eye as well as their calves, have not had problem tagging banding etc except to be licked by the moms and our black lab stays out with them all day just laying with them. BUT if someone else goes near them they are a different herd and I wouldn't want to be in their position. :wink:
 
An Angus cows role in life is to be good enough to make a baldy as is a Hereford cows. We got 650 Angus cows calving at the Waldorf and trust me it ain't all sunshine and flowers. A stockman can have a good herd of any breed-if you got poor cattle lots of times the man loking at you in the mirror is to blame-them old cows don't pick the bull they're bred too. If you want trouble free cows you have to buy bulls from herds that are managed as such. Pen calved cattle are managed too much for my situation so I don't buy bulls from those outfits-letting cows be cows and letting the unsuitable ones fall out is a self cleansing system.
 
Northern Rancher said:
An Angus cows role in life is to be good enough to make a baldy as is a Hereford cows. We got 650 Angus cows calving at the Waldorf and trust me it ain't all sunshine and flowers. A stockman can have a good herd of any breed-if you got poor cattle lots of times the man loking at you in the mirror is to blame-them old cows don't pick the bull they're bred too. If you want trouble free cows you have to buy bulls from herds that are managed as such. Pen calved cattle are managed too much for my situation so I don't buy bulls from those outfits-letting cows be cows and letting the unsuitable ones fall out is a self cleansing system.
Click to expand...

My father in law, lifetime in the 'big open' and always marched to his own fife and fiddle---he was the first to have very comprehensive vaccination program, neighbors all picked it up, he quit--where am i gonna catch something from?

"Wull, sometimes the best thing a heifer calf can do fer you is lay down and die"

'Splain that one, Jack." ----Well, you go pumping a buncha medicene into that sweetheart, heal her up, eventually she looks shiny, you keep her for a cow, purty soon you got half a dozen problem female descendants.

I got a set of 2 yr olds from him one time, first one to have feet stickikng out looked kinda small and I run her in---she circled the corral, jumped out, blew thru 3 fences, adiosed over the hill---showed up about 3 days later, nice calf tagging along. I ignored the rest of them and we got along fine----never lost a calf.

Another gentlemen we used to buy heifers from, any heifer calf he doctored for any reason---out come the pocket knife and ear got split---

On crossbred cows, we'd have one kinda going backwards and in a yr or two cull her---them good old black cows limp one time on back end and you better hook up the trailer and get her to town while she's got hips enuf left to load up.
 
like shed lambing or range lambing. Shed lambing a heck of alot of work with a high percentage lamb crop, range , alot lower lamb crop a lot less labor.
would rather have to help suckle a calf on a Hereford then on an Angus 8)
 
Northern Rancher said:
An Angus cows role in life is to be good enough to make a baldy as is a Hereford cows. We got 650 Angus cows calving at the Waldorf and trust me it ain't all sunshine and flowers. A stockman can have a good herd of any breed-if you got poor cattle lots of times the man loking at you in the mirror is to blame-them old cows don't pick the bull they're bred too. If you want trouble free cows you have to buy bulls from herds that are managed as such. Pen calved cattle are managed too much for my situation so I don't buy bulls from those outfits-letting cows be cows and letting the unsuitable ones fall out is a self cleansing system.
Click to expand...

Can I get an AMEN!!!!

AMEN
 

Latest posts

Top