Ranch Wife's Slant

Cowboys, kids, and ranch life

Category: Kirk Cattle

  • Moving Cows to Callon Spring 2012

    Thursday we moved our cows to the other unit that we lease from the Forest Service. It turned out to be the perfect day to do it. It was overcast and the temperatures were in the low 70’s, unlike the steady sunny 90 degree days we’ve had most of the summer. We had a great…

  • My Morning View Over Coffee

      I love it out here first thing in the morning. It’s kind of a sanctuary where I like to come and absorb nature while I have my coffee. The air is fresh and crisp and damp. I like the way it smells; earthy, sweet, and damp.    Every morning, usually around 6 or 6:30 a.m., I head…

  • Meet #1594

    This is our newest bull that replaces one that went MIA last fall out on our Forest Service lease. After we moved cows back home up by Pringle last fall, we spent a lot of time checking the tanks, salt spots and popular herd hangouts hoping to find our missing bull but we nor did the…

  • Kirk Branding Day 2012

    Last Saturday we had a great day to have our branding. My son lives for brandings every weekend and usually gets a buddy or two to come down to help at ours. We got a heavy rain about 4 a.m. prior so the branding corral was pretty muddy but the calf wrestlers didn’t seem to…

  • Calving 2012

    Over the past week and a half, some of our kids’ cows finally had their calves and Wednesday, the most important cow in the whole herd finally calved. Annabelle, currently our only Hereford cow and the kids’ first bucket calf that started their herd, had her calf. Every calving season it’s a big deal in…

  • Inventions That Make Chores Easier

    Every time my husband creates an easier way to do chores I fall in love with him all over again. Feeding our heifers just got a TON easier as a result of my husband’s handiwork with his welder. Over the years we had talked about coming up with a better, safer way to fill and…

  • Sale Day

    Some of our steers (Technically, Friday is the day I normally use to post about stuff that’s gone on in the past week that’s worthy of mentioning but we had a busy Thursday and Friday).  Thursday morning was a big day for us–we sold our calf crop in Belle Fourche. Our help showed up before…

  • Our Herd’s Appointment with the Doc

    On some levels, I liken raising our cattle to raising my children. When my kids were born I made sure they had their vaccinations because I did not want to put them at risk for known life-threatening diseases. As caretakers, the same is true in caring for our cows and calves. Every fall, we precondition…

  • Seat-of-the-Pants Cattle Company

    It’s always this time of year when the weather starts to turn cold that our cows try to head home early; as in before we typically pull them off the summer lease. They know where to go and try to get there on their own. Depending on how close we are to the date we…

  • Eat Like An Animal

    There are days when I would rather feed our heifer calves than my family. For me, cooking is oftentimes more trying than parenting or ranching. I strive to have supper ready at a time when we can all sit down together and I try to make wholesome, home-cooked meals that nourish and satisfy, but I…