Branding and a Birthday...

Mama cows are first separated from their calves. We treated them with insecticide and sorted them into breeding groups. Then they must wait around until their calves are branded and brought back to them.

(I animated 4 pics into one here so you'd get the effect of cows bawling for their calves. I used Animator-9, a free download, to do it. I just clicked buttons until something happened -- my best method in learning a new skill)


Who wants to be first??????


Vaccinating calves and treating with insecticide.


Eldest Son is branding and Hubby does the tatooing (for identification) and I keep the books and set the tatooer with the correct number for each calf. It's a job that I have to really focus on so I don't give a calf the wrong tatoo. I did have one goof-up.


Lazy Y J Bar
The wet, bubbly stuff is a spray that we spray onto each brand to sooth it and to protect it from insects and bacteria.


This is our work table. It has the record book, highlighters to mark off each calf in the book, a vaccine gun, the spray we put on the brands, the tatooer, the green ink that is rubbed into the tatoo with a toothbrush. Oh....and Diet Pepsi.


Taking a break and admiring the work of their hands.


Third-Born Child was 20 on the 20th and he made it over for a special Birthday Supper and Birthday Cupcakes. There's always a competition at our house when we serve Birthday Cupcakes. The object of the competition is to see if you can put a whole cupcake in your mouth at once and chew it without spilling any out of your mouth while everyone at the table tells jokes and makes crude remarks about you all the while you're trying to chew and swallow. The secret to success is to take a drink of water first so your mouth is wet as you slide the cupcake in. I guess you run out of spit when there's that much cake in your mouth at one time.