Off the Ranch - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Taking on Texas

March 21, 2014 by Allison

Its crazy to believe that it was only a week ago that we were living it up in San Antonio. The Rancher and I managed to leave the kids with grandma and took on a little vacation (oh ya, we went to a wedding too!). Texas is a great place for a couple of ranchers to visit because our boots and buckles totally fit in. We could have been taken for locals… until you listened to us talk of course!

Before we got too busy with the hair and nail prep for the wedding we played tourist for a bit!

Like to the Alamo! Which everybody and their dog was there too. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone during spring break… It was a good hangout for the preacher man too. I didn’t hear what he was saying, but he was pretty fired up!

There were some beautiful places around the grounds at the Alamo. I wish I could have taken some it home to be at my house. A little pink amidst the brown would be awesome!

My new sister-in-law said that we had to go to Rudy’s BBQ for lunch. Apparently its famous throughout Texas. With all of the hype I was expecting something huge and somewhat of a nice restaurant. But its not… its a hole in the wall. And in Texas that means that it is the real stuff. I’ll admit that it was stinking good! This from a bunch of country folk that love their BBQ! I highly recommend it!

The Rancher found the Rose Palace, the home for George Strait’s Team Roping Classic. He was supposed to be picking me up but got distracted when he saw so many horse trailers passing by. Ya, he totally ditched the idea of coming to get me. Eventually he came back (he knows what is good for him), but he started explaining really fast why he was late. He didn’t forget about the roping… We had to go back and check it out before we got on the plane. I guess its better than going to the roping instead of the wedding…

Walking through the city was so fun for this country girl. I don’t want to live there, but there are so many fun and interesting things to see. I love the shops, the architecture, the people, the landscaping… ALL OF IT! Maybe its because we don’t see so much of that around here, like a stoplight. We don’t have those in our town of 90 people. Or tall buildings or cool fire escapes. Its all so exciting!

Calving Down South in Locomotive

March 7, 2014 by Allison

Every operation has its own calving process and the crucial chunk of ours is in the location. Locomotive is such an ideal place for our cows to calve because it only (ok, usually) gets little bits of snow. The weather is mild enough that there is still good range feed (aka grass) and warmer temperatures that we don’t have to worry about losing calves to the cold.

Being that it is out on the range, there are wide open spaces for the herd (channel your inner “Home on the Range” background music!). They can be spread out to make sure that the right momma and babies get paired up together. There are times when cows are bunched up too close that they try to claim another calf as their own. We tag them when we can, but since cows can’t read, it only helps us. I guess it doesn’t work like in the hospital when the momma and babies have matching bracelets!

Another plus of calving on the range is that it also helps to prevent sickness from spreading through all the calves. When the calves are so spread out, they have less contact with each other. When they have less contact, the germs don’t move from calf to calf so much. Just think of a kindergarten class of kids that are always wiping their runny noses on their neighbor. This is what we are avoiding! Young calves have young immune systems. And although they are building their immunity, especially through momma cow’s milk, we want to lesson their exposure as best we can.

Its a more of a hands off approach. When I was very first involved in the process I was sure that we weren’t doing enough and we were doomed to fail… But I was so wrong! We have incredible calving percentages every year. These are experienced momma’s that, with the right location, have babies without any problems. And then once the calves hit the ground, they just get growing!

Don’t get me wrong, we don’t put ‘hem out on the range and forget about them. We (read The Rancher and Rancher Sr.) ride through them nearly every day on the off-chance that there is something going hay-wire. But we certainly don’t wear ourselves out as if we calved all 600+ at home!

Roundup of Other Ranches: Calving in Cold Weather

March 5, 2014 by Allison

We have had such a mild winter which is AWESOME for calving. But that hasn’t been the case for everyone.

My old neighbors in Montana have really been having a hard time this last weekend. My dad was saying its the worst calving season they have had in 25 years. A town nearby was dealing with a wind chill of -68 degrees at night. That’s beyond brrr! That’s cold enough to freeze a baby’s nose even before he has been born. Not being able to keep all the babies and mommas out of the cold is like throwing money in the wind.

But my Montana friends aren’t the only ones dealing with the cold. Its a normal part of winter calving. Over the years we have all found things that help on those cold nights. We have our go to hot boxes or shelf ready ear warmers. We’ve learned when we need to bring a calf in or when to leave it with momma.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few other ranchers that have been out fighting the cold.

1. Calving in the Cold on PincherCreekVoice.com

2. Baby Calves Will be Here Soon on KansasCattleRanch.blogspot.com

3. Ranch Snow Day: Calving Heifers on AgricultureProud.com

4. Calving Shed on BeefMatters.org

5. No Maternal Instinct on JustARanchWife.com

6. Warming Baby Calves on TalesOfAKansasFarmMom.blogspot.com

“They’re Sheep… Not Cows!”

February 20, 2014 by Allison

On our last outing to check water we came across some range neighbors. As soon as The Rancher’s Sidekick could pick out what they were he shouted, “They’re sheep… not cows!”

Apparently we need to get out and see more critters than what we normally see on the ranch because our kids loved seeing those sheep!

There is a big sheep herd sharing the range with our cows in Locomotive. They blend in with the country side really well and when you finally recognize that the sheep are there they just POP out at you. Hundreds of sheep! There is even a little sheep camp and their very own ~~sheep cowboy~~, ~~sheepboy,~~ shepherd…

I think that they must have been surprised to see us because they just took off running. Little fluffy sheep running all over.

I had to do a double take when I saw a black sheep in the midst of the other white sheep. I had to ask what it was… I assumed it was a herd dog! I think that I had better stick with what I know best-cows!

Hauling Cows to the Calving Pasture

February 18, 2014 by Allison

The Rancher has sighed a big sigh of relief last week. All of the cows that were home (about 500) have been hauled to the calving pasture in Locomotive.

It took 3 days to get them all moved down and we jumped in to “help” take them down

Now that we have all of the cows moved we will be making the trip down to check them, but Locomotive is a great place to calves out our cows!

A Ranch-kid’s Amusement Rides

February 4, 2014 by Allison

I avoid taking our kids to the tractor stores. I know that sounds harsh but I know that they will want to climb on EVERY tractor. I’m terrified that some day we will be taking home a lawn mower because we broke it from The Rancher’s Sidekick climbing all over it.

But there is a day that we wait for every January when there are tons of tractors that we can explore. ISU in Pocatello hosts an Ag Expo where businesses bring their products for farmers and ranches to check out. They also bring tractors, of all sizes. I honestly wonder how they get some of those BIG combines in- I have yet to the a door that they can fit in! This year The Rancher’s Sidekick even found some his size that weren’t lawn mowers!

Usually it is the same old stuff but its always worth going to see if they have anything new. And of course we all want to sit in the new tractors!

Even The Ranch Princess had to sit in the tractor. Nothing will stop her from being with the boys!

Ya, super big equipment…

I had to take this picture because we have pride in agriculture

The Fruits of Our Christmas Tree Hunt

December 15, 2013 by Allison

Every hunt has its tale, which I have already shared as I began Norma’s Story. But what I didn’t share are the photos from our tree hunt. Pictures of The Rancher’s Sidekick and his grandpa cutting down a tree together (same tree, just 3 feet apart, and one using a saw and the other a small branch…) are just too fun not to share!

This year we had an extra treat. When we began to load up in the trucks, a herd (hazards of being The Rancher’s Wife- everything comes in herds…) of turkeys came gobbling through. The Rancher’s Sidekick jumped at the chance to feed them.

The Stream of Life

December 13, 2013 by Allison

Holbrook is in the deseret… really. Its dry and every time the wind blow our mountains and hills change. It is so different from the river plain that I grew up in. The ranch we had was crossed with little rivers and streams- some to play in and some to fish in and all to make it so beautiful.

There are a few little streams in our valley and they all are their own sort of beautiful. When The Rancher was building his fence they were right by a little creek that feeds out of the reservoir. They had to cross it twice so I don’t think they were in a mood to admire it, but I sure was! And now during the winter it really has its own kind of pretty with the dry cattails and crusted wheat, the bits of snow and ice, and the slow moving water. It just nourishes my soul.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

December 10, 2013 by Allison

A fellow rancher from the Curlew Valley decided that it was finally time redo the fence that we share. For some time they have had trouble with his cows sneaking in with ours and I think he got tired of us calling him to take them back to his side. So on one a cool November day they loaded up their hammers and nails and got to work.

Fencing isn’t my favorite chore- I’m sure it was the hot summers. But The Rancher likes it. Its one of things that you can really do well. There’s not anything much prettier than a new, tight, straight fence.

After building so many fences it is second nature to these cowboys. Without talking they know how far apart to space out the posts, where to put in a brace and all the parts and pieces to make it work. They get right to it and go until the work is done … or dark.

There was more fence to build than daylight this time, so they went back out to finish the work just last week. I don’t have any pictures of them working that day because it was cold and snowy. My warm slippers begged me to stay home!

Sorting Out the Opens

November 5, 2013 by Allison

There are a lot of reasons that we preg check the cows… I think I have already told you that. We want to know who is pregnant and who is not. And how far along pregnant they are. And if they are not pregnant we need to get rid of them. We bring them home and then to the auction (or to anyone that wants them…).

This is when the fun starts. Initially the opens are just lumped together so they sort them so each ranch can take them home after all checking is done. These cows are tired of being in the corral and the last thing they want is to be worked more. That means they put up a good fight that is fun to watch. I have to admit that I my picture don’t do justice for the awesome moments we had but I am going to blame that on the cowboys because there are only so many places I can be. So I do what I can with what I got!