I’m concocting a grandiose tale in my head about what might have happened last weekend. It goes something like this…Cowboy Dad and I loaded up our horses and trailered out to the South Dakota plains where our cow herd spent the summer. We then rode all day gathering up the herd, enjoying the beautiful western landscape, sorting the cows from the calves, pushing them onto a semi truck trailer, and driving home to Iowa. It would have been a wonderful weekend, with stories to tell of how well our horses worked cattle, and lots of photographs to share of the splendors of the prairie. But alas, it didn’t quite happen that way.
The truth is, I didn’t get to go along at all. Neither did the horses. Cowboy Dad and his brother James drove out with the pickup and trailer, but it was needed to haul a few cows home as they wouldn’t all fit on the semi truck. So there was no room for horses, and no room for me and the kids. We would have had to drive a separate vehicle, and the cost of the trip would have more than doubled, so it made sense to stay home with the kids.
They did drive out to Valentine, Nebraska. The cattle herd was located west of Mission, South Dakota, and a rancher on the reservation had contracted with the tribal council that owns the land to lease the pasture to us for the summer. The grass was much better this year, which was a huge relief, as the drought last summer had really damaged our cow herd. We lost several cows to calcium deficiency last winter, and the vet explained that their grazing of the burned up grass during the summer before had not prepared them physically to carry and deliver their calves, and when their milk came in before giving birth in February and March, the calcium went to the milk, leaving their bones weak and deficient. So a few of them got “down” in the hips, and couldn’t stand, and even with immediate vet care, they died.
One of the cows had already had it’s baby, a cute little black bull calf. Then she died, leaving him an orphan. We fed him by bottle all spring, and with the vet’s advice started feeding him a pelleted calf feed along with the milk. He took off and grew very well for a bottle calf. He and another orphan baby, a purebred hereford heifer, have spent the summer at the farm. We are feeding them hay and pelleted grain, and they are about 350 to 400 pounds now. Not as big as the calves who nursed their mothers all summer, but not too bad for orphaned babies. The hereford had her mother with her all summer, but the cow had gotten stifled out on summer range, and the vet had to put her down. We plan to keep the hereford heifer as a replacement, since she is a very nice calf and is purebred.
Anyway, they have to have a vet inspect the cattle and issue health papers for the cattle to transport them across state lines, so they got that done on Saturday, and then on Sunday they loaded up early in the morning to drive home. My husband said the cows couldn’t wait to get on the truck, they filed up the loading chute and everything was loaded in less than fifteen minutes! It is neat how the cows remember and look forward to traveling to a new place, or back home again. I think climbing into a cattle pot trailer would be a rather scary experience for a cow, but evidently they associate it with going home to a freshly-picked cornfield where the combine has left ears of corn here and there for them to pick up. So to cows, it’s always good to come home for the winter.
They made it home on Sunday afternoon, and the kids and I drove out to the feedlot area where they’re being held for weaning. We watched each one get off the truck, commenting on how good they looked and how much fuller bodied they were after a summer of good grazing. The guys said the grass in South Dakota was still plentiful, as this summer had had much better rains than last year. The calves were big and strong, and the cows looked completely different than when we had taken them out there in May! Getting to good grass has made a huge difference in them.
So now they will spend a few days at the feedlot facility, getting weaned from their calves. It can be very stressful on calves to be separated from their mothers, and it’s easier on them if they can stand at the fence and look at their mom for a few days. Then we will haul the cows out to the cornfield for grazing, and the calves will be kept in the corral and fed until it’s time to sell them at the auction.
I took a few photos as they were being unloaded, and here are the results.
I love having our cows back home. Call me crazy, but I like having them around. There is something peaceful and theraputic about a cow, and I think the world would be a better place if people spent more time around cattle. If you’re feeling stressed, worried, sick, or lonely, try this for some all-natural healing: go out to the nearest cow pasture and sit for a moment watching the cows. I guarantee you will feel better.
Here is our nine month old son watching the feeder calves. Chore time is Jack’s favorite time of the day, and he already says “moo” when he sees a cow!
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I agree! Cows make me feel good!