Working Ranch Blog

Get 'er Done by Brett Haas
Feb. 24 2010, 9:15 PM

Mike, a cowboy from up north, wrote me about a calving story of his. In our exchange, I shared with him that among the many rules of this job, one of the most important is simply get the job done. It might not always be pretty (especially with those of us who are still green), but you gotta learn to improvise, adapt, and overcome. For example, take these heifer calves of ours.

We've got 150 of 'em we'll be breeding this Spring along with ours. We bought them to breed and sell. We keep them in this big pasture next to headquarters. It's got two creeks running through it. One of 'em is good sized and the other is a smaller one. The big one is the problem. Given the inclement weather we've had this winter, it's made for some tough terrain to maneuver in. This is not only true of trucks and horses, but also of cattle. The problem is this. I feed pellets on the east end and the stockpiled grass is on the west end across the big creek. I feed in the morning, after they finish the hay they head across the creek to munch on grass. The problem is when they cross in the afternoon the creek is running. They spend the night there, and when they try to head back east come morning, the creek is froze. Those calves don't like that ice. It's been a hassle all winter long. The home-raised heifers north of my house take about thirty minutes to feed. These bought heifers take about an hour on average. I've been there longer than that sometimes as well.

So, the other day Kirk had a doctor's appointment, so I had to finish a few of his chores for him. I had to make a trip to town first thing to fix my truck, then I got stuck, so needless to say I was a tad behind. And, of course, guess where the heifers were? I drove down in and rolled out a half bale. They were looking at me from the other side of the creek, so I figured soon enough one would brave it on across. I figured I'd go do other chores then come back and feed them their pellets. Well, guess what? Yep, you guessed it. They were still on the other side an hour later. It was already late so I was tempted to just put 'em off until tomorrow. After all, they had some stockpiled grass to munch on. The problem was, though, that these heifers were a little on the light side anyway and the clock was ticking to get them to weigh enough come pelvic checking time. So, I set my mind to get the job done, and started thinking.

I get in trouble a lot thinking sometimes, but I knew I had to come up with some diabolical plan to take over the world, outlaw commercials that have folks eating and talking at the same time, abbreviated internet gibberish/spelling that makes my four year old seem literate, and Al Gore from ever discussing the weather again. Oh wait, I mean I had to come up with a plan to get those heifers across the creek. Yeah, I'll think on that second plan tomorrow. Anywho, the wheels got to turning and I'd thought I'd break up the ice and they'd come across, right? Nope. O.K., plan B, I'll auger some feed out on the ground, get their rumens drooling, and they'd come right across, right? Nope. O.K. I'll throw some feed across the bank and they'd shove each other across and come on over, right. Well...nope. Close, but no cigar. They went for the feed, but too much went into the water, so they only ate what was on the bank. So, now I knew I was close. I moved on over to another crossing and instead of breaking the ice, I just threw the feed on top and, guess what? They bit. It took awhile, but those first couple soon forgot about the ice, and started working their way over. Pretty soon the floodgates opened up and I had heifers. I love it when a plan comes together.

Tell me your cattle plans at thekansascowboy36@gmail.com, or look me up on Facebook or Twitter.