Hi, I’m Mike and this is Our Wyoming Life
All is quiet now, you can hear the crickets
chirp, the peacock crow and there is no trace of the noise, the controlled chaos and the
many hours of work that just took place in this very spot just a few hours ago.
We are done with branding for this season, all the calves have been vaccinated, they’ve
all gotten their fly tags, they’ve all been branded and even the bull calves have been
banded.
Now they are back with their moms, back on pasture and soon headed to their summer grazing.
Its just another step, something we do every year, to keep our cows healthy and keep our
herd productive.
We live streamed the whole branding experience from beginning to end and now I have a chance
to give you the highlights and answer some questions that we may not have gotten the
chance to get to during the live event.
So sit back and lets take a look at branding 2017.
The day started early, Mitch was due out at 6:30 to help bring the cows in but when I
went out at 5:30 a lot of the cows were ready to go, so even though I couldn’t wait for
Mitch at 6am we started the live stream.
First I put out some cake, something to entice the cows to stay put in the lot from which
we were going to move them into the sorting corrals, then it was just a matter of heading
out on the 4 wheeler and moving all the cows toward the cake I just put down.
Once all the cows were in, I noticed a little fence that needed fixed before we could trust
these guys alone.
In between each step of moving and sorting the cows, I like to give the cows and everyone
helping me a chance to rest, also its when you can catch cows being cows.
Once all the help arrived its time to bring the cows in to the corrals, the next step
before sorting the moms from the calves.
Again I use some cake to bring them in and hold them in place while all the other cows
are persuded to join their friends in the corral.
Cows are social and they want to be with other cows, its not hard to move them if you make
them think its their idea to go somewhere.
One issue that we ran into was the fact that when we brought in the cows we found the neighbors
bull had gotten into our cows the day before.
We had to sort him off and put him back in a different pasture so that his owners could
come and get him.
That being done, we let the cows and the help rest a few minutes before we get into sorting.
Once its time to sort we begin separating the moms from the calves, calves go into a
corral while the moms are sent around the loop back out to pasture where they will wait
for their babies to return to them.
Now its time to get to work….Everyone that came out to branding this year, about 30 people
all together gather around for their assignments.
I like to let everyone cycle through the different stations but honestly most people get into
a groove and like what they are doing and stick with it the whole time.
We have about 150 calves to get through and once we get in a groove we just flow.
There is a lot to do, starting with the folks in the back, behind the calves.
Their job is to push the calves up and into the crowding tub, which then moves the calves
up to the scale and calf table.
Once a calf is ready to go into the scale, Mitch and Bill get the calf in place.
We note the weight of the calf and then its moved into the chute.
After that, things happen fast.
Lets Check it out…..
That was quick, a lot happened all at once, so lets break it down.
After a calf comes in the chute, its caught in the head gate.
That’s a tricky job, its all about timing and Nick a local electrician, who owns his
own electrical and contracting company has it down.
Hes done it a couple of years and this year his goal was to not let any calves sneak through,
which he accomplished, good job Nick.
After the head gate has the calf, it’s a quick squeeze in the squeeze chute.
Oddly enough, studies have shown that calves are calmer when they are hugged tight by the
chute.
After the calf is caught and held tight, a flurry of activity commences.
2 shots are given to the calf, pyramid 5 with presponse with aids in the prevention of many
bovine viruses including bovine influenza and respritory viruses.
Then a shot of 7 way, treating gastrointesninal bacteria.
They also get a dose of nasalgen with they breath in through their nose inoculating them
against another type of influenza.
They also get a new ear tag, this one with an insecticide to protect them from horn flies.
The cool thing about putting the ear tag on the calf is that throughout the summer the
calves are always rubbing on the moms, which protects mom as well.
Some calves if they are suffering from diarrhea also get medicine to combat that, as hanna
will tell us.
As we continue with our work on the calf, the next step is to band the bull calves.
Here Sam, works on that.
Sam was actually the first kid that I hired as a hand on the ranch, I’ve known him since
he was 8 years old and as soon as he was old enough he came to work for me on the weekends,
since then he has graduated high school and joined the army where he is now stationed
in Hawaii.
We are lucky to have him back this year on leave and we are very proud of him and we
are very proud of what he does.
After the band is on, the testicles will fall off in a couple of weeks.
Some people knife casterate their calves and some use bands, there are good and bad points
to both.
But in the long run a casterated bull calf, or steer, is easier to work with and will
grow faster due to this procedure.
After Sam has the band on, the calf is turned back on its feet and its time for branding.
We use electric branding irons, they are made by L&H manufacturing in Mandan North Dakota.
They stay hot and we don’t have to keep a fire going to keep them that way.
Branding is a long standing tradition in the united states, its used to identify cattle
all the way from the ranch to slaughter.
Wyoming has thousands of registered brands and ours is one of them A bar.
Simple and easy.
Sam takes the iron and presses it quickly to the calfs side, then quickly a spray of
Catron is added to prevent infection and to keep the wound clean as it heals, usually
within a few days.
As all this is happening, Stephanie is keeping records.
All done with that one, and Nick opens the gate, allowing the calf to head out as the
next one heads in.
Even Gunther, our first calf born, premature gets the treatment and is very calm about
it.
Probably because hes used to people, he spent the first few days of his life in our care.
Born premature he was nursed back to health and kept in the barn with his mom for the
first few weeks of his life.
I’m glad to say he is now out and with the cows and doing fine.
Not all goes according to plan, some calves don’t want to come out of the chute and
some want to protest being in there in the first place as Sam found out very quickly.
But hes fine, a kick to the cheek from a 250 lb calf cant keep down the 25th Infantry Division.
Hes back up and back to work.
The cycle continues for hours, one calf out, one calf in.
Over and over until we get down to the last one.
Then its time to reunite moms and calves, and make for some happy cows.
Another successful branding, and as the cows head out to pasture we thank you for supporting
us by liking, sharing and subscribing to our channel.
Have a great week and thanks for joining us, in our Wyoming life.