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Worked some calves today

I

IL Rancher

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Apr 8, 2006
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Northwest Illinois
Well, we worked some calves today, just doing some last minute work on them before we ship them and after we were done I came inside and sat around for a while and than my wife came up to me and told me my daughter really, really wanted to help me and Fino (The guy who works for us).. Well, I am loathe to put my daughter, or son for that matter, in harms way but she asked me to ask you fine folks if you had any ideas on how an almost 4 year old (She will be 4 by the next time we do anything with cows) can actually help.. Me..

I just can't fathom a way I can keep her safe and have her out there... It was one thing having her in the truck while checking for calves and taking her with me when I haul calves or cattle but... I don't want to crush her spirit and desire to help but at the same time I don't want to get her crushed... Any ideas, suggestions, advice on how to let her down gentley on this?
 
We had a loading chute hooked up to the corrals,had a gate to block from the chute to the corrals. Our kids would play there.

We also would either put them in box of truck or on top of hayrack,both out of harms way. If she wants to help give her something to do,like holding a bolus gun...you know just something she thinks is helping.
 
My three were always out to "help". I remember one day my middle girl was using a broke off whip and worked outside the crowding alley moving calves up for their shots. I don't really know how or why but those calves moved right up to the squeeze. We don't use and posts in behind the calves so that danger wasn't present. You have to be careful but it is a special time for a Dad and his daughter.
 
Hmm.. Thining about I really wish my chute had all the controls on the right side instead of left... Dang, if it was set up that way I could wall off that enitre area and she could be back there with Dad.. Would have to keep her away from the needles and stuff of course but... Something to think aboutt.. "Honey.. We need to buy a new chute" might not go over very well.... but I am sure she will go for a silincer, lol.


We pulled a calf this spring and her and her mom came out and watched (Well, my wife held one chain while I got the other leg chained) and that is all she talked about for 2 months how Dadd reached into the mommy cow and pulled out a babby cow.. She wanted to do it again (Unfortunately for me she got her wish about 25 times this spring).. She has helped with some stuff I just worry about a couple of my crazy cows (I keep sortting them out and the number is smaller but new ones keep popping up)
 
We always had the kids out there. Matter of fact, they were my best crew.

Of course, Mama was there and kept a better eye on them, than I did.

Had my nephews boy help me and a neighbor one time, he was the same age. We just put him on a gentle horse and told him to stay towards the back of the corrals. He kept getting off when we weren't looking! :lol:

God watches out for little ones, seems like. Of course, we never put them any where we knew they were in danger, but then again, you never know what can happen.

Do the best you can and it will all work out.

Might have to get mom to help out too. :wink:

You learn to keep one eye on the kids and the other on the business at hand. And you learn that the cattle work isn't near as important as the kids. :)
 
When ours were little, their first job was to hand the tags to whoever had the taggin plyers. They can pull em off the lil keepers they come on and they are in order. but there's only 25 tags in a bag so "in order" don't really make that much difference. Someone's writin down the tag numbers as they go in anyway. Our Truck usually gets backed up real close to the workin chute. with the tail gate down. That's where the vet box and everything stays...(but when your workin cows all the syringes and stuff that they don't need to get into are hangin on the chute away from them) when they were little little that's where they got put.....gave em somethin to do even if it didnt amount to much. As far as that goes......give her a tablet, and let her write numbers down.....if she knows her numbers. Anything to get em involved and you'll have a helpin hand for life, and kids love all the excitement of the whole ordeal. Sooner than you know what happened you'll have a calf wrestler on your hands LOL

Let us know how it goes.
 
That is great that you are thinking of your daughter and she wants to be with you. Figure out some way and you will never regret it, neither will she. When my first was born, her mother was is bed for a week or two. I took her every where, just carried her around in a carry all. Loaded cattle, checked cattle, and anything else. Now she can do most anything herself. The second girl and I did not have that same chance to bond like the first and she is uncomfortable around cattle. Best of luck to you and your family.
 
One time, back in about the fall of 1984, I had bought 30 nice Angus heifer calves to go with our own bunch. Peach Blossom and I were branding them on a nice afternoon, and our little two-year-old boy was up in the back of the pickup out of the way. A wild young man that lived a few miles from us happened to fly by in his airplane. He dived over us several times, nearly taking the hats off our heads, all in neighborly good fun. We rather enjoyed his antics, but our poor kid was scared to death. He was quite frightened of any airplane for nearly a year, but after another friend gave us a ride in one, all was well with airplanes again.

On another occasion, Peach Blossom and I had just returned from church and were driving through our calving cows before we went in to eat dinner. An airplane flew over, circled, and landed just east of us in our hayfield. We drove over to see what the deal was, and a neighbor and his wife got out of the airplane. We only visited for a moment, and the man said, "Could you take me over to that stackyard? I have to go to the bathroom, really bad." I did, and my wife got in a good visit with his wife. It is kind of funny looking back on the incident, but I'm sure a car driving up to his airplane was the last thing he wanted on that sunny Sunday morning.
 
My kids have been out helping since they could walk even if it was just rideing along.My youngest boy is better help then alot of adults and he's 6 years old.When he was about 3 we were feeding cows he was looking out the front window hollaring get out the way get out the way you son's a beeches turned around and said RIGHT DAD :wink: I just replied yep. Thats my boy :lol: His kindergarten teacher last year said at graduation that she learned more about calveing cows and AI'ing from Lane and his best friend Cody seems they were good at explaining ALL the procedures.My girls can outwork most boys.
 
This spring I went over to a neighbors and they were working several hundred calves. It was grandpa working the chute and calves, the son in the crowding pen and grandson, little Stevie, 5 yrs. old working the alley. I watched in amazement at how smoothly they were running those calves through. Little Stevie usually kept the calves pushed up and in the chute. Every once in awhile I'd hear grandpa (Steve) holler move'em up Stevie. When the calves were worked we all climed in the truck and went down the road to a cafe for lunch. Little Stevie ate about as much meatloaf as the rest of us. Whenever grandpa was over at Stevie's I never saw them apart.
 
We did the same as Lilly,,,when our son was a wee tot...backed the pickup up by the chute...gave him some "old" tags and it was his job to mark on the paper how many cows came through. Then when he got a little older he was in charge of the chalk that we marked the cows with...the marks were pretty low since he couldn't reach very high, but he got the job done...there's always somthing safe for them to do, so they can be with mom & dad outside...At brandings we always have a pickup full of little kids that want to watch the action...

This little sweetie is almost 3 and she's never missed a branding...She comes all dressed from her pink boots to her chaps and usually has her rope with her...and she just stays in the back of pickup telling her daddy "git em dad"..lol too cute
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