There are many strategies among ranchers with cow-calf operations. Our goal is to have all of our cows on the same cycle where they will go into heat, breed, and calve at the same time. This insures having a consistent calf crop which makes it better when you take them to market.Our goal was to buy a black Angus bull in the Spring to breed with our cows. Charlie had even spoken with several ranchers that sell bulls. Sounds practical and efficient, right? But we all know that things don’t always work out as we plan for them to – Life is full of surprises.

One morning in November when I walked out toward the herd, I noticed a white patch in the middle of the cows. I walked a bit closer, thinking that this was just the sun causing a glare and making my eyes see things. However, as I walked closer, it was apparent that we had a visitor in our herd. A very handsome red Hereford bull had come to visit our ladies. Mr. Curly (as named by Natalie because of the white curls on his head) was very happy to be among 14 cows that were looking for male companionship. It took a few phone calls and we found which neighbor Mr. Curly belongs to. Charlie talked with him and it was decided to leave Mr. Curly in our pasture to ‘finish the job’ since he had already messed up our schedule of putting a bull out in March with the cows. Soon we will do a pregnancy check on the cows and see how many are bred. We would expect to see Black Baldies – Black Brangus with white markings on their heads. But some could show up with the red from the Hereford. Time will tell and I’m not really wanting to be patient to find out! As you can see, the calves being weaned were very curious about our visitor!

We also have another visitor to our herd. Her name is Lily Cow. Same neighbor bought a cows but she decided to jump the fence into our pasture when they let her out of the livestock trailer. She was pretty tame with the neighbor’s wife, but was not ready to be rounded up. Lily Cow is making herself at home with our herd. She stands out because she is a white and reddish tiger stripe with black dots on her forehead. The dots on her head made me think of the inside of a flower plus she is a tiger stripe cow so I came up with Lily Cow. Charlie and Jason have restructured our working pens now so when we gather the cows up soon to work them, our neighbor will be able to come and collect Lily! I think his wife is anxious to get her back. I’ve been taking care of by hand feeding her cubes. Can you spot Lily Cow with the other cows?

Come back for more calf adventures next post!