AUGUST 27 Last week several cows came down through the fence from the range into “No Man’s Land” and Lynn was able to herd them back up to the gate where they belonged with his four-wheeler. Later that day he took several salt blocks into the forks of Withington Creek to encourage the cows to […] Read more
The “Round-Up” Season Underway
Bulls, Machinery Present Challenges – for Sep. 6, 2010
JULY 23 Andrea and I rode through the middle range this week to check water troughs. Lynn took our big John Deere tractor over to the Mauer place for Michael to use. The next day Andrea brought Dani and Sammy and we took them for a ride on the low range. Dani rode double on […] Read more
July Has Been Hard On Vehicles – for Jul. 23, 2010
JUNE 1 What a crazy spring we’ve had! It doesn’t seem like summer yet. We are still feeding hay. Lynn put a new starter on the feed truck and got it working again. The grass is slow growing in the cool weather, but is finally coming nice and thick—from all the rain. Michael and Carolyn […] Read more
Cool Conditions Delays New Grass
APRIL 25 We had warm weather last week but now it’s cold and freezing at night again. We sawed the rest of our log-length firewood, and even though we’re still having a fire in the stove every day, it looks like we’ll have some wood left over, for a start toward next winter. Michael and […] Read more
Spring Weather Taking Its Time
MARCH 27 Last week Andrea’s kids spent a day with us, and Emily stayed overnight. She learned how to make biscuits, and helped me do chores. We brought the cow herd down from the field and sorted off cows that are about to calve. Emily enjoyed seeing her pet cow, Buffalo Girl, who is close […] Read more
Permanent and portable models of this fly trap help control biting pests over at least a 20 acre area
The battle against flies is constant, but there are ways to reduce these costly and irritating pests — without pesticides and toxic chemicals. One effective method is the Epps Biting Fly Trap, invented by a cattleman in Oklahoma. It is now made and marketed by Mark and Virginia Bonacquista of Horseline Products (www.horselineproducts.com)in Henderson, Tennessee. […] Read more
Trich’ In Bulls Is Profit Robber
Trichomoniasis is a subtle disease that can enter a herd without obvious signs — until the rancher discovers a high number of open cows at preg-check or observes cows returning to heat when they should have settled. “Trich” can be introduced when cattle share range pastures, or a fence breaks down and the neighbour’s bull […] Read more
Calving Season Going Full Tilt
FEBRUARY 18 A week ago Michael and Carolyn had another set of twins and had a tough time getting them out alive. The cow was taking too long in early labour so they suspected a problem, and went fishing. The first twin was breech — nothing entering the birth canal but the calf’s tail — […] Read more
Basics Of Grazing Behavior
Cattle are grazers and browsers, eating a wide variety of grasses, forbs and leaves/bark from shrubs and trees. Not having upper front teeth, cattle can’t nip off plants as a horse does, but use their flexible tongue to wrap around a “bite” and break it off with a movement of the head. They bite short […] Read more
A 32-Day Breeding Season Works
My husband and I have been raising cattle on a small mountain ranch for 43 years — a ranch with very little hay ground, lots of steep native pasture, and four months of summer grazing on public range. Our basic cattle management included early calving (to use the range with cow-calf pairs, and to have […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
