Feedlot Humor

Spring melt...is making our weekly 'fecal pat' sampling a bit of a challenge to say the least.  Trying to walk through the pens without losing a boot is high priority, so I've been stuffing the samples in my pockets to keep my hands free.  Today it caught me funny...

Some gals use socks...but I just always gotta do it my way;).

Amateur Photographers

 Michelle bought a camera like mine this spring and she's having a blast using it.  Last week we made some plans to get together to practise our 'photography' moves and do some trail riding.

These were a few of my 'best' shots...I finally downloaded some photo-editing software, its been fun to play with!

I have a hard time sometimes with creativity (science brain!), Michelle does not lol.  She has a good eye for different angles and idea's...

Bill is one of the pen riders at the feedlot where Michelle works, he let us tag along and check some steers in 'the bush'.  I've NEVER been on a trail ride like that...it was beautiful, challenging and fun!  I'm sore lol!

Jess...oh my gosh, she was so happy and spunky!  Neena and Mack stayed home, I debated bringing Neena, but once we got going I was really glad I hadn't.  I don't trust that I could call Neena off cattle, and I was having a hard enough time just staying on...without worrying about my dog too lol!

I've met a few very nice heelers lately...Neena would love a little sister....sigh.  LOL!

Branding...Peters Style

Have to admit, this years branding went off pretty much without a hitch...there was no fist fight, no 'angry driving', nothing was broken on purpose...sheesh...guess we are mellowing with age!

All the snow/rain that Southern Alberta has gotten over the last few weeks made the farm...well...a sloppy mess.  It took extra-special planning, including this 'yellow straw road' that lead the babies back to their mommies, to get'er done.

We don't believe in tables...that's what tailgates are for!  I am the 'needle girl'...and the bolus girl...and the "Jen, come look at this and tell me what we should do" girl.  Its going to be fun when I'm a vet lemme tell ya!

I was dog sitting for my brother and his girlfriend, Doby...well...he's Doby.  I finally had to be mean and tie him up but have you ever tried to tell a poodle that he should stop chasing the calves?

Just when we were finally ready to get started, it was decided we needed a break.  Men.

Warren and Jordan were the calf pushers.  This, is my absolute favorite picture from the entire day.  It actually made me laugh until I cried

Lots of people will tell you that that 'real' branding involves horses & ropes & holding the calves by hand.  We have used a calf table for years, and in all honesty unless you and your team are VERY experienced...I truly believe this is the safest way for everyone.

Here is our brand...

And our lease eartag is #28, I always thought my racing number should be 28, but it just never felt right!

The dogs all had a great time playing in the 'mud' and dugout...yuck.  I deal with a lot of sh*t on a day to day basis (literally), but getting the dogs home in my car, and then bathing them both was EXHAUSTING!  Neena might shed like crazy, but her coat is SO much easier to care for than Doby's!  Wow!

Dad's been saying for years that he's selling his cows, this year was 'supposed' to be our last branding...and then half-way through he whispers to me "I'll never get rid of my cows"...that's what I thought! 

Ah, I do love my little red-necked family!

A day with Shelley

Neena and I went on a road trip last weekend, our first stop was a visit with Auntie Shelley & Mack...Michelle had to work all weekend, so I tagged along.  At 5:35am she made me french toast...who makes french toast at 5:35am?  My girlfriend, that's who.

We were at the feedlot by 6am, first task of the day was bunk checking...essentially you check to see how much feed is left in the bunks and adjust the amounts to be fed that day. 

After that, I got assigned to cow-calf detail...I was PUMPED!  The first calf of the day belonged to heifer #44, she's a very good mommy...wasn't impressed with my picture taking...and made sure I knew it. 

I think we tagged 4 calves in total...

Next on the agenda...Michelle and I treated a steer for bloat, first we tubed him, then we pumped a surfactant into him (I actually used that word...Shelley thought it was hilarious), followed with a needle chaser.

When we finished that, Michelle and I headed back to the cow-calf pasture...we decided two little guys looked a little dehydrated so we wrangled them into the back of the pick-up and to the corrals.  It was getting pretty muddy by this point and I didn't want to get stuck (female pride) so I parked in a 'safe' place, which meant we had to shepherd these calves a little distance...my calf was pretty mellow, however Shelley's still had some spunk...long story, but there was a big hole...filled with mud & water...and then there was some yelling...

Back to the feedlot where it was time to saddle up and do some pen checking.  I have secretly wanted to try pen checking for years...I know, so wierd even I shake my head...plus I love horse back riding...so I was pretty excited about this whole deal.  However, I was also pretty nervous, I don't have that much riding experience and I really didn't want to embarass myself.  But it was all good!  I did ok!  Although there is no way to look cool on a horse in a feedlot in spring where coveralls & gum boots are a must.  

My photographs aren't fantastic...its really hard to take pics from the back of a horse...as you can see, spring thaw makes pretty much any farm, and especially feedlots, a little sloppy.

I've never sorted cattle with a horse before...that was interesting...and mind boggling...and now I'm hungry to get better.  Very cool.  I had a few good moments, actually I call them "Jen got Lucky" moments, the Australian cowboy (I know, go ahead and roll your eyes...it just makes me giggle)  that Michelle assigned to babysit me tried to convince me I wasn't as bad as I thought.  But he also called me a chatterbox.

Anyways, back to pen checking...I knew it involved finding the cattle who aren't feeling 100%...but I never actually thought about how they get those guys out of the pen for treatment.  By themselves.  Without taking the whole pen with them.  In the mud.  And do you have any idea how hard it is to open/close gates from horseback...wow!  I have a whole new level of respect for pen checkers... 

After we finished pen checking we got to treat the sicks...that was also a whole new eye opening experience for me.  They let me play needle girl.  A couple of the animals I'd picked out while pen checking 'temped', essentially they were running very high fevers (over 105F)...I'm still not sure whether I actually done good, or if they just looked so bad anybody would of treated them.  And of course I don't trust either Michelle or the Aussie cowboy to tell me the truth lol.

Last item of the day was to autopsy the deads, I thought about taking pictures, but was worried about confidentiality so out of respect for the feedlot I decided I wouldn't.  Autopsies are always very neat, I am really looking forward to learning the anatomy in greater detail.

We finally left the feedlot at 7pm that night, it was a very long day...a very good one!  We ordered a pizza and headed home for a dog walk and some R&R, I found these pics on my camera the next day. 

Yep...still think my boots are kickin...and Shelley's are pretty sweet too...

This is where I hope to spend a week in August...Ya Ha Tinda.  Michelle and co. head up every year to do some horseback riding and she has invited me.  I think it will be a ton of fun, and I'm very excited, although I'm going to die...I'm still sore from riding on Saturday.  Yep.  Just a wee bit embarassed about it too.

And where was I while Michelle had all this fun with my camera? 

I was beat.

Just had to prove...

...I was stinkin cute...

And I have loved animals from a young age...

And I was a total Daddy's girl...

Dustin and I really were inseparable...I heart this picture...

Sexy shirt huh...I really did do 4-H for 8 years.  And I could hold my own in a show ring.  (P.S. no angus vs. limo comments from the peanut gallery ok? lol) 

And I found this picture of my truck...I loved this truck and bawled like a baby when I had to park it.  Sigh.

Where I became a Cowgirl

I might have mentioned it before, but I was in Beef 4-H for 8 years.  I truly believe 4-H is a great experience that teaches kids so many valuable lessons.  Not only do you learn responsibility (really sucks when you have to feed your calf on Christmas Day!), but you also learn record keeping, public speaking, judging, fund raising and many other valuable tools.  I do know, however, that there are many kids who don't have the same memories I do.

Anyways, this was our 4-H farm sign...getting a little faded these days!

 We spent A LOT of time out with the cattle, feeding, bedding, checking during calving season...you name it...we did it!  The corrals we had when I was a child are different from the ones we had now, whatever had value has been removed and what remains has been abandoned.  It makes me sad.  But life does go on. 

This was our old chop shed...not sure I'm spelling that right...I hauled MANY, MANY pails of feed from this shed to various pens.  I was tough.  For real.  And now that I think about it, this shed is probably one of the reasons why I'm not afraid of mice.  At all.  You really can get desensitized to almost anything!

This little corner will mean absolutely nothing to 99.9% of you, but 0.1% will know the value of a corner and a panel for pulling calves.  This was our corner.  I saw and helped quite a few calves be born in this pen.  And I'm not ashamed one bit to admit I cried over a few that didn't make it.  (Ya know, I really don't cry ALL the time...I laugh a lot too...but I'm a crier...what can I say).

This here little calf shelter used to be where we'd put the calves to warm, and if need be we'd feed them a bottle.  Probably one of my all time favorite things to do in the whole entire world...absolutely nothing better than feeding a baby a bottle.

Ok ok, this makes me laugh so hard...but Dustin and I have many funny stories that start in this pen.  For starters, spring thaw is ALWAYS a mucky time.  I'm not sure how it started, but one year we got into this huge fight and somehow we ended up throwing manure/slop/muck at each other.  We were literally covered from head to toe.  Mom made us hose off outside before we could come in the house...it was that bad!  And it wasn't overly warm at the time either lol!

Another gooder...we were put in charge of feeding some yearlings one winter...we were so proud of ourselves because we could sort the crap outta those steers.  It makes me cringe to think how much feed we worked off those animals.  Ah childhood...too funny!

This was the 4-H pen...where our calves 'lived', and the closest to a red barn our farm ever got.

Second most frustrating farm chore...checking waterers.  It sucks when its -30 plus wind chill and you have to defrost waterers...sometimes it felt damn near impossible.

This is about all that's left of the actual handling area's...on our farm you started helping at branding by pushing calves.  I pushed a lot of calves down this alley until I became the needle girl. 

On this day I was pushing a different type of animal down this alley...she sorta has the same look on her face all those poor little calves did lol.

I thought this was a kinda cool photo...made me think of the whole you get to chose which path in life you take...left or right...right or left...meh, that's a post for another day...

...but maybe still a thought to ponder.