Workin' Cows Time #? W/ Mom
But moving on, it was a very long day. We did our morning briefing, prayer, hi how are you's, and mom's list of "to do's". It's cow working day! First, the cattle had to be moved from a field nearly across the property. We drove around opening and closing various gates, making sure the cattle could get where we wanted without us having to cut them off along the way.
On a separate note, it seems we need to declare war on the fireants, because their hills are sometimes over a foot tall. Driving the mule (ATV) around we run over them because they are hidden in the grass. The mule jolts and bumps and bounces and Mom (Sally) "goes flying off her seat" (her words, not mine). Daddy and I are both incredibly annoyed at the roughness of the ride because of these infernal useless insects, and mom is over there laughing herself to death like someone is tickling her because its just so funny to hit a pile of dirt hard enough that your butt leaves your seat. Am I missing something here????
Anyway, we have 60 cows and 12 babies. The last 2 babies were born 2 days prior. You know how human babies can't do anything but eat, cry, and poop after 2 days? Well baby cattle can do a lot. They can hide, run, play, call to mom, nurse, drink water, and lots more. They hide so well that we've spent hours trying to find them before moving the herd. They run so fast that we can't catch them. They are so strong that we cannot pick them up and hold them. And, they weigh as much as most 5th or 6th graders. Sometimes, the mom cow is extra protective and we can't even get close. Other times mom might go with the herd and get too far before she realizes how far she's gone. We had both.
Mom #1 wouldn't get moving because she was too concerned about making sure her baby, which was right next to her, was still there and following as she went. We drove around behind her for a couple minutes before she finally accepted that baby was coming. Mom #2 nearly left her calf a quarter mile behind because she was too busy moving with the herd. Luckily, she (baby) was doing her best to stay with the herd and not hide. Long story short here, we had to pick her up and carry her across the creek because mom #2 didn't make sure her baby crossed with her. We left baby and Dad (John) to wait for the herd to catch up and cross the creek while Mom (Sally) and I went back to push the herd.
There is a bend in the creek that works perfectly for funnelling the cows to encourage them to cross the creek. We sit back and try not to give too much pressure while they figure out the best way to cross. Most of them take their babies, but 2 got left behind (neither was mentioned above). One baby finally went, and we hoped the second would watch and follow, but he didn't. He had us running all over that 3 acres trying to get him to cross. Finally, we got his mom's attention enough that she came back and got him to cross. It took forever!
So, nearly 2 hours after we had started, we had the cattle moved the near mile into the barn. We still had so much work to do. Once they are in the barn, we have to sort. This is kind of like when you pick out your favorite MNM color, except that every MNM has legs, can think for itself, smells bad, and I'm pretty sure if you licked it, it wouldn't have a candy coating. So with all the cows in the barn, we separate the babies to work first. We have to give them ear tags so we can identify them in the field, and we have to give them a respiratory vaccination to prevent pnuemonia. It's just a nasal spray...
They are a handful. I usually prep the materials while everyone else gets the calves into the pin...USUALLY. I got into the office, and before I even opened the cabinet, I heard "KRISTI!!!". I go back out to see Mom, Dad, and Papa all bending over trying to herd the calves toward the gate. Mom is trying not to fall over as a calf shoots past her. Dad is wrestling a calf to turn around. Papa is whacking his stick on the ground trying to get a calf to go forward...imagine a circus out of control... I jump in to help. The gaps get filled and we round up all the calves into the pin, only to realize there are 3 that have already been worked that shouldn't be in there.
We all take a breath and get started on the rest. We have 9 calves to work, so I need to set up 9 vaccinations. These are modified live vaccines. So I have to empty the bottle of saline to mix with the dehydrated virus. Then we need the ear tag tool to give them their earring tag. It does actually look like the earring gun they use to pierce our ears.
Daddy and Papa have the chute ready. Daddy picks a calf to run through first. He gets an idea about which momma belongs to that calf and calls out a tag number for us. I have the tag and nasal cannula ready. Mom walks over and starts doing everything, and I realize it looks funny. However mom is doing it makes it look like she's struggling. I finally figured it out...shes left handed...
It seems to take so long and go so fast at the same time, but we got the calves done. Now we needed to work all the cows. This means 2 shots and a "dewormer". I call this stuff goo, but it's to get the flies to leave the cows alone. We are working to eliminate the need for this, but we aren't there yet.
For the morning portion, I prep the vaccines, mom gets weights and goos, daddy gives shots, and papa ran the back end. My job is to refill the syringes between animals, write down the weights as mom calls them out, mark what lot of the medicines each cow gets, and change out needles. Daddy's job is to catch the cows in the chute 1 at a time, and give the shots. Mom records the weight in the scale, calls it out to me, and gives the appropriate amount of goo. Papa splits the cows into smaller groups and moves them to the front of the line so they can go into the chute.
It's all very involved....
They were a very rambunctious group though. They were very nervous, didn't want to go through the chute. Banged around the whole way there. Snorted and mooed and huffed. Altogether it was a very long 2 hours. Lunch time came, and we took a break.
Papa decided he was beat and done for the day. Mom, Dad and I got back to work. The cows had all had time to settle down a little, and were much calmer. I shifted to the back to run the cows through, mom kept doing her job, and daddy started refilling between animals. We finished working the cows, and paired the calves back with their moms. It was about 20 minutes before my usual leaving time, but we still weren't done.
Daddy had a list of cows he wanted to palpate and figure out when they should be having their babies. We separated those from the group and let out everything we didn't need. I continued to work the back. Mom helped move the cows up to the chute and wrote down what daddy said. Daddy got a glove on and stuck his hand up every cow butt. YUCK!!!
At the end of the day, its a very long process, but it feels so productive. You end up tired, and covered in poop, dirt, pee, and sweat. But you've done a good thing trying your best to care for the animals God put under your charge.