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Ranchers.net
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.