Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Winter Time Chores

Those bovines look to be in great shape Jim What is the feed?

40 pounds of alfalfa/grass hay.

Trying to play catch up with them.

We got wintered in and could not make it out there for a few days. They suffered in the storm.

They are starting to come around.

Been colder than we’re used to down here the last 10 days or so, not below 0 but in the single digits anyway. Takes about a half hour to feed our cake babies, pull up to the troughs and they come running every time. Cake them and while they’re busy with that fire up the tractor and go roll out a couple of bales for them. Haven’t had to chop ice, wind has been blowing and putting up enough chop to keep the tank from completely freezing over.

Of course sure as chit as soon as the north wind hit last week the old gals started dropping calves like crazy. Miraculously not a single frozen ear or tail so far but what a world to be brought into. Go from nice and warm and curled up to plopped out in the biting wind on top of the frosty ground while you’re sopping wet. Thank goodness in my whole life we’ve had to pull exactly one calf and he came during the spring in good weather.

Strangely, last week had one steer about #300 or so come down and get caked with the rest of them and then just suddenly die, like right then and there. He was slick and healthy looking, no running nose or puss in his eyes or anything. Came down to the trough and then headed to the hay with the rest of the herd and just fell over and croaked. Grandad theorizes that he got kicked in the chest by an old cow and stopped his heart or collapsed a lung but who knows. Win some and lose some I guess.

Kid, when do you guys sell calves if you are calving right now?


Yeah, hard to say....sometimes they just catch the dead virus.

We had a heifer up and die once.

We were curious enough to pay for an autopsy.

Died from an aortic aneurysm..

Some of those pictures look C O L D. Like snapping steel cold. I am not one bit jealous.

Jim we move our cattle to the summer pasture about April every year and we’ll sort out anything between #350 to #600 or so and drop them off at the sale on the last load. We’ll do the same again in October or November when we move them back for the winter. We’ll keep back good looking heifers as needed to replace old momma cows that die or don’t breed back.

We only have about 80 head of good mommas so it’s just a side job as we all have other jobs. Raise about 80 acres of wheat pasture they graze in the winter and cut about 120 acres of grass hay every year for winter feed and sell the surplus. All of our places have good water on them that runs year round so we don’t have to worry with that aside from keeping the well pump going, old Sears pump Grandad put in in 69 is still chugging along. Fuel for the tractors and trucks and buying feeder cubes is the biggest expense. We don’t vaccinate, just band and ear tag as they hit the ground or when we get them up. Pretty easygoing operation compared to you guys’ bigger outfits and luckily we normally don’t have the crappy weather to contend with.

Kid, you guys run bulls with the cows year round?



Old footage from New Year's morning.

Yeah Sam we just leave them together and let them do their thing. Not having the cows come into season all at once allows us to get by with one bull which we replace about every 3 years or so. And due to our generally mild climate and having the second largest cattle auction in the state right here in our hometown it really doesn’t matter that the calves come at all times of the year.

Used to work for a guy who raised registered bulls and had a few hundred mommas that calved at the same time. And of course we worked calves all at the same time too, usually when it was about 100 degrees out. Too much working cattle for me. I don’t mind feeding in the winter but I don’t miss the hot dusty 12 or 15 hour days of cutting steers, ear tagging, giving shots, branding, and dehorning, coming home dog tired covered in sweat, blood, dirt, and chit.

Everybody wants to do 'cowboy' chit. Until it's time to do 'cowboy' chit.....

Ever get that tractor home Sam?

My son and I worked our azzes off doing the front end alignment on my 73 Mach 1. A modern coil over suspension installed on a vintage car left the local shops lost regarding alignment, which was no surprise. The wrenching was a PITA due access but my 19 year old knows what an alignment means and how do do it. A great day, one that allowed the garage doors to be open for most of the duration.

Like a sledgehammer to bust ice so the cows have water?

prezactly....

Haha! Happily, all my ponds are bone dry or so poisonous that we cant use them.......meaning there is no ice to chop!

Git ‘er dun

Feeding the wood stove and checking traps.....other than that it's about the same as summer cept it takes a little longer to put on enough clothes before going out side.

Time for tire chains. The tool is for changing crossbars.

Damn Sam, youer singn is gett'n more gooder