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Hauling cattle and life lessons learned...
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<blockquote data-quote="Todd 02" data-source="post: 835337" data-attributes="member: 13404"><p>The pasture belongs to the company my father in law works for.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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..."</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Todd 02, post: 835337, member: 13404"] 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. [/QUOTE]
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