To get her ready for the mountains, (then he won't need a portable pen etc...)Dyke tied a set of hobbles out of the leadrope and she spent the better part of an hour or more out of the pen...grazing, & learning how to "hop"around.
She did very well and is such a fast learner!
While I was talking on the phone with my mom, Zack raced in to say that the cows were up at the barn and that we were ready to castrate the bull calves. Having to hang up the phone with your mother because you have to go castrate...well...I guess that sounds kinda wierd...but that's life out here on the farm...
Dyke and the boys roped and wrestled, while I did the honors (as usual)...
I am so proud of my new knife (A new Mooremaker knife was my Christmas present from Dyke!). Actually, the Mooremaker was what we used to lance that mama cow's tumor, and I hadn't sharpened it since that day, so I had to go with my other new and very prized knife - a limited edition Case XX Appaloosa 15/100 made.
I love that knife! What an edge!
Well, with all hands on deck, there was no photographer (Zack's usually perched on the fence as the resident photographer), so the only shots I could get were of the evidence after it was all said and done.
Well, with all hands on deck, there was no photographer (Zack's usually perched on the fence as the resident photographer), so the only shots I could get were of the evidence after it was all said and done. The first calf was the biggest and he had sucked 'um up inside and I had a tough time squeezin' 'um down to cut...that happened with another calf last year and I never could find the other one, so he was dubbed, "one nut" and we had to sell him as a bull.
Anyway, I was finally able to get the job accomplished and the moment they were cut and released into the grass, Penny, our lab, had scoffed them down...fresh and hot! I'd rather fry 'um up!
Actually, we must be in the right phase of the moon, because he hardly bled at all...(A rancher I once worked with only castrated or butchered according to the Farmer's Almanac, checking where the sign was (moon phase). If you're castrating, you want the sign in the head - less blood...if the sign is in the groin, he'll bleed like the dickens! Now, if you're going to butcher, you want the sign to be in the groin (away from the head/neck where you're butchering)...make sense?? It's been a long time since I've known anyone who goes by the Almanac...
So... on the second one, a smaller bull, I had to actually hold on to 'um after I cut 'um so that I could get a picture before Penny had her way with them.
Zack, who is usually on the fence, had never seen the procedure done up close and personal like, so he filled our ears with AHHHHHHHs and OUCHHHHHHs while I pulled and cut.
Now THESE are good fryin' size!
With only 2...that would just make a snack and it wouldn't be worth heatin' the oil to fry 'um, so Penny got some extra nourishment today!
As soon as the ropes were coiled and we were heading back to the house, Dyke's cell phone rang and he was off to town to get an injured Mississippi Kite (small hawk).
When he got home, Zack caught crickets and june bugs to feed it and gave it water through a syringe. He'll transport him to the bird rescue place in Wichita Falls where they'll rehab and release him.
By that time, the 10 o'clock news was on and it was time to turn in...
2 comments:
What a lucky girl you must be to have such a thoughtful husband who gives you such wonderful gifts! I'm just sayin'...
Yup! He certainly knows what a cowgirl likes!
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