Hi I’m Mike, never a dull moment and today we try something we have never done before
and that’s sorting only two cows off the herd, bringing them and their calves back
to the ranch for the biggest party we’ve ever had here.
You won’t want to miss today on our Wyoming life.
Welcome back, thanks for coming along because today we have a mission, with the ranch roundup
just around the corner 200 subscribers are going to be on the ranch very soon from all
over the US and Canada.
If you cant be here don’t sweat it because over the next week or so we will be bringing
you along as we get ready and we are going to bring you footage from the event itself.
Today we are bringing a couple of stars back to the ranch from their summer vacation and
with the first test run of the arrowquip tub, alley and gate system, along with a few panels
which we are going to use to make a corral in an area of just over 2500 acres.
The cows of the ranch spend their summer in an area about 5 miles south of the main ranch.
The ranch is divided up into pastures, hay fields and what we call the main ranch area.
That’s where the shop is, our houses and where all of the equipment is usually kept.
The hay fields are where we produce hay that we harvest to feed the cows over the winter
and the pastures are where the cows live out their lives on the ranch.
During winter and early spring, they stay close the main ranch.
Its easier to feed them here, if we have any trouble during calving, they are close by
and I’d like to think that they like it here.
They have more shelter during harsh weather and they sure need it but by spring and summer,
they are ready to go out and adventure.
They don’t need us to feed them on a daily basis as grasses are growing, the sun is shining,
and calves are getting bigger.
Eating the grass themselves and becoming less dependent on moms.
This is their vacation, I check on them once or twice per day.
Make sure they have water and everyone is healthy and accounted for but that is pretty
much it.
Its like a spring break, where you know your mom is going to call but you just put up with
her and then as soon as you hang up the phone, you head back out for more fun.
Well today we are going to spoil 2 cows vacations, at least for a week or so.
The banners for the ranch roundup, our subscriber meet up, which is happening right here on
the ranch in less than a week are here and low and behold the banners have two of our
favorite Our Wyoming Lifers featured right there.
Its not Erin and me on the banners, its Bambi and Blonde Cow.
Over the last year or so on our Wyoming life, these two cows have really become quite recognizable.
Bambi was a bottle calf, who was in part raised by our daughter Makenzie.
Her mom passed away soon after having her and she was raised by hand.
Eventually she was released to the herd, where she had to go out and make new friends but
deep down, she still thinks that shes at least 5/8th people.
That is good and bad, which I’m sure we will discover soon.
Blonde Cow however is normal everyday cow from the herd, but she loves the camera and
after trying to film around her, I figured out that there is no filming around the cows
without blonde cow getting in the frame.
For those reasons, both Bambi and Blond Cow have become our mascots for this years ranch
roundup.
Now we cant have our mascots 5 miles away, goofing off during the event, they need to
be here and they need to make an appearance.
In order for that to happen, we have to deliver them to their own party, which we will be
doing in grand style.
To help us, we have borrowed from Jess Goven, the owner of our local feed store, Thars Feed
and Ranch Supply, a bunch of corral panels.
Lucky for me, I don’t have to put them all out myself, these things weigh about 75 pound
each and we are lucky that this year our friend and friend of the channel Dave Rush has come
back out the ranch early from his home in North Carolina.
Him and his wife Nurse Tammy are here to help during the ranch round up and today he is
playing the part of not only camera man, but ranch hand as well.
This cart holds 30 corral panels, each one 12 feet long and because we have never done
this before, sorting and loading cows in the field, we are going to make a big corral to
catch the cows in, then we can sort the ones we need off and load Bambi, Blonde Cow and
their calves into a trailer for the trip home.
Once we have corral built, then its back to the main ranch, where we can pick up our loading
tub and chute system from arrowquip.
They are allowing us to use and test this portable system, complete with tub, alley
and chute and see how it works on our ranch in a variety of applications.
In this first test, we will be using it as a way to load cows and their calves into a
trailer.
There are a number of reasons we may need to do this, and yes the oddest of all is bringing
two cows home for a party where they can meet their fans, but a situation could arise where
we have a sick or lame cow, one that cant walk all the way home to the main ranch where
the corrals and loading facilities are located.
In the situation where a cow cant walk home and we have no way to contain her, her prognosis
is very bleak and she would more than likely be put down in the field.
With this system, the hope is that we have a way to move a cow home or at least get her
on a trailer, where she may go home, or maybe directly to the vet.
Another option is to bring bulls home when its time to take them off the cows after breeding
season.
Bulls are very big, and they don’t get much exercise.
When its time to bring them home we usually split the trip over a couple of days as not
to wear them out or in some cases actually cause death through over exertion.
This system in that case can save us time and money and save the bulls a bunch of walking
they don’t want to do anyway.
Its like uber for cows and their boyfriends.
The portable system from arrowquip is quite easy to move.
It pulls around the ranch very well and although I was worried about taking it down and through
ditches because it is a bit top heavy it manages pretty well as long as you are careful.
After unfolding the system and getting it ready, we can tie it into our corral that
we built.
The arrowquip is designed to lock in with a certain type of panel, not these, which
are manufactured in Wessington South Dakota by Verns Manufacturing, but we managed to
get the tub set up and locked in with our corral.
We are going to need a trailer to deliver our stars of show, so we hook up to a 20 foot
aluminum Hillsboro trailer.
When hauling cows, I try to use an aluminum trailer and especially when I may be driving
through pastures or through ditches as its lighter and less likely to get bogged down
than our steel trailers.
Once on site we realize, that we aren’t going to be able to back the trailer up to
the chute due to the head holder bolted on the chute.
But with a couple more panels and some wire we can create a makeshift loading chute.
Then its time to bring in the cows.
We really only need the two, Bambi and Blonde Cow and their calves.
Bambi is no where to be seen, but Blonde cow is right here, interested in what we are doing.
Since we know she loves cake, a small nutrional supplement the cows receive to increase their
protein intake.
We can use that to coax her into our corral.
If you a few friends come, that’s fine, we will sort them off later and why not, it’s
a party, the more the merrier.
Her calf however, doesn’t care about me or cake but she does want to be with her mom
and that takes him inside the corral as well.
Bambi is found a ways away, hanging out at the local watering hole with he calf in tow,
shes not the best mom in the world but she tries and once she sees that we have a gator
full of cake.
Well shes with us, doesn’t matter where we are going.
She follows right along, her calf right behind her and into our makeshift corrals they go.
Soon I realize, we made these corrals way too big but that ok, we can deal with that
later.
First we deal with Bambi and her calf.
Making them the first users of the Arrowquip system here on the ranch.
Like I said, Bambi thinks shes people.
For her to want to do anything she has to see you do it first.
So maybe I spoke to soon when I said she was the first user of the Arrowqip system, as
it seems the first animal to be loaded through it, is me and then Bambi, after she realizes
its not going to hurt her.
Her calf on the other hand, a boy the girls have nicknamed Batman, hes ready to go and
jumps right in.
With those two ready to go on the ranch roundup express, its time for our next passenger.
Remember when I said the corrals might be too big, Well blond cow and her calf make
me wish I would have made them a quarter of the size.
She leads me and Dave all over the corrals, until eventually we get her in the loading
tub of the arrowquip system.
But even then its no guarantee as she backs out and leaves me in the dust, not once but
twice.
What I wouldn’t give for a spring loaded gate that I could release remotely, but eventually
she gets in the tub far enough and once she drops her head, I can sneak in and close the
gate.
Then its just a matter of closing the tub, cows like to turn back the way they came in
but when we get back around theres only one wat to go and that’s up to the trailer.
Where she gets to wait, while we bring in her calf.
He joins mom and like that, they are the belles of the ball.
Its out of the summer pasture as we head back toward the main ranch, where these girls and
little guys will be waiting anxiously for your arrival.
I’ll be honest with you.
Bambi is a little mad at me.
I tried to give her a piece of cake a while ago and she turned her nose up at me and walked
away.
Just what we need, another girl with an attitude.
Thanks for coming along, over all, the move went pretty smooth.
Of course we always live and learn, I can see a few things where I would make some changes.
We didn’t need to lug around almost 30 panels to make the corral, we could have done it
with 15 or so and probably been just fine.
Of course, then we would have had the whole herd trying to squeeze in there but I think
it would have worked a bit better with a smaller corral.
If you can, avoid moving cows that were hand or bottle raised, they have a mind of their
own and when moving around in a corral, watch where you step as it can get a bit slippery
on the grass, which is something we don’t have to deal with in the corrals at the main
ranch.
As far as the arrowquip equipment goes, overall it preformed well.
The cows and calves didn’t have any trouble moving through it.
We didn’t get a chance to use the squeeze chute, that will be coming up soon, also we
will soon be divising a way to get this set up into our own corral system at home.
Keeping it portable, but also incorporating it into our existing corral system and making
it more functional.
I do wish there were brackets on the portable system to hang corral panels on, reducing
the need for a panel cart and the number of trips back into the field.
Plus it would make it more of an all inclusive system and ready to go out of the gate.
So that’s it for today.
Please subscribe and follow along and even if you cant be here for this years ranch roundup,
I hope you are still able to watch and live vicariously through others, its gonna be a
ton of fun and will have some wonderful surprises as well.
I’m going to go and try to make up with Bambi, this is going to sound weird but I
don’t really like her being mad at me.
Until I see you again, have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming life.