.....and we don't get to say that very often! Bruce has been hard at work doing odd jobs with the cattle working lurking in the back of his mind. He finally bit the bullet and scheduled it last week for this morning, not knowing what the weather might bring. But Mother Nature looked down on us with kindness, it was a chilly morning but sunny and less windy.
Bruce has been baiting the cows, who are running out on stalks and pretty wary about being shut in, with corn and dried distillers grain, a highly nutritious by product from our local ethanol plant. It is a tasty combination that the cows can't resist and they paid the price yesterday morning when Bruce slammed the gates shut behind them.
He was off and running early this morning to get the calves in the barn, the cows up in the pen by the barn and the runway to the chute that the vets would bring, set up. My job yesterday was to make rolls and I turned to Pinterest. The guys love my caramel pecan rolls but I've been wanting to try the raspberry rolls so made a double batch, Oh, my, come to Mama!
Raspberry with cream cheese frosting.
The old favorite, caramel pecan.
Dr. Lisa, running the show, pouring for parasites, shots for health.
Bruce, very happy that things are going smoothly,
Jade, Dr. Lisa's right hand woman, deftly manning the hydraulic chute, last spring a big cow got stuck in the manual chute and it took 45 minutes to get her out. Since a lot of our cows are big, Bruce wasn't going to risk that again.
Roger, one of the invaluable wranglers...
....and Freddy Boy.
.
The most important job they have, besides guiding the reluctant bovines through the alley way so Bruce can convince them to go into the chute, is to check the barn for any wayward calves. One year a little one bedded down in a dark corner and was over looked. This group looked like it was eager to leave.
They worked the cows first, then drove them back to the dry lot so they could go to the field and they wasted no time. This little girl is the last baby born so she is still with her mother and what a live wire. I don't think the cows quit running until they reached the far end of the field.
A hard working crew deserves a break, rolls and pop, they didn't seem to mind eating in the shop.
We couldn't ask for better help and Bruce says with the cattle worked, it is the official end of fall!
Salute!
good job done!
ReplyDelete