Monday, June 3, 2019

Thirty-second cattle roundup

Our pastures are looking lush and green, thanks to generous May rain.


We've been deliberately keeping the cows on the wooded side of our property to allow the pasture grass to grow abundantly. They also cropped the woods down to lawn proportions. Now it was time for the annual Thirty Second Cattle Roundup.

Opening the necessary gates, we called our universal cattle call (named after the first cow we ever owned): "Bossy bossy bossy bossy BOSSY!!!!"

Well oh my, the ladies knew what that meant! They came galloping up from the woods, through the feedlot...






...and poured out another gate toward the pasture.



Within moments, their heads were buried in the lush grass. Did I say thirty seconds? They might have topped that this year. Twenty seconds, max.



We'll let them fatten up for the next month. All but one of the ladies has a date with the freezer -- three near the beginning of July, the remaining three toward the end of July. (One heifer is sold.) It's far easier to move our household with the animals in packages than on the hoof.

7 comments:

  1. lol - That's the way our Herefords were back in the day!

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  2. Replies
    1. Not yet. We can't really look seriously until we sell this place.

      - Patrice

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  3. What a great chicken photo! Just stunning.

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  4. We too are on the move ,with the current cattle market and the mess to the abuse of live stock producers ,, We have decided that any we can't move we will put down ,,, a hard decision at best , but I'm tired of being abused by the packers,,, (i've been in this game for over 30years and not a thing has changed,, and city folk don't deserve the food we produce ,,, I shipped a 1000 head or more some years , but not any more ,,oh well ,who is John Galt

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  5. Somehow, I'm actually grieving over the thought of the ladies getting shipped off to "freezer camp."

    Ah, somebody hit me upside the head with a practical two-by-four. That kind of emotionalism is a luxury we cannot afford.

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    Replies
    1. Actually, I'm with you on that. It's a hard decision, but the only practical one for our situation. Unless someone wants to buy the house and have the herd thrown in for free, we have no other choice. But still, we've had some of these ladies for years and it will be hard to see them go.

      - Patrice

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