Cattle don’t need their teeth floated regularly the way horses do. That doesn’t mean that they can’t develop issues involving their teeth. We’ve all seen those skinny old cows, poor doers, there’s nothing that can be done about them. No matter how much feed you pour into them, they never put on weight. There are lots of things that can lead to these issues, including Johne’s disease. One possible cause that is usually over looked is bad teeth. Grazing animals wear their teeth down with constant chewing. To compensate for this they have very long teeth that constantly emerge throughout their li ..read more

There are five steps to teaching a cow any trick. The first of these is to plan out how you are going to teach the trick. We need to figure out exactly what it is we hope to teach, whether it is standing on a pedestal, riding, or showing. All of these are tricks to the cattle. Humans are the only ones who might classify them separately. Once we know the end goal we can break the steps to reaching it down into as small of pieces possible. The easier each goal is to reach the less frustrated you AND your cow will be trying to accomplish it. Knowing what your next step is going to be as you wo ..read more

It was snowing. The snow falling softly, straight down with no wind to drive it. I stood brushing the horses. We had all the time in the world. No rush to be anywhere or get work done. Right now the work was waiting. In the next pen over a heifer struggled to give birth. With the horses I waited, watching from a distance. Ready to offer help while trying to stay out of her way. Spring is a time of birth. New life after a cold dark winter. Giving life is not easy though, only the strong survive, both the birthing and the spring. They are harsh and unforgiving. We need to have the will to make i ..read more

It is always best of cows can calve on their own. Unfortunately that is not always possible. How do we know when it is time to step in and help? The first signs of calving can be easy to miss. A cow will become restless, laying down, then getting up, wandering around sniffing the ground. Often she will carry her tail high. When there is a problem it will usually be there at this stage. The subtleness of the signs can make it hard to know the cow needs help. If we can see that a cow is in this stage of delivery and nothing has happened after six hours it is time to step in and investigate. O ..read more

We see so many glamorous images of the “cowboy”. A man tall on his horse out galloping across the plains, defending good and right, wiping the trail dust from his face as he greets his good woman who has been waiting for him in a clean tidy home with well behaved children. I paused while busy trying to keep this calf alive and out of the mud, long enough to take this picture so I could share the reality. He was unlucky enough to be born just as a late May storm dropped over four inches of snow on us all. I’m not sure the vast amounts of mud show clearly enough for anyone to get the full pictu ..read more

Chivalry isn’t dead. It just looks a little different on the ranch. It isn’t that farmers and ranchers aren’t romantic and sweet. They just express it in different ways. Flowers are a nice gift. A bale of hay or a new cow are better. Going to a fancy restaurant has it’s place. Hopping in the old ranch pickup to check cows together, his hand in yours as he gives a gentle squeeze and whispers softly, “I’ll get the gate.” is the best date there could be. Poetry is romantic, I guess. Sweet whispered words that send tingles down your spine and weaken the knees are different for different people ..read more

Whether choosing a steer to train or picking out a heifer or bull, we can gain clues to what they will be like by looking at the whorls on cattle’s head. Whorls form in utero as the rest of the animal develops. When there is any abnormality in the cells, a whorl in the hair develops over it. As the brain forms, whorls develop where there is activity. Whorls on the outside of a cow give us a unique view to what is going on inside the cow. We can use them to judge temperament, health, and fertility. There have been many studies done on cattle and their reactions to being run through the chute in ..read more

There are five steps to teaching a cow any trick. The first of these is to plan out how you are going to teach the trick. We need to figure out exactly what it is we hope to teach, whether it is standing on a pedestal, riding, or showing. All of these are tricks to the cattle. Humans are the only ones who might classify them separately. Once we know the end goal we can break the steps to reaching it down into as small of pieces possible. The easier each goal is to reach the less frustrated you AND your cow will be trying to accomplish it. Knowing what your next step is going to be as you wo ..read more

It was snowing. The snow falling softly, straight down with no wind to drive it. I stood brushing the horses. We had all the time in the world. No rush to be anywhere or get work done. Right now the work was waiting. In the next pen over a heifer struggled to give birth. With the horses I waited, watching from a distance. Ready to offer help while trying to stay out of her way. Spring is a time of birth. New life after a cold dark winter. Giving life is not easy though, only the strong survive, both the birthing and the spring. They are harsh and unforgiving. We need to have the will to make i ..read more

It is always best of cows can calve on their own. Unfortunately that is not always possible. How do we know when it is time to step in and help? The first signs of calving can be easy to miss. A cow will become restless, laying down, then getting up, wandering around sniffing the ground. Often she will carry her tail high. When there is a problem it will usually be there at this stage. The subtleness of the signs can make it hard to know the cow needs help. If we can see that a cow is in this stage of delivery and nothing has happened after six hours it is time to step in and investigate. O ..read more