Hey ya’ll!
Well, Spring has finally sprung! Sunshine, singing birds, warmer temperatures, and green grass! The rainy days bring out the leaves on the trees and spring flowers. Mother Nature has apparently has decided, storms this year, and lots of them!
Spring also brings…….babies!! As a Rancher, I AM referring to calves, colts, fillies, chicks, pups, etc. For me, it is my second favorite season (next to Fall, of course). I love seeing the trees bud, then bloom, then magically, they have LEAVES! The grass goes from brown and crumbly to soft and green. The birds flying around with a purpose gathering materials to build their nest so that they too may have their babies! We have a small pond out front near the road, and I love hearing all the frogs croaking out there in the spring. They croak in the summer too, but I think they are more apparent in the Spring because it’s been quiet out there all winter!
So, first on the To-Do list around the Ranch for me is the horses shedding their winter coats. It seems you can brush, and brush, and brush, and the hair just keeps coming! A couple of the horses have a lighter coat, but even with them, they shed for weeks! My oldest boy, Ricky, is a Thoroughbred. He’s about 33 or 34 in human years. I am convinced he was a Mammoth in a former life. After about 20-30 minutes of brushing him, he doesn’t really look much different, but when you look at the ground…….there is another small horse lying there, lol!
Next on my To-Do list is to move the bull out of the cow’s pasture and into his own pasture. One reason we do this is to give him a break, and a chance to rest, recoup, and gain some weight back. He’s been a busy man courting and breeding all those lovely ladies, and food is NOT usually on the top of his priority list. Rocky, our current bull, is new to the Ranch this season. He’s 2 years old and full of personality! He’s been with his ladies for several months now, so it’s time for him to vacate their premises, so to speak.
Another reason we move him out is to give the ladies a chance to settle down and focus on having their babies and raising them. Rocky doesn’t really do a lot to help raise the babies, so no reason for him to be there. Also, they won’t have to compete with him for food. We like to give the girls 60 to 90 days after they have their babies, for their bodies to recoup. We as mother’s know, it can take a lot out of ya!
When the babies start hitting the ground, it is a very exciting time for us! Since we will be having babies from a new bull this year, it’s exciting to sit and wonder, “What are they going to look like?” “Will it be a heifer or a bull?” “What will their personality be?” “Will they be big or small?” “What will I name them?” “Will we keep them or sell them?” I kind of act like a ‘Grandma’, lol.
Our old Bull, “Mr. T” (Traveler 12) was a big, beautiful, docile guy. We LOVED ‘T’. We bought him when he was 2-years old and he was 8-years old when we sold him. We were really sad to see him go, but you have to introduce new bloodlines into the herd ever so often. Most ranchers keep a bull for about 3-4years before they change out. We have a fairly small herd, so once most of the herd were T’s offspring, we had to get another bull. We bought “Rocky” last year, so about half the babies we will have this season will be his, and we are excited to see what he produces!
Spring is also, of course, a time for ‘Spring Cleaning’! Most folks think of their homes when they hear those words. We, on the other hand, think of trimming trees, cleaning up fence lines, mending fences. We have to clean up the winter feeding area, start the cattle on special minerals, so that they stay healthy once they switch from eating hay to eating lush, green grass. Also, giving the auto-waterers a good scrubbing, fresh coats of paint on fences and barns, doing maintenance on the tractors and the hay equipment, fertilizing the hayfield. Honestly, there’s a TON of things to do, and it seems never ending.
Spring also brings on new challenges of how to battle the ticks, the flies, the pesky mosquitos! For the cattle, we use fly-tags in their ears to battle the flies on their faces, then we spray them a couple times a week with fly spray.
Flies can rob you of your profit with your cattle. If the cows are spending all their time fighting flies off, they’re not eating, thus, they are not gaining weight, which is the end goal in this business. We try to rotate different products occasionally to keep the flies from becoming immune to it. What do ya’ll use? I’d love to hear from you, so shoot me a message on my contact page, and let me know what ya’ll do!
Vaccinations for all the cattle and horses, and any other animals on the Ranch is essential. Want to keep them all healthy! Cattle, especially the very young calves, can be susceptible to several serious diseases. We vaccinate at 3-mos, and 6-mos, usually right before weaning them. This gives them the best chance to stay happy and healthy.
Horses, at pretty much any age, are at risk of many diseases and conditions, so vaccinating them and being sure to get a Coggins test is a must! Coggins tests must be Negative in order to be able to have the horse around any other horses. If they are positive, they will either have to be quarantined for the rest of their lives or put down. It can be a sad ordeal, and one I hate to see anybody have to endure.
So, I could probably go on and on with my list. It’s always a long list we do our best to get it all done. Sometimes, no, most all the time, that list lags into Summer, but we eventually get most of it done.
So, start early planning, make a physical list and post it, it helps me stay on track. If I don’t, I will start two or three different projects and never get ANY of them done! Then the feeling of being overwhelmed hits hard!
Well, as always, it’s been nice talking to ya’ll! Please, please, send me a reply on my contact page and let me hear some of ya’lls To-Do list and how you organize your time to complete it all. I can use all the help I can get!
Until next time! Be safe and be Blessed!