Weaning Calves

We woke up at 3:30 am and left the ranch at 4:30 in the a.m. We arrived at the Laramie Plains by 6 and made our way into the pasture where the cows were waiting.

The cowboys saddled up and waited for it to get a little lighter.

There were plenty of riders so I decided to stay with the trucks at the corral to watch the sun rise and wait for them to bring in the cattle.

And what a beautiful sunrise it was.

Not long after, the cattle started my way. I heard the moos way before I saw them.

All paired up, still with milk on their lips, the babies followed momma toward the paneled corral.

The cowboys and cowgirl got them in the panels and then discussed the game plan.

They checked the panels to make sure nobody was bustin’ out.

And the cattle waited impatiently for their instructions.

Step one is to sort out the momma cows. Step two is to separate the steers from the heifers and count each group. And step three is to load them on separate trucks.

This little booger got away and gave the cowboys a run for their money. They had to rope her and lead her back to the corrals.

The calves looked good, were big enough to wean and were trucked to their new homes.
We brought a few of the smaller calves home and for the last few nights, I’ve gone to sleep listening to them bawl for momma. It takes about a week for everyone to get over the separation anxiety. The momma cows are still up on the Plains and they spent several days by the panels waiting for their babies to come back.  Yesterday was the first day I noticed the calves are calm and are finally comfortable in their new surroundings and their strict diet of hay and water.

You can see more pictures of this day by clicking any picture above or going straight  to the gallery on my website here: http://www.leahyetter.com/111005shipping/ .

The cows will be trailed home later this week and then we check them for babies in the belly. Stay tuned for that beautiful experience. Just kidding. I’ll probably put the camera down and just  take inventory.

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