Hauling cattle and life lessons learned...

[Todd 02]

I embarked on a great adventure this weekend moving cattle from the dry, desolate plains of West Texas to greener pastures. I own 13 momma cows, 13 calves, and 6 replacement heifers in Dickens County and due to fire and drought we moved the whole herd to just north of Hillsboro. I'm a first generation rancher (if I can even call myself that) and have only been doing it for about 5 years. Needless to say, I don't have the experience or most of the tools of the trade to be super efficient. But I've got heart.

On Saturday morning, we got to the farm at 7:30a. The portable pens were set up and waiting for us and we quickly latched on the trailers and began catching the cattle. We had a bit of a time with funneling some of them into the pens as they were set up in mesquite scrub brush. We did it all on foot. I'd say by 10:00a we had all but two. A quick drive through the pasture discovered one wild heifer that we had a booger of a time catching and an older cow down. After realizing she couldn't get to her feet (her back hooves were buckled up at the pasterns), we phoned the local vet, who was working a sale in Abilene, for advice. Had to run to town to pickup shots of Banamine and Dexamethasone and we decided to leave her and the heifer for a later trip.

Back to the pens, we quickly loaded all 13 calves and the smallest replacement heifer into a 14' bumper pull trailer, followed by 9 cows/heifers in the 20' gooseneck and 7 cows/heifers in the 16' gooseneck.

We left the farm at 11:45a and made the 286 mile trek to Grandview, arriving at about 5:00p. As we unloaded the cattle at their new home, they immediately began eating and before long, they were lost in the shoulder high Johnson grass.

At about 6:00p, we turned around and headed back to Lubbock. The wife and I cut off in Sweetwater about 10:30p and headed back to the farm to check on the downer cow. She drank quite a bit of water and ate several pounds of cubes, but still couldn't get up. We slept in the cab of the truck keeping watch over her.

On Sunday morning, We caught and loaded the wild heifer easily early and also decided to take a jenny to be a watchdog. Before leaving, we gave the downer cow more Banamine and Dexamethasone and several tubes of electrolytes. When we left at 12:45p, she still wasn't up.

The wife and I finally got to Grandview around 6:00p and unloaded the final heifer and donkey.

I'd say the whole weekend was 98% a success. With fuel, food and feed, the whole deal cost us $880. The wife and I traveled 1457 miles since 2:00p on Friday. It was great therapy. I feel sick about the downer cow. Not sure if it's my fault or not, but I've known the cattle weren't super healthy for several weeks. It just took me that long to put together a lease for some other property. The vet is going to look at her today and if she's still down, he'll just put her down and we'll be done with it.

I did learn some lessons this weekend:

• There's more to raising cattle than just having land, water, and fences. Even when you've got an intuition for it, you're never fully prepared for what it takes to get the job done.
• Marry a woman who understand you. My wife was a real trooper this weekend and got me through some of the tough times. She was right there with me at 1:00a feeding and watering that downer cow. She drove the truck and pulled a cattle trailer for the first time. She kept me going when I thought we were going to have to quit through all of this and always does. I love her a whole lot.
• To quote Dr. Hall from A&M, "Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance." We had enough "insurance" in the form of jacks, spare tires, air compressors, water, etc to ward off any bad luck with transportation. Zero flat tires, zero overheated pickups, zero issues. Zero issues, save for one. The tailmarkers did not work on the 20' gooseneck that I borrowed.
• Battery powered bicycle taillights work great as tailmarkers when duct taped to the back of a trailer.
• Every rancher should assemble and carry a medicine bag at all times. Learn to use what's in it.
• If you're determined to do it, you can do anything.
• For me, there are few things that a good weekend of hard work and cow **** can't cure. I'm exhausted, but I feel good.

Here's a few photos of the fruits of our labor.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

They look like happy campers. Good job. Hopefully there aren't any problems with them going from nothing to eat to an over-abundance of food.

 

[TexasBred]

The milk and "manure" should be flowing soon. Best wishes. ;-)

 

[highgrit]

I just got back from hauling 20 head to a new place. All went well till we turned them lose in their new pasture, they hit the ground running. My wife and I didn't think they were going to stop at the back fence but they did. These were, tame and gentle cows. Lesson learned, I will put them in a temporary corral from now on. Good Luck

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Sorry that the drought and fires caused you to have to make such a move. Lots of us are in the same boat!

Don't know how many acres of Johnson grass and/or other grasses you'll have for those cattle, but keep in mind that JG can't stand up to continuous grazing in the same way that Bermuda, Bahia and some of your west Texas native grasses can. The cattle love JG and will graze it into oblivion if not rotated out. Its been said by many an oldtimer that the cheapest way to get rid of JG is to put cows on it. I know that, definitely without intending to do so, I killed out a 50 acre patch of it in my first year of messing with cattle by simply letting them just eat away. I'd guess you will be somewhat of an absentee owner on this new tract, but consider moving your cattle in a sort of rotational grazing scheme, if you have enough acreage and water sources such that it is feasible to do so. You could possibly set up a bunch of smaller, separate paddocks with electric fencing, but of course access to water would be a primary concern. Good luck to you.

 

[tmlonghorns]

I loved reading this post!
Life is so much easier when you can have your wife standing side by side with you on some of these adventures. Sounds like a very exhausting weekend. I am sure you both work off of the the farm as well. My wife and I always joke that when we need a vacation we go back to work. Some folks never understand why we do what we do but working with livestock is like therapy.

 

[dun]

Life is so much easier when you can have your wife standing side by side with you on some of these adventures.

A good partner, especially if it's your wife, is priceless!

 

[snickers]

lol dun that's what i keep telling my husband. i get just as much cow poop on me as he does most of the time.

 

[Howdyjabo]

One to add to lessons learned
I have always been told not to mix Banamine and Dexamethsone

They don't mix well and if you are giving Dex you don't need Banamine anyhow.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Life is so much easier when you can have your wife standing side by side with you on some of these adventures.

A good partner, especially if it's your wife, is priceless!

:nod: :nod:
I know I give the Gate Opener a hard time on here but It sure would be alot harder without her

 

[Isomade]

" I don't have the experience or most of the tools of the trade to be super efficient. But I've got heart."

I like that Todd. The tools are nice, but I'll take heart over them any day.

 

[VanC]

" I don't have the experience or most of the tools of the trade to be super efficient. But I've got heart."

I like that Todd. The tools are nice, but I'll take heart over them any day.

Amen to that. It's good to see someone take the bull by the horns and make the best of a bad situation instead of just sitting around crying about it.

 

[Kingfisher]

The milk and "manure" should be flowing soon. Best wishes. ;-)

Right .........they must think they are in heaven! How do you get 13 calves and a heifer in a 14ft bumper pull is what I want to know! I guess they might be weaned now!

 

[Kingfisher]

I embarked on a great adventure this weekend moving cattle from the dry, desolate plains of West Texas to greener pastures. I own 13 momma cows, 13 calves, and 6 replacement heifers in Dickens County and due to fire and drought we moved the whole herd to just north of Hillsboro. I'm a first generation rancher (if I can even call myself that) and have only been doing it for about 5 years. Needless to say, I don't have the experience or most of the tools of the trade to be super efficient. But I've got heart.

On Saturday morning, we got to the farm at 7:30a. The portable pens were set up and waiting for us and we quickly latched on the trailers and began catching the cattle. We had a bit of a time with funneling some of them into the pens as they were set up in mesquite scrub brush. We did it all on foot. I'd say by 10:00a we had all but two. A quick drive through the pasture discovered one wild heifer that we had a booger of a time catching and an older cow down. After realizing she couldn't get to her feet (her back hooves were buckled up at the pasterns), we phoned the local vet, who was working a sale in Abilene, for advice. Had to run to town to pickup shots of Banamine and Dexamethasone and we decided to leave her and the heifer for a later trip.

Back to the pens, we quickly loaded all 13 calves and the smallest replacement heifer into a 14' bumper pull trailer, followed by 9 cows/heifers in the 20' gooseneck and 7 cows/heifers in the 16' gooseneck.

We left the farm at 11:45a and made the 286 mile trek to Grandview, arriving at about 5:00p. As we unloaded the cattle at their new home, they immediately began eating and before long, they were lost in the shoulder high Johnson grass.

At about 6:00p, we turned around and headed back to Lubbock. The wife and I cut off in Sweetwater about 10:30p and headed back to the farm to check on the downer cow. She drank quite a bit of water and ate several pounds of cubes, but still couldn't get up. We slept in the cab of the truck keeping watch over her.

On Sunday morning, We caught and loaded the wild heifer easily early and also decided to take a jenny to be a watchdog. Before leaving, we gave the downer cow more Banamine and Dexamethasone and several tubes of electrolytes. When we left at 12:45p, she still wasn't up.

The wife and I finally got to Grandview around 6:00p and unloaded the final heifer and donkey.

I'd say the whole weekend was 98% a success. With fuel, food and feed, the whole deal cost us $880. The wife and I traveled 1457 miles since 2:00p on Friday. It was great therapy. I feel sick about the downer cow. Not sure if it's my fault or not, but I've known the cattle weren't super healthy for several weeks. It just took me that long to put together a lease for some other property. The vet is going to look at her today and if she's still down, he'll just put her down and we'll be done with it.

I did learn some lessons this weekend:

• There's more to raising cattle than just having land, water, and fences. Even when you've got an intuition for it, you're never fully prepared for what it takes to get the job done.
• Marry a woman who understand you. My wife was a real trooper this weekend and got me through some of the tough times. She was right there with me at 1:00a feeding and watering that downer cow. She drove the truck and pulled a cattle trailer for the first time. She kept me going when I thought we were going to have to quit through all of this and always does. I love her a whole lot.
• To quote Dr. Hall from A&M, "Proper Planning Prevents be nice Poor Performance." We had enough "insurance" in the form of jacks, spare tires, air compressors, water, etc to ward off any bad luck with transportation. Zero flat tires, zero overheated pickups, zero issues. Zero issues, save for one. The tailmarkers did not work on the 20' gooseneck that I borrowed.
• Battery powered bicycle taillights work great as tailmarkers when duct taped to the back of a trailer.
• Every rancher should assemble and carry a medicine bag at all times. Learn to use what's in it.
• If you're determined to do it, you can do anything.
• For me, there are few things that a good weekend of hard work and cow **** can't cure. I'm exhausted, but I feel good.

Here's a few photos of the fruits of our labor.

 

[Kingfisher]

How were you able to source that pasture? Thanks in advance.

 

[S&S Farms]

Well I have to admit when I read your title, I thought I was going to read about a hauling accident. Having mixed sizes together and losing a calf but, I was pleasantly suprised to read about a long tough weekend that went better than worse.
I hope those who need rain get it soon and those with to much dry out soon.

 

[Todd 02]

The pasture belongs to the company my father in law works for.

The wife and I went and checked the cattle tonight and they seem happy. They hardly made a sound and didn't come running to the truck like normal. Instead, they continued to graze, eventually working their way down into a draw and out of sight. I guess they weren't craving cake this time with their bellies full of grass.

An update on 106 (the downer still in Dickens County): Mom and Dad spent the day with her. She tried to get up several times and drank and ate quite a bit. She obviously hasn't given in to dying yet. The vet came out today and gave her a mineral IV with the same ingredients as the C.M.P.K. paste. His diagnosis is "hardware disease," but I won't believe that 100% until he shows me an X-ray or metal detector with proof. Forgive me for being skeptical. He'll go back by tomorrow and check on her. He did palpate her and she is carrying a big calf. If I can get her up or at least keep her healthy until the calf is born, I'll feel better.

As for the rest of the herd, they are somewhat of a mess. As I said in the OP, one of the lessons I've learned is that raising cattle is intensive work. My dream from when I was a little boy was to be a rancher. I had the opportunity to lease some land from a family member back in 2005 and with the help of a family friend, I bought 12 cows. I still owned a cow that was my show heifer in high school and she made lucky number 13. Some were bred and some weren't. In 2006, I bought a bull. When I graduated again in 2006, I moved to Houston and further away from the cattle. Dad always took care of them but it wasn't really a passion for him like it was for me. In 2008 I moved to Fort Worth and the family member offered to sell me the land at a good price. I took the opportunity and bought it. At that point, I still thought I would end up back in West Texas so it seemed great to have land awaiting my return. Dad continued to watch the cattle and I was close enough to be more involved. Over the years, we've lost some and kept some and are currently at 13 mommas. We didn't start keeping better records until this year.

My dad retired in 2010 after 48 years of being a shop teacher. He has struggled with depression and the cattle have really become a burden on him. Then in January my mom got diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. It became evident that if I wanted to continue to have the cattle, I would need to assume full responsibility for their care. That meant moving them closer. I had a lease worked out in April and the guy backed out on me. Our neighbor in Dickens County was selling me bales of hay and the cows were getting by until his place got hit by fire. No more hay. We worked out a lease with another source and moved the cattle all in a matter of about four days.

As for the calves, they're all different ages. We had a bull on the cows all the time and they bred back at different intervals, so my calving season is essentially year round.

I sold the bull in November 2010 with the intention to keep all of the heifers born in 2011. My plan for 2011 is to fatten up the momma cows and then breed again starting in January 2012. I kept six heifers last year from the 2009 crop that should be ready to go then as well. This time I'm considering AI or just borrowing a virgin bull from a friend of mine to breed and only exposing the cattle to the bull for three months. That way I can accomplish a couple of things. First of all, I have a much shortened calving season. Secondly, I give the cows ample opportunity to fatten up before breeding. Third, I can finally begin to cull cows that don't produce.

As I said above, I'm a first generation rancher slowly learning how to do this without a mentor to guide me. It wasn't a family tradition and I didn't start out with anything. I'm building it from the ground up. I keep making mistakes, but I keep learning. Everyday I think to myself "Gee, how nice it would be to have about $20,000 to buy what I need..."

Thanks for all of the advice and don't hesitate to tell me I'm doing something wrong. I probably won't believe you at first, but it will at least get me to do more research on the subject.

Thanks for listening to the story. If y'all have anything to add or share, feel free to. If you have any advice, I'm eager to listen and learn. I'm just doing what I love.

 

[1wlimo]

Good for you Todd,

 

[LRTX1]

I keep making mistakes, but I keep learning.

I fellow once told me that "Education is expesive, no matter where you get it."

As long as you can learn from your mistakes, and supplement your "education" by cheaper means, with your attitude and determination you will suceed.

 

[bigbull338]

your doing ok nothing wrong with starting from scratch.an your right tobe thankful that your wife doesnt mind being around an working with the cattle.