Gathering, Sorting, and Preg-Testing

We had a big cattle gathering last Thursday.

 

We didn’t start before dark, and that’s because it’s not the brutally hot summertime anymore. It was after seven when we drove out into the pasture.

 

The horses are saddled before they go in the trailer, but once they’re out of the trailer there are sometimes some last minute adjustments to do.

 

There’s tightening the cinch…

 

And snapping the bottom piece of the breast collar.

 

Pa-Pa needed a little more time.

 

But that’s okay. I’d say he’s earned it.

 

The kids were sleepy, but they still managed to joke around with their cousins before they rode out.

 

By that time, Pa-Pa was ready…

 

And they all took off. Josh led the posse of kids to get around the cattle, while Marlboro Man, Tim, and everyone else went straight to the cattle.

 

Walter and Charlie rode in the pickup, not because they were in trouble…

 

But because we were a little too far out they probably wouldn’t have had the stamina to travel all the way to the house.

Of course, that’s probably their protective mother talking.

Or maybe it’s their mother projecting her lack of stamina onto her dogs.

 

Soon, the cattle started coming toward me…

 

And amidst them all, I saw something beautiful.

 

This cow!

 

Isn’t she lovely? I’ve never seen coloring/markings like this before.

 

I’m going to call her Roxanna.

 

Soon, the kids started arriving, which signaled that all the cattle had been rounded up and it was time to start moving.

 

My baby, by the way, wore a t-shirt, then a long sleeve t-shirt, then a sweatshirt, then a coat that day.

 

He wanted to put on a second coat over his coat, but I told him I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to move around very easily.

 

It’s always difficult acclimating to this cool October air.

 

I happen to love it when the weather changes to fall.

Love it.

Like, I want to marry it.

It makes me happy and content.

Summer, on the other hand, is not my love language.

Summer and I have problems relating.

Summer and I just don’t connect.

 

Back to the gathering: the guys just kept the cattle together and kept pushing them toward the house.

 

Some of the (older) kids and cowboys rode back and forth along the side to keep any cattle from breaking loose and/or straying…

 

While Pa-Pa and the other kids stayed at the rear to make sure the herd kept moving forward.

 

On a side note: The prairie looks like a watercolor painting right now.

Have I mentioned I love October?

 

So everything was moving along nice and smooth.

 

Every once in awhile, a cow took off…

 

Or a couple of cows and their calves took off…

 

But the guys got them all back in and successfully brought the herd to the gate close to our house.

 

Then Josh opened the gate…

 

And the cattle filed right through.

 

Good job, Pa-Pa!

 

Good job, kids!

 

Good job, Marlboro Man! I love your muscles.

 

After all the cattle were in the pens, a lot of the crew took off and went their separate ways since the gathering of the cattle was the part Marlboro Man needed the most help with. That left Marlboro Man and our two middle kids to sort the calves off the cows.

 

First, they take a bunch into the alley.

 

Then my younger daughter opens or closes the gate depending on which direction each animal needs to go. The calves needed to go through the gate (as above) while the cows needed to go straight past the gate, which requires my daughter to quickly push the gate closed to let the cows go by. The secret here is not to make any jerky arm movements; to keep everything nice and smooth. The cows naturally want to get out of the alley, so they’ll go straight out where they’re supposed to go if the person operating the gate doesn’t make any erratic movements. Meantime, Marlboro Man and my boy are holding calves back while the cows go. If a calf starts to run down the alley, my girl has to quickly open the gate so it will run into the separate pen.

 

This is not as easy as it sounds, as sometimes both cows and calves will run down the alley at once…and one needs to go through the gate while the other ones need to go past the gate, or two need to go through the gate while one cow needs to go past. And sometimes, when a bunch of big, heavy animals are running straight at you, all you want to do is climb ON the gate and get the heck out of the way. This, of course, causes a big mess because then cows and calves run by and are mixed together…and you have to go to the cow’s pen and sort off the calves that got through.

I’m speaking hypothetically, of course.

I would never get scared and jump up on a gate to avoid a 1,200 pound cow that’s running toward me at top speed.

Ahem.

And anyway, Marlboro Man and the kids did great. Out of three hundred pairs, only one cow got into the calf pen and only one calf got past the gate.

And my girl never once jumped on the fence!

 

In the end (no pun intended!) this was all about weaning the calves (because they’re big enough to stop nursing) and preg-testing all the cows (so we can know how many baby showers to plan. Just kidding.) One by one, the cows went into the chute and the nice veterinarian inserted his gloved arm into the cows’ backsides in order to determine whether they were pregnant and how pregnant they were.

It’s a dirty job…and I’m sure glad somebody else gets to do it.