hi I'm Mike today we celebrate Mother's Day and I figured there's no better way
than the fact that we have 160 moms out here so today we celebrate motherhood on
our Wyoming life
welcome to our lemming life today being Mother's Day I thought we'd take a break
from our usual and take a little drive around the ranch celebrate what actually
makes the ranch a ranch because without moms there wouldn't be anything for us
to do here and if this is your first time here thanks for joining us as we
explore the ranch life and escape the ordinary we post videos three times per
week in an effort to bring you closer to a life that many never get to experience
we take you with us through it all the good times and the bad and we invite you
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through raising cattle market farming ranch style cooking family and so much
more what it all comes down to it the ranch is built on family not just our
human family but the families that build and extend out here in the past year
every spring brings new life to the ranches calves are born new chickens
arrive eventually piglets and behind every single bit of this new life is a
mom and we have a lot of new moms right now and here to celebrate calving for us
started back in March as our first-time mom started having calves we kept them
close to home and now that they've had calves they're all out here in the
pasture with the experienced moms who are currently having their calves as
well I'd like to think that cow is especially new moms learn about being
moms every day and I can imagine that being a new mom to a baby calf well it
isn't easy each one of these cows are now expending more calories than they're
taking in to produce milk for their calves most will actually lose weight
over the next few months as their calves will gain weight at a rate of two to two
and a half pounds per day or 75 pounds per month as they feed their calves
they're also passing on antibodies to help keep their calves healthy in fact
from the moment each of these calves are born their moms motherhood instinct well
I like kicks into overdrive
their first instinct is to clean their calves now this may seem
counterproductive but by licking her calf she's actually drying it off and
helping warm it up then it's time to coax the calf to stand and drink most
camps will be up and standing within a few minutes of being born although most
are pretty shaky in the beginning falling then getting up again many times
falling it yet until their legs are underneath them but what's mom helps
them and they have the confidence and the strength to stand on their own and
it's time for them to get that first drink and it's the first of many a calf
will be fed approximately 10% of their body weight per day each quart weighs
about two pounds so a 100-pound calf can drink 10 pounds five quarts or 1.25
gallons per day and there's lots of studies out there about how many
calories it takes for a cow to produce a gallon of milk and they differ from beef
cattle to dairy cattle but as the grass continues to grow beef cattle will
produce the milk they need to feed their calves and keep them growing mom's also
protect their calves from predators and weather when predators are in the area
well you can tell you can often see cows starting to bunch up moving calves
towards the middle of the group in order to shelter them and protect them as much
as possible and as bad weather moves in cows will position themselves on the
side of their cows the weather's coming in from protecting and sheltering their
calves with their own bodies and at their own expense every day I spend with
the cows and calves I learned something like watching a mom desperately look for
her calf she looks like a mom whose kid is wandered off at the grocery store and
she's checking every aisle searching frantically almost in a panic a cow that
loses her calf will do the same thing moving across the pasture and almost a
grid-like pattern searching bellowing and you can see the panic in her eyes
until her calf is found or returned to her as the calves grow well moms out
here let go a little bit ventually calves are almost on their own by
mid-summer you're gonna see calves with their moms but usually only at meal
times then they get the green light to go out and explore on their own or in
quickly learning the ways of the cows eating grass themselves and beginning to
wean themselves off their mom a calf can be ready to start weighing in as little
as 4 to 5 months of age and some will wean themselves off much earlier as mom
and calf began chasing better and more abundant grass and left to their own
devices a calf will only stick with its mom for about 10 months and by that time
they're ready to go out on their own and mom can be happy she's done a good job
and she's also done her part to support the ranch where she lives and thrives
and every day I like to come like to come out and thank the cows for being
good moms for taking care of their calves the ranch and our family I'd also
like to take this time to thank a couple more great moms first of all my mom for
putting up with me for many hard years and still being there when I needed her
I'd also like to thank Aaron's mom Rita who lives with us right here on the
ranch and without her help and what she's done for us well we wouldn't be
here where we are today of course I'd also like to thank Aaron
my wife and Mackenzie graces and Lincoln's mom she works hard but she
still takes the time to be the best mom that she can be
you say mommy I love when you make us dinner I love you school Thank You of
course to all the moms out there being a kid myself once many many years ago I
know that it's not easy you can get frustrated you can feel lost and alone
and overwhelmed but you also give us the best gift that you can give and that's
life life that shines on everything and the hard work you put in every day is
not ignored after all you had the original dirty job thanks for joining us
today enjoy your day try to relax of course I think as I say this Erin's
planning on going out in the garden this morning but for her it works
it's her happy place and I hope that you find yours until next time have a great
week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming
life