Hi I’m Mike, the cows are the backbone of the ranch, and right now we are at the point
where we can have a calf any day now.
We are going to take a look at our most likely to have that first calf of the season, and
what else the month of march holds in store for the ranch, on our Wyoming life.
The ranch life is hard to explain, there is the land, the animals, the fences and the
oversized, almost over powering sky of Wyoming.
That sky, day or night hovers over everything we do here on the ranch.
From it comes the sunshine, that plants and animals both bask in, and the rain, that fills
reservoirs and feeds the grass that in turn feeds the animals.
If life on the ranch is a cycle, that cycle begins in the sky and often it’s the very
first thing we look at every morning upon adventuring outside.
One look at the clouds, the sun or the lack of either will sometimes dictate our day,
week, sometimes our month.
The month of March is a traditionally mild month here in northeast Wyoming.
The record high temperature for march was set back in 1916 recorded at 92 degrees.
The record low -23, on March 3rd 1960.
Overall though, the average high for the month is around 48 degrees, night time lows will
still dip down into the low 20 and we can expect about 11 inches of snow for the month.
All in all, March has been a good month to us over the years, and its traditionally a
good month for the cows.
A majority of the cows, about 60 to 70% are entering their last month of pregnancy and
any one of them could have a calf at any time, although we would prefer if they would wait
just a little while longer.
One of the last things that develops in the calf are the lungs.
Calves born early are more likely to have breathing problems, in additions its during
this last month that calves will form their final layer of fat about 2% of their body
weight that will protect them from the cold.
Any calf born early at this point will require our intervention and help and its because
of that we start keeping a closer eye on the herd starting now and continuing through the
end of calving which will be in June.
Starting in March we will be out checking the herd a few times per day, at least 3 during
daylight hours and a couple of times during the night.
Cows are allowed to free roam about 400 acres at this point in the season, although they
all stick close to home, its any that wander off that will definitely draw our attention,
as a need to separate herself from the herd is one of the first signs of calving, but
like any rule its made to be broken and some cows will have their calves right in the middle
of everyone, sometimes during breakfast, pausing only long to say hi, then getting back to
eating.
Because each cow in the herd has her own personality its important that during calving you know
your cows.
Because I work often times by myself, I don’t want to get hurt, and I make sure that during
the entire season the cows are used to seeing me, in the gator and on foot around them.
They aren’t scared of me and many just see me as another part of their world.
Its also the reason that anytime I am around the cows, I wear the same black jacket or
hoodie.
The cows see the colors and get used to them, hopefully associating me with good feelings
and happy thoughts.
Another interesting wardrobe choice that I make is the fact that I don’t wash my coat
during the next few months unless I absolutely have to.
During calving, I will carry newborns, I’ll have moms drop afterbirth into my arms and
I will be pooed and peed on.
All of that, carries with it a certain smell that the cows recognize and one that helps
them see me as less of a threat.
Of course, don’t come into the house with that coat on, in fact, keep a change of clothes
somewhere.
You are going to need them.
Another thing that is never a bad practice is note keeping.
You have to know when each cow is due, that is very helpful and luckily this year at preg
checking, when we determined if each cow was pregnant we were able to age her fetus and
based on that we can get a rough due date for each cow.
So we know which cows are due to be calving early.
We also want to take any notes on cows that we need to check more often, maybe a cow that
has had problems in the past or one that is notorious for having big calves that she cant
have without some help.
This year, I am breaking away from my pad and pencil and I am going to try to join the
21st century.
I have always kept cattle records on my computer with a program called cattlemax, but this
year I am headed out with an Ipad and a hotspot from my phone that will allow me to keep those
records on the go.
I can now pull up, while in the field, which cow is due to have her calf next, here we
can see that we have a tree way tie, between number 27, 150 and 184.
I can also see their ages and any other pertinent info about them.
I know that while 184 is only 3 years old, number 27 is 12.
I also know that she had had a calf every year, except 2015, those calves have all been
average weight.
I can also see that while she is due on April 2, in 2018 and in 2016 she had her calf about
a week earl y of her due date.
If I were a betting man, between her, the middle aged 150 and the young’un number
184, I would say she would be the first to have her calf.
Then again, if I were in vegas they would run me out of the casino because I have an
unfair advantage, through years of record keeping.
Through cattlemax I can also add notes to certain cattle but there is no real area to
jot down a quick thought or something to remember while calving, such as the location of a new
calf, or a cow you want to check later on.
For that, I use a google document.
Its fairly simple to set up and I can make notes on the fly, they are saved across google
online and I can pull them up from any computer and anyone I share them with can see them
as well.
This gives me a quick place to keep my thoughts, cause my head, isn’t always the most secure
storage place.
So my life at this point becomes a lot of driving around, checking on cows and looking
at a lot of hind ends.
In fact, I am quickly realizing that instead of cows having ear tags, someone should invent
tail tags, cause that’s where we spend a majority of our quality time this time of
year.
Maybe something like a license plate.
March may be the what we call the pregame of calving, but its also a precursor to spring.
Erin is getting busy planting and taking advantage of her nice new grow room in the shop.
Shes also already moving many plants into the high tunnels, where they will continue
growing even through the below freezing nights and give us one of the earliest harvests in
the area.
Other projects that are coming up in March include a brand new way to take home a piece
of the ranch yourself through out website and beef jerky raised right here, starting
next month we will be offering monthly subscription boxes, where you can get your favorite flavors
of beef jerky, raised right here on the ranch delivered directly to your door.
And speaking of doors, you might be going through this one soon, and come visit for
yourself, the farm house is almost done and in our very next video I will take you for
a tour and let you know exactly how you can book it for you next vacation, I promise not
to work you too hard.
Our goal is to bring people closer to agriculture, and I can’t think of any closer than being
right here on the ranch.
Spring is around the corner, it doesn’t look like it now and we still have a few snow
storms ahead of us, and a few very hard long days but with the right attitude, preparedness
and a good pair of long johns, we have it under control and I can’t wait to bring
you along.
Please subscribe, hit that thumbs up if you enjoyed this video and get ready for a whole
lot more as things heat up on the ranch.
Until next time, have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming life.