Off to the first brandin' of the season~~
Every ranch in Eastern Oregon is branding...there's horse trailers going everywhere...now's the time to take advantage of perfect weather too!
We spent yesterday at our neighbor's spread; the TI Ranch. They have a nice lil' herd of mother cows, and we've been itchin' to get out and help them brand. They opt to run the calves though a branding table instead of roping them and dragging them to the fire. Rusty and Sam had the herd gathered and calves separated out by the time we got there.
Rusty and My Man move the calves to the alley way.Such innocent faces...they just don't know
what's comin'...
This is Rusty's new pup Missy.At just 4 months old, she's already
getting her job figured out!
Well, here we go...
My Man gets the hard job...wrestlin' calvesinto the branding table.
He enjoyed every minute of it...even though he got kicked a couple of times...
luckily not anywhere important ;~)
Got him in...and we squeeze it in.
Then the table pivots into the side position.It makes it easy to access
whichever body part you need.
No, the calf doesn't look all that thrilled with the
process...but after it's all said and done,
it's probably on the table for less than 5 minutes.
Bull calves get their back legs tied for castration.
Sam gives them a shot.
I step in and give them a dose up each nostril.
Another neighbor, Martin, mans the electric branding iron.
I'm back in again to notch out the left ear.It's just a small hog notcher that works like a hole punch.
Rusty is castrating this bull calf.
They bleed a lil' from the ear notch, but itquits bleeding in just a few minutes.
And there's one happy but confused calf saying"I'm outta here!!"
Missy is wondering when she's going to getto do some more herding.
Oops...a tell tale beer can. It wouldn't
be a brandin' if you didn't have a couple of beverages!
And, the day is almost done...
We ran the mother cows through the chute tospray them for external parasites.
Meanwhile, Cindy Sue and Missy are doing theirpart by cleaning up pieces.
Yep, calf pieces...Cindy Sue spent 20 minutes
licking blood off the branding table!
And all is well at the end of the day~~
Geesh! That looks like a lot hard work, and good teamwork! Do you think the calves remember the experience and are more difficult to wrangle for future vaccinations? It was great of you to help out your neighbors. I'm glad you are getting some nice weather and hopefully getting some springs chores done!
ReplyDeleteI never realized what it took to brand calves! Good thing everyone helps eachother out! I would have drank that beer too!
ReplyDeleteMissy is adorable, I am sure she will be an ole pro before you know it!
Looks like a slick way of getting things done. Love that pup!
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda hoping we miss a few of the first brandings this year. Usually by now, several people have branded and with the bad weather they've all been postponed. Those calves are going to be HUGE! I'm not as young as I used to be...read that as...I kinda prefer NOT having to wrestle monsterous calves.;)
ReplyDeleteMegan and I will catch a few of the later ones. And YES to the adult beverages. They are medicinal to help relieve the aches and bruises always associated with branding time-LOL.
Ya'll have that down to a science..:-)
ReplyDeleteI love it! Man, I wish I was there. Love that pic of you, that's a keeper :) Very cool, I was so excited to see this when I saw the title. You never disappoint!
ReplyDeleteI loved it! Lookks like a heck of a good time! Hard work never scared me !
ReplyDeleteWhat great teamwork!
ReplyDeleteGirl, I am so jealous! I would love to do that! I have this dream of branding calves. Sigh....what a fun day. Fun but hard day. Great pictures. And I love the new header pictures, very cool saddle!
ReplyDeleteI almost missed your comment on what we used to treat the ticks on the horses. We used Poridon. That worked very well, especially since the horse's were still in full winter coats. There are some flysprays available that are also good for killing ticks. I think it is UltraShield that mom picked up for spot treating. Most of our horses have very long and thick manes and that is where the ticks have a tendency to migrate when the horses start shedding, so I just scrub that into their mane and tail bases every few days, if they haven't been treated with the Poridon within the last month. Gotta be careful how crazy a person gets with all the treatment programs...don't want to OD the horses with insecticides, since the Poridon absorbs through their skin and is supposed to work for an extended period of time. You can tell the Poridon absorbs fast, since most of the horses will immediately lift their lips like they have a bad taste in their mouth.
ReplyDeleteOUCH! From every direction :)
ReplyDeleteMan, that looks like a lot of work, but tons of fun! One experience I want to have some day! :) Great job catching all the action!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun! We have never used one of the tables before. Interesting! I will have to post a picture of hubby's new castering knife, he is so excited about it! He he he!
ReplyDeleteWhat dog or cat for that matter doesn't like to eat nuts or leftovers?? One branding we work every year the cats and dogs literally line up and wait to have them thrown out! I'll have to get pictures, it is hilarious!
Cindy Sue is a killer! LOL! Way to go! Shelby loves to get moles, mice, squirrels, whatever!
Well that's what happens when they drink too much...chewing on some strange stuff. (ewww)
ReplyDeleteUmmm.You might want to cut out some of that beer drinking for Missy, k?
lol!
~Lisa
Well seems that you had the exact same weekend we had two Saturdays! All except the branding and the kind of chute. We dont use the squeeze, however ours is a little "modified" as Norm calls it, and its in the barn, so no good pictures ever come out of that! disappointing really. Im jealous of your earlier post about trailin the cattle, something I've always wanted to do *sigh*
ReplyDelete