The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

What’s a Rancher Without His Cow Dog?

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Have you stopped to think about that question?  Any good rancher has at least one cow dog, but more like three or four.  And usually those dogs are good enough to move the cows without any help.  Well that might be over stating it, but we rarely work cows without The Rancher’s Dog.  Even when we are working them through the squeeze chute it is the dog’s responsibility to move the cows along.

Quick side story*
When we were in college The Rancher’s Dog took a spill out of the back of the truck and broke both of his back legs.  We weren’t sure what to do but when I looked at The Rancher I knew that we were NOT putting this dog down.  We began by splinting it but that didn’t keep the bones aligned well enough.  The options were to either do surgery and pin it or surgery and amputate it.  We opted for the pin.  He seems to do well.  Occaisonally we see a little limp and I’m afraid he will end up with arthritis but I don’t think we really could have seen that dog go.  That day was the nearest I have ever seen The Rancher cry.

But on a happier note, he is alive with all of his legs and is a master cow chaser.  When we were moving cows to Badger Hole the heifers were really on the fight.  I didn’t get a great picture of the dogs getting the cows but some other fun ones.

A Little Bit of Beauty

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Its not very often that I brag up the beauty of this little valley, and maybe I should.  I don’t really give it all of the credit that it deserves.

Yes we live in the desert- at least I would consider this desert.  It is SO dry, even on a good rain year.  If I had a penny for every sage brush I would be rich there are so many. 

And oh my goodness the dust.  I have a years supply of Q tips that The Rancher cleans out in about 3 months. 

There are no streams or rivers.  Ok, there is a streamlet (you know, a baby stream) that runs through the ranch, but that is really all of the fresh water around.

To find trees you have to go deep in the hills to find a few stands.  The Rancher considers the REALLY BIG sagebrush to be trees but I want one that you can climb, build a tree house and take a nap under.  Sadly, we don’t have any.

Have I convinced you that this is a desert and that most of the things that makes a valley beautiful are lacking? 

But here and there I do find little bits of beauty, and I might appreciate them more because of the rugged surrounds it has.  The colors of the wild flowers seem so much more alive when they are cast against the monochromatic hills.  And the deep color of the sunsets takes your breath away.  The green of the meadows is so captivating that the distant hills seem to escape from view. 

Maybe beauty really is in the eye of the beholder and The Rancher’s Wife is finally seeing a little more clearly.

Badger Hole Day 2

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Your anticipation is at its max, isn’t it?  I told there were two days of Badger Hole and that meant two days of pictures… So where is day two?!

Right here!

This ride I actually got to ride- like on a horse.  And completely KID FREE!  The guys where heading out at 6:30 in the am so I knew this would be my chance to go and leave my children with grandma.  Everyone was happy about that, right?

I have to admit that I didn’t take all of the pictures that I wanted.  First I was just nervous to pull the camera out on the horse.  What if I dropped it?!  Then I was afraid that just as soon as I pulled it out I would need to actually do some real work and chase a cow or two.  I mean, I was here to help so I had better pull my weight.  And I will confess that I am so afraid of The Rancher or any of the guys rolling their eyes at me for pulling it out.

But I did get some and it was so fun!  And I am thinking that The Rancher had better take me out again.  Soon.

Badger Hole Day 1

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The heifers were ready to move out of their spring pasture and up to Badger Hole.  The ranching men decided to make this a two day thing, which means two days of pictures for me.  The first day they moved them down the highway and over to a corral to hold them for the night.  The Little Cowgirl helped me follow in the truck while The Sidekick rode the motorbike with The Rancher (who is so much cooler than riding with mom in the truck of course).

First Crop

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We are full swing into our first crop of haying this summer.  And the way that summers go it means that everything else is coinciding with it.

Rancher Sr was able to take a few days for a camping trip with his family (which meant that Cowboys Pete and E were gone).  And The Rancher had church responsibilities to tend to a few nights.  But the ever faithful Rancher’s Wife was here!  Actually I did get a chance to help out.  The Little Cowgirl and I got to rake(!) while The Rancher moved water and The Boss was in the swather. 

(The Rancher has heard it SO many times, but don’t you think that it is AWESOME that he married a wife that not only knows how to drive a tractor and rake but also LOVES to do it!)

I have yet to get out to get pictures of the swather…  Sorry… I know you are really disappointed.  And I don’t have any picture of raking because I was the one doing the raking!  And… The Rancher bales REALLY early in the morning (like 5 am!) or in the dark when I can’t get a picture so none with the baler…

But I do have some pictures of hauling them out!

The Rancher is loading up trusty 913- the semi.

 The Sidekick is giving me two thumbs up for getting to help The Rancher in the semi

Random: I was thinking that Case should really pay me big bucks for all the advertising I do!

Loading the last bales

The loyal trio- The Sidekick, The Rancher’s Dog, and The Rancher

When the Cowboys are Gone…

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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

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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

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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!

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Twitterpated Part I: CIDRs

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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?

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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!

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!

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