The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

When the Cowboys are Gone…

by

What would you guess would happen when all of the cowboys are gone?

Did you say the horses would get out?  And some bulls?  Oh you are so right!

The Rancher is busy hauling cows  (its one of the other things we do).  Rancher Sr. is out shuffling cows around the spring/summer pasture.  Of course he took along all other available help- The Ranch Boss (The Rancher’s grandpa)  and Cowboy E (The Rancher’s brother).  Cowboy Pete (the other brother that is still home) is at State Rodeo (sending positive mental thoughts right now) with his momma.

Its me. And my sleeping.  Oh wait, I did have The Rancher’s dog…

But have no fear, the trusty-as-ever Rancher’s Wife got them. Alone.

More Rancher-Wife-Stripes for me! 

Twitterpated Part III: Turn out the Bulls

by

So we have talked about the major prep for AI and we have talked about the day we AI.  Shall we continue?

We have been focusing on the heifers mostly (because that’s how our breeding season starts) but now we will focus on ALL the momma cows.

The last step is fairly simple- we turn out the bulls.  Load ’em up, haul ’em out, turn ’em loose…  but I guess there is a little more than that.

Before we can turn out the bulls they have to go through a series of inspections.  We want to know that their semen is good (I mean what is the point of a bull that shoots blanks, right?).  They also need to be trich (said like “trick”… its an abbreviation of some long bacteria name…) tested.  This is SUPER important because they can spread this to cows, who can in turn spread it to other bulls which equals BIG PROBLEMS.  So we test them…

The final inspection is done by the ranchers of the cattle association we run with.  Everyone must turn out bulls and every one’s bulls need to meat the expectations of the other ranchers.  Its only fair, right?  If our bulls breed their cows it had better be with a bull they like.  And vice versa.

So when the bulls are all approved then it is time to load ’em up, haul ’em out, turn ’em loose!

Twitterpated Part II: AI

by

Transitioning into part II requires a little work before the vet can AI.  If you recall that during Part I we put in the CIDR, which purpose was to release hormones as well as physically block any semen from entering the uterus.  Now that we are ready for them to be bred we need to pull out the CIDR.

Now we are ready to AI

Is a fairly simple process but it will be easier to explain with some pictures I think…

The semen is stored in individual straws that put in a tank that is filled with liquid nitrogen to keep it viable.

The vet will first put one arm into the cows rectum- this is so that he can feel the cervix and will serve as guide to place the semen  He then takes a straw (filled with semen) and puts it into an AI gun (the arrow is pointing to the gun) which is inserted into vulva.
He threads the rod of the AI gun through the cervix and into the uterus.  Once it is into the cervix he slowly pushes the plunger which injects the semen into the uterus and then removes the gun.

 And that’s it!  The cow is bred and out she goes.  I said it is a simple process… simple if you are explaining.  The entire time the vet is doing this he can only go by feel and by his grasp of anatomy.  You should be impressed at these cowboys… I am!

Add caption

Twitterpated Part I: CIDRs

by

On our ranch we really run on Mother Nature’s clock.  What I mean is that we grow in the summer (crops and calves), migrate at the end of fall (take our cows to Locomotive), and have babies in the spring.  (I would love to hibernate for the winter (what a long nap!) but I don’t think that would work so well…)  According to Mother Nature (and Bambi) springtime also means that all the animals, including our cows are twitterpated.

Every May you can count on two things AI-ing and turning the bulls out.  This is definitely not a one day thing, in fact what we do is done over a series of weeks and the bulls are left out with the cows most of the summer.  So we will break it up into the different parts too!

With our first time heifers we AI (artificially inseminate) them.  We want to make sure that they have the best chance of getting bred up well.  We also want a little more control of what bull breeds them.  When we chose our semen we are able to find bulls that are known to have smaller calves which will be easier for these first time mommas.

In preparation to AI them we first synchronize the heifers so that they will all come into heat at the same time.  This makes it easier for The Rancher because then they can all be bred on the same day.  We use CIDRs, controlled internal drug releasing devices, which will release hormones to begin them cycling as well as prevent any heifers that may already be in heat from getting bred.

This is sounding way too much like a research paper…  In The Rancher’s Wife’s terms the poor girls get all sorts of hormones and birth control to make sure we know when it is… TIME.

The heifers coming in
The Rancher at work
Putting the CIDR in

                                    

The Rancher Sr. putting a CIDR in
Grandma helping Rancher Sr.

I always volunteer to help… Even though The Rancher tends to get in the way…
And The Rancher’s Boy, never missing out on the action or a chance to “Hey cows! Hey!”

Cow Dog or Coon Dog?

by

The Rancher has a one-in-a-million kind a of dog.  He is a darn good cow dog that has a few other skills.  Like one day moving cows I look over to see him jump onto The Rancher’s horse and take a ride.  Another time I saw him riding on the motorcycle with The Rancher, hanging onto the front bars.  This silly dog is the best at loading up into the pickup, even when its date night (what an exciting third wheel!).  After Sunday we can add another skill- he can tree a raccoon!

Yes you read it right…  I’m not sure if we have a cow dog or a coon dog on our hands but look at his handy work!

Spring Has Sprung

by


Last year it seemed that Ms. Winter hung on forever.  And when it finally let got Ms. Summer jumped right in and we didn’t have too many days to spend with Ms. Spring.  This year we have!  We have had those perfect cool and crisp mornings that warm up just enough to not worry about getting too hot (or sunburned!)  We didn’t have too many April showers but enough that we are green.  The Rancher spent some busy days doing his spring farm work planting grain and alfalfa (correction, I was just reminded that we haven’t put in the alfalfa yet… but will soon).  The sprinklers are rolled out and turned on.  We have the new spring chicks and the plum tree is beginning to get its leaves.  Yes boys and girls, this year spring is in full swing. 

A Refreshing Rain

by

Our little valley, like most of the area, is really suffering for rain.  We are just bone dry due to such little snow for winter 2011/2012 and only a few inches of rain last summer.  This last winter we were blessed with the snow we needed but if we don’t continue to get water we will be in trouble again.  The Rancher watches the weather man every night to see if the rain will come.  Every night he prays so earnestly that we will have some moisture. 

A look at the clouds coming in from my front porch

And I think that he has bombarded heaven enough that little by little we are getting some moisture.  In fact you can see that the fields are turning green and the rain clouds are rolling in.  Its amazing, I never thought I would love rain as much as I do being a rancher’s wife.  I do admit that I do have some selfish reasons for wanting rain- maybe if it rains enough, The Rancher will slow down for a day that I can see him! 

About Me

Hello! I'm Allison, The Rancher's Wife! There's nothing I love more than being out on the ranch with my husband and kids. Join me for a look at what goes on here at the ranch and the life being a rancher's wife!

instagram

Recent post