January 10th, 2011
What would the first day of spring calving be without a snow storm? The first calf was born last night, and it is snowing to beat the band right now. Since the last time I wrote, the guys have finished the shed they were adding to the feedlot barn, so we are ready to keep all those new calves dry and sheltered until they are ready to go out and play in the snow. Christmas was very nice. Gary, who normally runs the feed truck for us, offered to feed on Christmas Day, so other than the normal checking on the cows, nobody else had to work that day, which was a rare treat. Lynn’s sister Gwyn and her husband Burton were able to be here, also. All in all, it was a great holiday. Since then, we have been busy sorting the spring cows by calving date, and since, unlike most places, we vaccinate our cows pre-calving instead of pre-breeding (we feel like it gives the calves an extra boost of immunity), we have also put all of the spring cows through the chute and vaccinated them, and bled them for Brucellosis and Johnnes for our annual herd certification. The fall bulls have headed west to Montana for the spring Basin bull sale, but don’t worry, we still have several fall bulls here to sell and over 100 spring yearlings to meet your needs! Unfortunately, with Christmas over, that means part of our help has had to head back to school. Taylor started classes again today, and Alec goes back in another week or so. We’ll be sorry to see them go! This last week while part of us were working cows, they re-built a fence in one of the pens splitting it in two. The fence was torn out a couple of years ago, and the new sucker rod fence they put up looks really nice. It will be handy to have two lots there again instead of one really big one. Well, that’s about it for now, but I’ll be back soon! Be careful in the snow, and stay warm!!
