I've been waiting all fall to get a call to help round up. Finally, Michael and Jeremy, at the Vignaroli Ranch on Clear Creek, invited me to help. Fun morning.
The mission: round up 300 head or so of mother cows. Ween their calves and send them out on trucks.
Everything in cow world starts at dawn. For this job, I chose Mollie.
Calves look exceptional. The month before sale day, they finish them on these grassy meadows.
Neat old ranch. We trailed right through farm yard.
Once everything was settled, the guys went to cutting calves.
While the buyers weighed them and the brand inspector confirmed ownership.
You're not a real cattle buyer unless you drive an old Cadillac.
Then we got to loading the trucks. These were the peewees that went to the local sale today.
The heavies went to Iowa to be fed out. Heifers averaged around 590 lbs and the steers around 650 lbs. Those are strong weights for fall calves in this area. Good work, boys.
At halftime, we had a roll and coffee.
Then got ready to preg-check the cows. Most vets bring their own chute, unless the outfit has a hydraulic chute on hand.
Meanwhile, Mollie and I got the call to help push cows up the ally. Super fun.
It got western, so three of us tackled the job. Gotter done.
Preg-checking and vaccinating went good, as far as I could tell. Nice and cool in the shade, it looked like.
The open and cull cows were cut out.
While the keepers went out on grass. They'll be bawling for the next couple of days.
Mission accomplished.
Fun stuff. Beautiful day to get out and about. Pretty easy going, everyone worked well together. I really enjoyed getting some miles on Mollie, especially in the crowding ally. She can be a bit of a bull in a china closet, so watching her work so well in a tense setting was great. This is the day most ranches exist for. With record breaking cattle prices, ranching just got profitable. Good for everyone who weathered the tough years, your ship has come in. Thankful for the opportunity. On to the next one.
