The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

From the Feed Truck

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I’d like to think I’m a tough girl.  I mean, I have had babies.  A mother by definition is tough, right? 

Maybe I should admit that I do have a damsel-in-distress side that does counter my tough-cowgirl side, but as tough as I am, its ok that on the cold morning cattle drive I was invited to stay in the warm feed truck.  We used the feed truck to lure the cows home.  And it worked.  It worked GREAT. 

It took only a matter of minutes for all of the cows to come running up the hill.  Every once in a while they did slow down.  But all The Rancher needed to do to get them moving again was to pretend to drop the hay.

I thought I would get a little creative and take some pictures of the cows in the rear view mirror.  Ya, that only works of the mirror is clean.  I guess that my picture is proof that we are in a REAL ranch truck.

Moving Cows on a Cool, Clear Morning

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The cowboys decided that it was time to move the cows to the ranch now that winter is upon us.  All though there isn’t a lot of snow, there is enough now that we have to feed every day.  This means that The Rancher would have to take the hay to the cows each day or bring the cows home.  Of course, they chose the latter. 

So on a beautiful, clear morning we trailed the cows home.  I really shouldn’t include myself in the “trailing” part of the move because we were at the head of the herd in the feed truck, coaxing them to come along.  For once I have pictures at the front end of these cows!

Ranch Winter Scenes

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I love winter.  Pretty much everything about.  The colder temperatures are so nice after a hot summer. 

Winter time is calving time and there is something special about new babies.

I even love myself a little blizzard once in a while.  I’m a hopeless romantic- the idea of being snugged up by the warm fire during a blizzard sounds so lovely.  (Don’t let The Rancher read this… I might get in trouble by saying this out loud…)

But I especially love looking out over the ranch and seeing it covered in blanket of snow.  Or the trees that are frosted and twinkling in the sunlight.  Mmm…  I love me some winter scenes.

The Day we BANGs Vaccinated the Calves

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The temperatures have been pretty low lately.  Like one day it was -18 at 10:00 am.  Yuck!  Of course that would be the day that The Rancher had to bring in a few stragglers from Black Pine.  And move the cows to new pasture.  And bring the heifers to the ranch to be vaccinated.  I would say that he came in with cold cheeks but for once that silly beard of his might be worth having (can you tell I’m not a fan?).

And of course the next coldest day was when we BANGs vaccinated the calves.  I’ll admit that on those cold days I’m a lot more willing to stay home to do the dishes and laundry, but sometimes I just gotta pull on my big girl boots and get to work.

You might be wondering why we just didn’t wait to do it until a warmer day.  Ya that’s what I thought too.  The Rancher told me that besides the fact that we would have to wait until spring if we used that logic, we had already scheduled the vet to be out here.

Most vaccines we just do ourselves, but the BANGs vaccination is state  regulated and can only be administered by a vet.  Brucellosis, the disease this vaccinations prevents, causes abortions in cows.  The bacteria remains in the after birth, which can infect other animals or even humans if they come in contact with it.  The bacteria also remains in the reproductive tract and can spread through a herd easily if a bull contracts and the breeds other cows.  Its pretty serious stuff, hence all the regulations.  As part of those regulations all heifers are required to get the vaccine from a vet.

 

 
 To mark that these heifers have been BANGs vaccinated, they are given a special ear clip and a tattoo by the vet.  Remember when I was saying it was cold?  It was so cold that the tattoo ink was freezing on the brush.  It took a little spit to keep it spreadable..

 
Look at the steam coming off the calves!  Its stinking cold!

The Fruits of Our Christmas Tree Hunt

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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

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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

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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!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

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My holiday spirit has taken over my rancher’s wife spirit because I am praying for snow.  You might wonder what- wanting snow has go do with being a good ranch wife… so I’ll tell you.

Actually its rather simple- when it snows it covers the feed.  If the animals can’t find feed they get hungry.  Therefore, we have to start feeding hay, something The Rancher really doesn’t like to do.

So I’m being a little naughty and hoping for more snow.  Let the winter fun begin!

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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