Tag: ranching
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Producers and Their Cows
Part of the reason people don’t know much about cattle handling practices is because the cattlemen are busy spending time with their cows. Ranchers are committed to raising and caring for their stock to the best of their ability which means getting frequent updates on their herd. Numbered ear tags serve as an identification and…
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Learning the Language
Anytime someone visits a different country and culture, it’s helpful to learn the native language. The following is a language lesson covering some of the most commonly used words in ranch country. It’s a complicated language that’s similar to English but has room for misinterpretation. Slick calf/cow: A calf or cow that is NOT slippery when…
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Calling Cattle Names
The only cows we name are any calves that are born from the kids’ cow Annabelle, and our butcher critters. (Although there are a few that gain a reputation and get named.) Our kids’ cow herd started out seven years ago with a bottle calf they named Annabelle. After Annabelle was old enough to get…
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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…
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Waiting For A Downpour
I’m one of those people who look for the bad in a situation. Problems are commonplace on a ranch and I thrive on the drama that our ranch’s problems produce. The basis of my column is about marriage, parenting, ranching, and rural life in western South Dakota but it’s describing the troubles we face that…
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A Dame Funny Game
What’s a Dame to do? is my new favorite board game for girlfriends. Players take turns drawing a dame’s dilemma card. Everyone else draws a reaction card and lays it down for all to see. The girlfriend with the dilemma chooses one of the reactions and everyone else guesses which one she picked. Irrelevant…
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Sale Day–A Family Event
Sale Day–A Family Event Every year my husband and I let our kids decide if they want to come with us to watch our calves sell. We always brought them with us when they were small and kept them out of school a few times back in their early elementary school days to come…
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Producers and Their Cows
Part of the reason people don’t know much about cattle handling practices is because the cattlemen are busy spending time with their cows. Ranchers are committed to raising and caring for their stock to the best of their ability which means getting frequent updates on their herd. Numbered ear tags serve as an identification and…
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Fall Vaccination Day
The night before we worked cattle, my husband and daughter went to the Father Daughter Ball. Working cattle on Friday turned out to be a decent day. Fortunately, temperatures were in the 40’s and the sun peeked out a few times. The temperatures on Thursday only reached a high in the mid-twenties and it snowed…
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Getting the heifers and bulls moved
Getting the heifers moved turned out better than expected. We ended up borrowing the neighbors’ panels and set them up alongside the fence instead of using the corrals that belonged to the neighboring old bachelor where the heifers spent the summer. The temperature on Friday was in the mid 20’s so the family put their…