Birthday Boy: A Milestone Day

 

As a Kansas farm girl with a June birthday, my special day was often paired with slow trips to the elevator in a grain truck. It was a "hot" celebration, all right.

This year, Randy celebrated a milestone birthday while working, too. Of course, since he's the boss, he set his own schedule. But we gathered cows and calves from the Ninnescah Pasture on his 65th birthday.

As we were looking for a few stragglers, I made him pause for a quick photo. (He's looking pretty good, don't you think?)

 

Five years ago, he asked for a special birthday party, and we delivered with a gathering at the Stafford County golf course clubhouse.

October 2015 - Randy's 60th birthday

As I told him several times this year, I'm glad we did it for his 60th birthday, since we're in the midst of a pandemic this year. 

This year, we had a few party crashers - deer who darted through the pasture as we drove by on 4-wheelers and disturbed their hiding places. (They were camera shy. No photos of those party guests.)

Other partygoers were loud. The migrating geese and ducks honked their greeting as they traveled south for the winter.

I did a little honking, too. But my honking was with our pickup, using the horn to call the cattle up for an impromptu birthday treat of hay. It can't be a party without goodies, right?

Some were anxious to attend the party and dine at the "buffet." Others needed a little nudge to attend but then formed their own parade route to celebrate the special day.

I can't complain about the "decorations" - even with the muted autumn hues rather than the rich green of summer.

The birthday boy even gave me time to pause on top of the dam to take a photo.

 The "guest" most reluctant to leave the party venue was the bull. 

He was a wallflower, hanging out far from the party crowd.

But he finally joined the others - with a little encouragement.

 The only dancing at this party was choreographed by the fallen leaves in the ditches as we drove the cattle back home.

After many trips back and forth with three trailers, the mission was accomplished ... or so we thought. We count cows and calves as they come off the trailers, and we came up a little short. We had to go back the next day to look for stragglers. It was another nice day for a 4-wheeler ride.

I'm slow to post this. Randy's birthday blueberry pie is long consumed. But it was more important to help than write about it. 

2015 - Kinley, 3, and Brooke, 1 ... and Grandpa, 60!

It's amazing to see how the girls have grown during those 5 years. Even though we worked on Randy's 65th birthday, we did get to celebrate a few days later with Kinley & Brooke - and their parents, of course.

2020 - Kinley, 8, and Brooke 6 ... and Grandpa, 65!

 

More to come on fall cattle gathering and vet visits. 

 

Lip-Smacking Good

It is no longer politically-correct for restaurants to call their food, "Finger-licking good!" (Sorry KFC.) Honestly, when I did a Google search, I learned that the old KFC ad campaign was revised in 2011 - not as a response to Covid-19. That was when the fast food chain decided it was time the slogan kicked the proverbial red and white bucket. The phrase's greasy connotations didn't gel with a healthy makeover KFC was undergoing, and it was dumped for the virtuous “so good."

Bovines are unable to anatomically perform "finger-licking" anyway. So maybe Purina's Range Cattle Mineral is lip-smacking good - at least, if you ask the consumers on The County Line. 

 I went along for the ride as Randy made the latest to-go deliveries to the cows.

 He refilled mineral tubs at all the cattle's locations.

It doesn't look that appetizing to we mere humans. But, evidently, it's gourmet fare among the bovine set.

It didn't take long for the cattle to congregate at the refilled "salad bar."

Beef cattle require a number of minerals for optimal growth and reproduction. Just like some humans supplement their diets with additional vitamins and minerals, we offer a mix that includes calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and several other additives.

At this point, our cows are still getting silage and hay for feed. Early next month, they'll be going to summer pastures. But until that time, we provide the additional nutrition that the bagged supplement can provide.

They could be the spokes-ladies for a Purina campaign.

Minerals are important building blocks of functional life. When the body in question is a 1,200-pound beef cow whose purpose is to produce income, she may need supplemental minerals during several crucial periods throughout the year. Proper mineral and vitamin nutrition contributes to strong immune systems, reproductive performance, and calf weight gain. Diets with mineral imbalances may cause poor animal performance, resulting in reduced profitability.

 Here are just some of the reasons we supplement with minerals:

• Calcium and phosphorus are the major mineral components of the skeleton. Long-term deficiencies of either can cause bones to weaken and even break. In addition, a decrease in one or both can reduce the amount of milk produced by a lactating mother. A phosphorus deficiency can delay puberty in heifers and can delay mature beef cows from returning to heat. Cattle also need correct amounts of calcium for the nervous and muscular systems to function properly.
• Sodium and chlorine (salt) provide for the proper function of the nervous and muscular systems. They help regulate body pH and the amount of water retained in the body.  
• Magnesium is essential for proper enzyme and nervous system function and for efficient carbohydrate metabolism. A magnesium deficiency is uncommon except for cows grazing lush-growth fescue or small grain pastures during the late winter and early spring, which may cause grass tetany, a serious and sometimes fatal metabolic disorder. 
• Beef cattle require 10 microminerals. Seven of the 10 have established requirements, including iron, manganese, copper, zinc, selenium, cobalt and iodine. 

We also provide salt blocks in the cattle lots.

I may have clicked the camera shutter "a few times" trying to capture the action that signifies its lip-smacking good. (Mental note: Add this to my "things I did during a pandemic" list.)

Randy patiently waited. But he also said he was glad I was using digital photography and not film. He couldn't afford me.

The Birds and the Bees (and Other Sticky Topics)

Randy has a secret to wedded bliss: Instead of expecting me to remember numbers while sorting cows and calves, he prepares a "cheat sheet."

I am notoriously bad at numbers. Give me words any day.
My eyesight is also not the best, even with my ever-present glasses.

But if I have something in black and white that I can hold in my hand, things will go much more smoothly ... for everyone involved. (For the uninitiated, BWF means black white face.)

In a pinch, my hand works, too. (I didn't take the photo of my hand with manure on it. You're welcome.)

But at least my hand wasn't where Randy's was during this particular cattle-working adventure. We needed the list of numbers so that we could sort out four cows that hadn't yet calved and one mama whose baby had died.

Most of our mama cows have already had their calves. So Randy wanted to see if the stragglers were pregnant. After hauling them to the working chute, Randy gloved up with a plastic sleeve and did the exam.

I had to hold the end gate up on the working chute so it didn't inadvertently come down and hit Randy in the head.

All four ended up being pregnant.

We sent them into another pen to await the arrival of their calves. And, in fact, two of them had their calves a couple of days later. The cow whose calf had died was taken to the Pratt sale barn.

For a cow-calf operation, pregnancy is the goal. So the bulls also had a doctor's appointment. This time, Dr. Bruce Figger came to conduct what's euphemistically called a "bull soundness exam (BSE)." In other words, is the bull up for the job that is to come this spring and summer?

 

 "You're going to do what kind of test?" Mr. Bull appeared to be asking.

A BSE has three components:

• Scrotal circumference is highly correlated with semen output and serving capacity. 

• A physical exam is performed to simply ensure that a bull is physically up to the challenge of the breeding season. Are his feet and legs structurally correct? Is he free from injury and/or infection?

• The veterinarian then examines the bull's semen to determine if the sperm cells are normal. After getting a sample, Dr. Figger smeared a sample on a slide and looked through the microscope.

With the first look, he was testing the semen for motility, its "swimming" ability to travel to the cow's egg.

Then he smeared the slide with a dye, which killed the sperm. He could then look at morphology, the shape of the sperm. He was looking for abnormalities in the shape, which could indicate a problem with the ability to breed.

Microscope photo credit to Dr. Bruce Figger

The sperm in the upper left is healthy and correct. The sperm nearer to the light is not healthy. The bulls he tested were all fertile.

After the fertility tests, the bulls were each given vaccinations to keep them healthy during their summer in the pasture. It's similar to giving our children vaccinations for their optimal health. Their vaccinations prevent blackleg and BVD, a respiratory disease in cattle.

He also applied a pour-on de-licer.

The bulls are deemed ready for the job, but it will still be a couple of weeks of  "vacation." Then we'll put them to work for their part in creating the Class of 2020.

I agree with most of the bullet points, though at the County Line, we do "fire" bulls for being obnoxious and destructive - especially if that "insubordination" is directed toward humans.

There's No Business Like "Snow" Business

Sing along now:

There's snow business

Like snow business

Like snow business, I know!

This amalgamation of the Irving Berlin tune rattled around in my head like the trailer rattled over snowy roads yesterday morning.

Our earlier rains - 14 inches in a month - and the recent snows have slowed the timing of our annual ritual of moving cattle home from summer pastures. But we moved a group of 25 mamas to the pasture south of our house Monday morning.

Last Friday, we had a brisk morning for a visit from Dr. Figger as he preg-checked and vaccinated the 26 cows. (One was open - or not pregnant - so she had a chauffeur-escorted drive to the sale barn Monday afternoon.)

 Thankfully, we have a little windbreak at the cattle-working chute, and the job didn't take too long.

Hey, 696! Your eartag ruined my perfect line of sparkling snow.

Aw, well! I must remember my priorities!

However,  between running cattle up the lane, I took photos.

It kept my mind off my freezing fingers and toes.

The bulls probably wondered why they were arriving at this snow-covered pasture.  But, never fear: A big bale of hay had already been delivered for their rural Meals on Wheels.

And the surroundings were pretty spectacular.

I guess I wasn't too cold.

 

I wondered around the yard taking more photos after Randy dropped me off both Friday and after we moved the group Monday morning.

Ice on those remaining fall leaves was like icing on a decorated cake.

Even those leaves that had given up their hold on the branches were beautiful underfoot.

You'd think I would have had enough of the cold. But we braved frigid temperatures and an 11 AM start of the K-State vs. KU football game on Saturday.

It took me until we got to Hutchinson (2 hours after our departure) to thaw out! So I guess I really can't complain about the cold this morning as we gather pairs at the Ninnescah Pasture, then sort them and bring them home. Right? I'll try and remember that! It's going to be a long day, I'm afraid!