Cattle Company Day 2026

Friday was a big day on the ranch. Bulls to pull, cows to brand, and calves to wean. A fun day was had by all.

And of course, it had to be down on horseback.

But first, breakfast. Thanks, Ma. 

Sunup is when the work got started. Horses were ranch ready. 

Mollie is no stranger to working cows this fall. 

And the old reliables were ready for whatever came their way.

Giddy up!

This 25 acre irrigated pasture has served the herd well. Dad did a good job keeping it watered.

The calves look great.

With a little pressure, they started to head for the corrals. 

We've found opening the gate to the sandbox encourages the cows to go through the gate because it's something new. Once in, we closed the gate to the big pasture. 

Bringing them back in the corrals, we cut out the pulls. 

These two did a good job, but it's time to go home now.

We jumped them in the trailer and hauled them to my brother's place for the winter.

Next up, cows and calves.

Once penned, we put the horses up.

And cut the calves on foot.

Once everything was separated, we built a fire.

With one cow to brand, we got my brother's iron warming up.

In the meantime, we ran all the cows through and poured them.

When ole Skunkface came through, we put the G reversal L on her front shoulder. 

That'll work.

We will butcher this cow within the month. 

Once the cow work was done, we got the feeder ready for wearing the calves.

To do this right, we had to get another waterer set up for the cows.

The cows will feed in the pasture and go in and out of the sandbox for water. Crossing the gates should allow for this travel while keeping the calves in the corral.

Then we kicked the nine calves and one yearling out of the working pen.

Straight to hay they go.

And eventually to their mothers across the fence.

This is what we call gentle weaning. The biggest stress that comes from weaning calves, in my opinion, is being separated from their mothers. By keeping them just across the fence from each other, they at least know where mom is. Then, about the only stress each of them go through, is not being able to nurse. That, they'll get over in a couple days.

Fun day on the farm. Cattle Company Days like this are tough to beat. Weaning is like harvest time in ranch world. Getting to do it on horseback with my old man, is just icing on the cake. What to do from here... we'll see. Might sell a couple steer calves and run the rest as yearlings. Got to keep the fun alive. Ranch on.