Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Tally on cows...

 Trailing cows past an old homestead.
You can tell it's there by the trees.
Tally:  We pregnancy tested 450 cows today.
Only 27 open cows.
These are better results than we hoped for in a drought situation.
After testing, we turned cows out to fresh pastures.  They aren't the greatest, but they have better grass than the pastures they just left.

Hubby and I took out one bunch of cows and I was enjoying the scenery and the wildflowers along the way.  I captured this photo of Rubber Rabbitbrush.  Isn't that a funny name for a plant?

 This silvery sage-looking plant is called Winterfat.  The cows are absolutely crazy for it right now.  Everywhere they find it, they munch it right off.  I think it has a salty flavor that they crave plus it's high in protein.

The sage brush was "in bloom."  It is particularly strong-scented right now, perhaps because it's blooming.  I  like the aromatic, woodsy smell of sage brush.  Cattle don't eat it much, but the Sage Grouse eat the berries and have their young in it.  Sage brush is great cover for prairie animals.

A big day of work is done.  We'll be moving livestock out again tomorrow.
It sounds like rain might be in the forecast!
I hope so.

6 comments:

  1. It's amazing the way God made yummy grasses for cows to enjoy. I bet you were tired after such a big day! Did you drink ginger tea all day? I hope it rains! Love, love!

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  2. I love where you live. Seeing the Winterfat, which just intrigues me. The blooming sagebrush and the Rubber Rabbit bush. I loved seeing the old homestead. I see why Willa Cather or Bess Streeter Aldrich could write like they did about the prairie. Seeing your pictures, just calls to me. I am so glad God has blessed you with that many cows already being bred. That is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing. It gives me such joy. Have a lovely day.

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  3. Hope you do get that rain. I like to see the trail of cows. Glad you got good results despite the drought.

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  4. rubber rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush That's a tongue twister! Thanks for sharing your work-filled ranch day. Sounds so satisfying. :)

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  5. Hooray for rain! When we lived in Iowa, we could always tell an old homestead by an L-shaped line of trees, still standing there for wind protection.

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  6. Boy, that's a lot of cows! Does an "open" cow mean one that's not pregnant? If I read that right, there are a LOT of calves in your future???

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