Beautiful Bovine Birth



A Full Moon Plus...

The Duty of Calving Out 300 Synchronized Bred 1st Calf Heifers...



Is Not...

 

For The Weak...

 

Or Faint of Heart.



Witnessing the Beauty of Birth...PRICELESS


So to clarify some things if you're new to bovine births.  Synchronizing heifers, in our case, means bringing their heat cycles closer  together through a fairly complicated process and then artificially inseminating the animal.  What it all boils down to: approximately 300 first calf heifers start having their calves within a 10 day period.  This gets pretty intense as you can have several heifers calving at the same time.
It is important to use bulls with low birth weights on first calf heifers.  EPD's or  Expected Progeny Differences allow  producers to pick sires that fit their programs.
In most cases if a low birth weight bull is used, the heifer will not need assistance in calving, however; there are always a few that need help.  This certain night we were up until 2:00 a.m. delivering.



"What'll You Give?"

Thought I'd update you on what's happening on the Chain Ranch.  We've been really busy getting ready for our 2nd Annual Red Dirt Red Angus Sale.  
We have had cattle sales on our places for the past 14 or 15 years, always hiring a sale company to put them on.  The last two years we have been doing most of the work ourselves along with the @Oklahoma Red Angus Association and @Cattle In Motion and @Superior Livestock .  Come On Out Saturday and Enjoy The Day.
If you're really feeling adventurous and you're a golfer...or not... come watch the Pasture Golf Tourney on Friday.  It's getting more attention than the sale!

Are You My Mother?

Baby Bottle Calves

Are

 

ALWAYS HUNGRY!

We usually lose a "Mama Cow" or two during the winter-early spring calving months and that leaves  hungry mouths to bottle feed.  This year my grandaughter, Olivia, has taken on feeding two oprhans.  They think everyone who gets in the pen with them is their MOM!
They are usually fed two- three times a day using a milk replacement from a 1/2 gallon baby bottle.  The formula is increased as the calve grows 

Another Typical Day

A day in the life...

8:00 a.m. Walk over to our office next door. Linda our secretary is having a root canal so I'm on my own today. Linda has worked for us for over 19 years and is the glue that holds our ranch together, without her I'm convinced we would literally fall apart.

8:15 My dad comes in with a stack of bills- his daily routine. The phone rings several times. My brother brings in a new Mr. Coffee and starts to brew a pot in the kitchen (our office has a kitchen which we use during harvest and working cattle).

8:20 An anonymous (the name has been omitted to protect the embarrassed) person announces their visiting relative, a vet, is neutering the family dog on their dining room table. Astonished? Me? Not much...it's a typical day.

8:25 Three more males make their way into the room and a group discussion begins on the complex maneuvering of cattle, people, and trucks-from one pasture to the other; from grass to wheat; from wheat to grass; from one state to the other.

8:30 A neighbor and his wife stop. They ask if we're missing a water buffalo; they have an extra in their pasture. I call and check. No missing water buffalo...not that we know of. Shocked? Me? Not much...it's a typical day.

8:45 Crawl into the Mack (a truck) and head north with hubby to haul cattle to the sale.

9:20 Arrive 35 miles north to a remote homestead which we've renovated and lease to hunters. The guys start sorting old-dry (they're not expecting) cows from the young ones. I visit with a hunter's son and a friend about their deer hunting and their show calves which they'd hauled with them (they had taken them to a show on Saturday and had them penned in the corral) The show calves looked really out of place-fat and sassy-next to the thin old dry cows we were hauling

9:30 Deer Hunting Season. Need I say more about the actions of some "packing" men...and women? We arrive with the cattle at the destination pasture greeted by a group of individuals displaying some of the unsavory actions which accompany the overzealous hunter. Remember the movie Deliverance? Remember the movie Open Range? Let's just say the encounter we had with the "packing" individuals hung somewhere in between. Uneasy? Me? YES...this ISN'T typical and it's a relief to unload and drive away.

10:45 We head back north to load another group of cattle. After loading we make the 40 mile trip to Woodward where we unload. After unloading we drive north of town to the "wash out" to clean out the rented cattle trailer. This is a giant "car wash" for manure filled truck trailers. These wash outs are rare jewels in the cattle hauling truck world. If this one had been closed we would have been forced to drive to the next closest 60 miles away.

2:30 So much for eating at my favorite Mexican restaurant; we're stuck at the truck wash out and eat at their little cafe. Queasy? Me?...maybe a little but I'm used to the smell plus it is extremely clean and the chicken fry is excellent.

3:30 We're headed back home, but not before making another trip to return the trailer.

5:00 We drop the trailer off east of Fairview where we visit a while with relatives---I swap recipes and Brad swaps stories and ideas.

7:30 p.m. We're finally home. Brad heads to the family room and I head to the frig where I stare mindlessly at its ingredients. After a few minutes I conjure up a new recipe; Corn Meal Crepes with Broccoli Sausage Cheese Soup.
Tired? Me? Yes...it's a typical day---But I wouldn't trade boots with anyone.

It's Life

This is my backyard. This is our office. It's located in my backyard. So are the loading chutes, sheds, barns, silos and molasses tanks (tanks full of molasses that cattle find extremely tasty and nutritious.) Loading cattle here has been a common sight for as long as I can remember.
Tonight we loaded bulls. It started to snow when they were loading. I hope the driver and the bulls get to their destination safely.
The bulls have been in my backyard for several weeks. Getting fat. Getting ready to go north. Getting ready to...uh... go to slaughter, or should I say "harvest." Not too long ago that word reminded me of wheat. Kind of like the word "gay" used to make me think of someone happy.
Anyway, today our "politically correct" friends recommend we don't refer to the word that actually describes what has taken place since Adam and Eve. The word that describes what has taken place for centuries to insure human survival. No, today we must treat the word like candied fruit. Sugar coating reality. We might offend tender ears if light is shed on the gruesome origin of food, clothing and consumables.
However you want to say it, it still results with meat on my table, leather for my shoes, buttons on my coat, crayolas for my grandkids, deodorant for my underarms, perfume for my pulse points and footballs. It means I can carry a purse, wear gloves, eat ice cream, and enjoy butter on my bread.
I've watched this cycle of life and death from the time I was old enough to walk. I love cattle. I love animals. I was sad when those bulls loaded on that truck tonight. For the past few weeks I'd been watching them and listening to them. They fought each other. Bellered. Bawled. And dug up dirt here in my backyard.
Tonight their fate was sealed when they boarded the truck. It's part of life.
But it's not keeping me from praying for their safe arrival.

chainranchlady.com

He's Answering Prayers

Back from the fires again. They were billowing again, but not nearly as bad. I contacted the Emergency Management Director today to see if there was anything being done about assistance for those who lost grass, cattle, etc. He was exasperated and said that more less the Federal Government is denying any help for rural disasters. He said he had been taking up donations for some of the county firefighters that were running short of supplies. He said it was just ridiculous what has happened since the new administration has taken over. He asked me to spearhead an effort to gather information on all those that had losses. There were around 40 landowners and nearly 60,000 acres destroyed so far. Cattle losses aren't as bad as you'd think, but I'm not finished gathering info either. The bright side...I got to meet or talk to all of my neighbors in the Valley! That was kind of neat. There will be a silver lining in all of this, it may be years, but I know God has a plan! We found grass in eastern Oklahoma!

Got Grass?

Just got back from the fires. We hauled hay and feed blocks to the cattle we've gathered, and are holding in safe places, until we can get them to grass. We are looking for grass for around 350+ head. If you know of any please send me an email. Just watched the news and they reported that the fire could go on for days. Now I know what the people in California feel like each summer.

Cutting Wheat

We're in the fields cutting wheat. We do this every year and it usually takes almost a month. We feed the men, most always taking the meal to the field they are cutting in. It really is kind of fun. Everyone is working together during this time. My mother, my sister-in-law, and my daughters and daughters- in- laws always help. Today I won't help, I have to go to Medicine Lodge, KS. to take care of water issues we are having on the ranch up there. It's a two hour drive. It's usually late when we get back from a Kansas trip. Gotta go, my son's honking.