Family day on the ranch...

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Had a fantastic day today working with the cattle. We branded the fall cattle, vaccinated the cows close to calving, and put in nose rings in the fall bulls. We also spent the morning burning some piles of Honey Locust and wild multiflora rose bushes I killed over the fall!
Clipping the site to brand

Applying the brand

finished product

And putting in nose rings...

Tightening them down

We like to keep the kids involved, so my middle daughter likes to pack some water and help keep the line where it should be...

And one of the heifers we vaccinated today.

Each kid helps, by either clipping, time keeper, or head catch and weight recorder! A fun family day!

 

[tnwalkingred]

FireSweep,

We too worked all the cattle today. We vaccinated, wormed, tagged, and fly sprayed every cow on the place. I also had two heifers with a few warts so we cut those off and gave them a wart vaccine. The weather was great and I think we all got a little too much sun. My girlfriend loaded all the shots while my daughter loaded the ear gun. I cut the cattle in and out and my girlfriend worked the head gate. I gave all the shots while my daughter gave everyone their fly spray. It was a great way to spend some quality time together on the farm.

Kyle

 

[branguscowgirl]

Sounds like quality family time and fun to me!

FS- Really like your brand. It comes out nice and clear on the cattle! Do you have a pic somewhere of the finished product, after the hair comes back in?
Also, what size nose rings to you buy?

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Sounds like quality family time and fun to me!

FS- Really like your brand. It comes out nice and clear on the cattle! Do you have a pic somewhere of the finished product, after the hair comes back in?
Also, what size nose rings to you buy?

If you go here, viewtopic.php?f=19&t=84875&p=1031978&hilit=Freeze+branding#p1031978 it is a thread that has a bunch of pics of our brand after it has grown out white, with cattle that have summer and winter coats.
We buy the small rings, which look really big on the 7 month old calves. Our 14 month old bull it looks good on! We have never kept a bull this long, so we finally get to see how it looks when they are older
Thanks.

Kyle, sounds like you guys had a great day too! I love family time that way, everyone working together to make it go smoothly...

 

[txffamom]

So glad to hear yall had fun. Yall have the life that us city dwellers dream about. My daughter keeps her animals at the school barn, and we love spending the weekends doing stuff there. Most people around here don't understand how we call it fun. And like yall, it's more about being together. We are just learning about all this and it's interesting to see the pictures and processes. Thanks for sharing.