Hi I’m Mike.
The day to day requirements for cows aren’t many.
They need food, they need water, but that doesn’t mean that as the one in charge of
them, that’s where it ends.
My job is to make sure the cows have what they don’t even know they need, and much
like a toddler you sometimes have to tell them eat their vitamins on Our Wyoming Life.
Welcome to Our Wyoming Life a few years ago my wife Erin and I quit our corporate jobs
in radio to come back and help on the family ranch.
The learning curve has been huge and now that is just our family left here along with Erin’s
Mom.
That curve has gotten tighter and tighter.
Before we came here, our meat came on a Styrofoam tray from the grocery store, now we raise
our own.
Veggies were purchased in the produce section, now if we need broccoli, we go out and pick
it.
Our entire life was turned upside down, it’s now hectic, stress filled and sometimes no
matter what decision you make, you know its going to be the wrong one.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Please take a second and subscribe, join us as we explore the ranch life and escape the
ordinary.
You wouldn’t think that cow would be high maintenance but like your teenage girlfriend
they are hard to please.
The grass on the other side of the fence is always greener, or sweeter and the more time
I spend with them, I am convinced that I am the adult in our Mike - Cow relationship.
I guess that’s the way it should be, having any animal make it your responsibility, whether
it’s a single goldfish or hundreds of cows.
Heck, even that guy from Jurassic Park had to take care of those dinosaurs, although
he didn’t do that good of a job of it, but I guess if a cow gets loose its not going
to eat ya.
As with any animal, the first step in taking care of them usually lies with nutrition and
that’s where we start today.
With the youngest cows on the ranch, the bottle calves.
The bottle calves are the delinquents of the ranch.
Each of these 4 calves were taken from their mom for one reason or another and became my
responsibility.
3 of their 4 were the second calf in a set of twins.
Mom cows have a tough time keeping track of two calves and sometimes even feeding them,
so we adopted them and promised mom we would raise them right.
Although I do get a lot of the “you’re not my mom” vibe from them.
Each day they require attention, food and water to start.
Today they are getting just a little bit of grain to mix in with their regular diet of
food pellets they receive.
They are now on average 4 months old, they are weaned from the bottle and now it’s
time for them to grow.
The pellet they receive is called range and grow.
It contains everything they need including vitamins and minerals that their moms may
not be getting on the pasture.
More on that later though.
Just know, they may be secluded from the rest of the herd, but they have each other and
are the best fed cows on the ranch.
Their water tub is also cleaned and refilled daily.
You may have noticed flies, with livestock come flies.
Some years are worse than others and this is the second bad fly year we have had in
a row.
The increase in moisture this summer has led to increased breeding and, if you remember
your biology, that leads to more flies.
With the calves, we combat flies with a spray on fly control and each calf gets a dose.
With our work done for now with the calves, its now time to head out to the moms in the
pasture.
Today we are going to be adding supplemental vitamins and minerals to their diets.
The grass on pasture is what it is and I know its low in protein and other trace minerals
cows need to be healthy.
There are 7 trace minerals cows require, Cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, selenium
and zinc.
Some areas of the country are known to be lacking one or several of these minerals.
In the great plains, selenium is almost absent from the soil, as can be copper and cobalt
so feeding trace mineral blocks is a great way to combat these deficiencies.
In addition, we are going to be putting out lick barrels, 250-pound tubs of crude protein
to supplement the cows forage, it also contains trace minerals and when fed on a free choice
program the cows may move toward blocks or tubs but either way they are getting what
they need.
Currently the cows are spread out over about 400-500 acres, soon they will be moving to
a new pasture that measures over two thousand acres where they will finish up their summer,
when they get down there they will get spread out but even now, they are spread pretty thin,
some are here, some are there and some are everywhere.
This is a good thing, because when start putting out supplement the word will spread and cows
will be here soon, so we better get to work.
Choosing where to feed supplements can work two ways.
Usually we feed where we want cows to move, new pasture or areas where they haven’t
grazed.
Today we are using these treats, which is what cows treat them as, to move them back
into an area that they have already eaten.
This may not make much sense.
But what this are needs is fertilization, and rather than have me, move and spread manure
in this area, I’m letting the cows do it for me.
As they move across the pasture to get to their treat, they help me out, saving fuel
and time.
Watch your toes, these 250 lb barrels are heavy and somewhat awkward, rolling them off
the bed of the truck is the fastest way for me to feed them.
The cover comes off and the cows that are early for the party are already getting to
work on them.
And it is a party, remember I said word would spread.
Well its doing that now and although not all the cows will head this way right away, a
number of them will and will rush to be first, second or even third in line.
Some cant even be bothered to go to the gate and cross the fence in their own special way.
Remind me to keep an eye on her.
A cow that jumps fences, is always a headache.
With the last of 1000 pounds of supplemental protein going out, now the lick blocks can
go out also, trace minerals including natural salt blocks that the cows just love.
As with the calves, fly control is in these guys future as well but because we can’t
spray every single cow and calf out here we have a couple of different methods.
At branding, each calf received a fly tag to keep the flies away.
In addition to protecting the calves from flies, the tags also rub off on their moms
and give them some relief from biting flies.
In addition, we are going to be filling up fly bags today.
Fly bags hang from a frame, and now this isn’t a swing set for cows, it’s just a large
frame that I repurpose to hold a fly bag.
Its filled with and insecticide powder that will come out of the bottom on the bag as
cows move underneath it.
Coating herself in the powder is another free choice activity that a cow can do.
Those that do figure it out, receive the benefit, those that don’t, well don’t.
Here’s a hint, figure out which direction the wind is blowing before you fill a fly
bag.
Or wait for a calm day, which around here might leave you waiting a while.
It is surprising that even lush pastures that look green may still only contain 6 to 8 percent
protein and a mature beef cow requires at least 10 so having a way to make sure that
your cows are taken care of nutritionally is right up there with making sure they have
that food itself.
As with most things in ranching, there are different trains of though on this, some say
lick barrels are too expensive and a waste of money and although we don’t have them
out all the time, when we do it offers cows many ways to get the vitamins and minerals
they need.
Like a giant flintstones vitamin, without the food coloring.
A few years ago, I didn’t know and really didn’t care about cattle nutrition.
Cows ate grass and that was it, but now I have crammed my mind so full of it that I
probably over think it, but at least I think about it, and now so do you.
Thanks for watching, be sure to subscribe and check us out on Facebook for more that
never makes it to YouTube.
The next project on the list is the new pig area, as new baby pigs are arriving very soon
and they need a place to live.
We will tackle that on the project list on Tuesday.
So until then, have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming life.