Penchecker's Diary: Don’t be afraid to believe some folklore, intangibles or observations
In this day and age we hear so much about fake news and conspiracy theories, from politics to business and even religion. They have become a part of our everyday life. And depending on what type of person we are, we often logically dismiss almost everything we hear as preposterous. I sometimes wonder if we […] Read more
Pen Checker Diary: Nicer weather comes with a whole parcel of animal health risks
Those of us in the agricultural field find ourselves continually affected by our Canadian weather. A constant of this weather is that it is continually changing, and when the bitter cold temperatures of winter begin to ease and the spring sun appears in its brilliance, Old Sonny and I tend to feel pretty good about […] Read more
Cattle behaviour may not be all that much different than how humans handle life
There are many things I have learned over the years about what makes a good pen checker in the feedlot. In my opinion, one of the most important is learning about the flight zones of cattle. Earlier in my career, I believed it was something you either understood or didn’t. There was no middle ground […] Read more
The days of a few notes in a notebook appear to be long gone
A few short years ago after I had begun working for a fairly new feedlot, as old Sonny and I were working up a sweat pulling a stubborn Hereford calf with a bad cough, I made a mental note to somehow check if I had pulled this fellow before and if so, how many times, […] Read more
A foundered steer is troublesome, but elicits some extra sympathy
During my morning pen-checking rounds I came across a yearling red and white steer with a bad case of foot rot. Now there is nothing unusual about that, being that I find many cattle with this problem every day. The difference in this case, was that this particular steer was badly foundered to start with. […] Read more
MEMBERSHIP