Category Archives: Cattle

Bye Bye to Big Boy the Bull

Angus, Bull, Cattle, Cow-calf

It was a sad and exciting week on the Lazy J Ranch. Big Boy the Bull has moved to a new pasture with lots of new ladies waiting for him. While Big Boy did a great job leading our herd and increasing calf production, it was time for a different direction on the ranch.

Big Boy was a protective leader of our herd and yet very gentle with the new calves. It was fun to watch him interact with the herd and with us. As big as he was, he would still snuggle up next to you if you had cow candy to share. He loved being brushed and rubbed. However, if he needed to, he could show you how big and tough he was!

Big Boy was purchased by a local rancher and friend who has taken him to his herd. He will be joining a herd of Brahma heifers where his services will produce beautiful Brahma calves. He followed Jason right onto the trailer, but as the trailer drove out of the pasture, Big Boy turned his head and looked back at Jason and Charlie. It makes you wonder what he was thinking! It was sad to see his gentle spirit leave the ranch.

Big Boy gave us lots of nice looking calves, but we decided that we wanted to move forward to a homogenous herd – one where the bull, cows, and calves are all black Angus or Brangus. Our plan is to purchase a black Angus bull soon which will produce black calves with shorter ears.

Jason and a fellow welder will spend the next week building a new pen for the new bull with all kinds of bells and whistles. Whatever it takes to keep the bull happy. Stay tuned for pictures of the progress.

Time Flies When You’re Having Calves!

Cattle, Cow-calf,

It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by since the last post where Buck and Roy were first introduced. It wasn’t long before Sven, Elsa, Cookie, Oliver, Kristoff, Bunny, Midnight, Ana, and Flower arrived to complete Crop #4.

It was different with this crop. Because of the ice and snow, we lost two calves born during that time. We suspect that several of the cows had miscarriages, perhaps also caused by the harsh weather. With baling hay, moving the herd between pastures, and so much rain, we did not have the same amount of time interacting with these calves. We watched them grow and play and some were very curious about us and the dogs. But we were unable to develop the strong bonds as we have before. Not long ago, it was time to take the calves to market and start planning for Crop #5.

One thing special about Crop #4 was Genesis, who was the first calf born on our ranch, had her first calf, Kristoff. These are photos of Genesis and Kristoff and Mama 47, Genesis, and Kristoff.

As the saying goes, “Time marches on.” More next time on what’s been going on at the Lazy J Ranch!

Welcome to the Herd!

Cattle, Cow-calf
Charlie and I knew that once the cows began calving that the size of the herd would explode. Well, that explosion began at the end of July. Since then, we have welcomed four calves to the herd. It is interesting to watch how the different cows act during pregnancy and then act as new mothers. It is also interesting to see how each calf has a different personality almost from the moment they are born!
Wheeler Herd Calf Album – Summer 2020

Calf #1 – Cosmos

Cosmos was tiny when she was born and loved to curl up on the grass. She has long legs and definitely has the Brahman influence in her body shape. She is a little shy but loves to play with the other calves.

Calf #2 – Hanna

Hanna was jet-black when she was born showing her Black Brangus heritage. She is curious about everything and everyone around her! When you talk to her and she looks straight at you and wiggles her ears! She loves to run and frolic with the other calves and yearlings.

Calf #3 – Champ

Champ is Calf #3 and a bull calf. He had a very difficult start having to be pulled from his Mama. But he toughed it out and has hung on to life. His hips were stiff from his rough birth, but he’s walking better now and even running. Now he’s having difficulty acclimating to heat. He’s a big boy with lots of fat and fur consistent with his Hereford father. He needs to be a champion to acclimate quickly to this hot and humid East Texas environment. Mama Cow is doing her best to take care of him. We are helping out also as we can.

This afternoon, Charlie found Champ in the woods unconscious but breathing. He was able to wake him up and he immediately went to his Mama and began to nurse. That was a good thing. Charlie contacted our cowboy and vet for advice on what could be going on. Both felt like it was heat stress causing the issue. They both recommended that we continue to watch and hope he acclimates to the heat soon.

Charlie spent the rest of the night reflecting on this and shared that he has gained a new appreciation for those that have worked in this industry for most of their lives. As he said, “You can do all the right things and try to be a good steward of the land and livestock but in the end it may not be enough.” We are working hard to help this little guy make it!

Calf #4 – Bess

Charlie noticed a little white face in the pasture this afternoon while looking over the herd and doing a headcount! We found Bess just moments after she was born. She was already up on her feet and walking circles around her Mama! When the other cows came up to see the new calf, Bess took off walking toward them to introduce herself to them. She is very outgoing! Her Mama was a nervous wreck trying to keep Bess reined in and close to her! She was relieved when Bess finally decided to lay down in the shade of one of the tree and rest. Mama was then able to lay down and rest also.

We are excited as we await the arrival of seven more calves within the next month with the possibility of three or more after that. It is a joy to see the additions to our herd and see how God created such nurturing instincts in these mother cows.

Stay tuned as photos of more calves are added to the Wheeler Herd Baby Album!

Working and Weaning

Cattle, Cow-calf

Once again, it was time to work the cows and wean the calves. Charlie and Jason discussed the meds to use this time for the injections and fly control. Charlie purchased the supplies and gathered together the equipment. Jason checked over the supplies and grabbed a few more. It was a nice cool morning which made it more comfortable for us and for the cows branding was on the agenda. We had gathered all of them up in the pen the night before and, as you can see, they didn’t really suspect anything was going on…until the cowboy drove into the driveway. Could they really remember the sound of the motor of his truck???

Working the cows went relatively smoothly including the branding and palpating. 11 of the 14 cows are bred. (Plans are being made for the 3 that aren’t bred.)Once the cows were finished and let out to the pasture, the calves were taken care of and kept inside the pen. Stevie Nicks, Annie, and Joni Paycheck were the last three calves born and the time has come for their weaning. Looks like they were wondering where all of the cows had gone! The calves made their way to the trap in the pen where they had last been with their Mama Cows.

Joni and Annie came to see us at the fence, but Stevie (in the background) was already bawling. Joni found her way to the fence where her Mama was. Mama wasn’t happy that her baby was locked inside the pen! She has been a very good and protective Mama. In fact, the next few mornings she came to the fence by the house and moo’ed to us. In fact, the first morning after the other cows wandered off after their morning cubes, she laid down at our fence. Since we have three cows to breed still, the decision was made to add Genesis to the pen with the calves. She is a yearling and we aren’t ready for her to be bred. She has had a calming effect on the calves. For the most part she has been happy with the creep feed, cubes, and extra attention she has been given, but isn’t particularly happy to be locked up again. She will definitely be the leader of this pack!

All of the calves are eating cubes from our hands and we walk among them several times a day to help them become accustomed to us. Our approach to raising cattle is to take good care of them and treat them as gently as possible which is accomplished by handling them often with care and respect.

And the Cow Jumped Over the…Fence!

Cattle, Cow-calf, Gardening,

Last weekend as I was contemplating what to write about, I was coming up with a blank. The vegetables planted in the tubs were beginning to sprout, but with so much rain the strawberries and watermelons weren’t going to be planted in the ground.The roses are blooming.

The grass in the pastures is growing and the cows are happy to be grazing. What was I going to write about? And then it happened….

 

Charlie received a call from our neighbor that several of our cows had been out in his pasture, but had gone ‘home.’ I had been outside several times that morning and had not noticed anything odd. But as we walked down the fence line, 20200405_121510we saw Lily Cow out of our pasture. Remember that Lily is our visiting cow that jumped into our pasture after a different neighbor had unloaded her into his pasture from a stock trailer. Apparently, she jumped out of our pasture and during the process broke a section of the fence. 20200405_121508Charlie grabbed tools to repair the fence and our cows seemed curious about what he was doing. I kept telling the cows that Lily was bad and this wasn’t the place for them to be. The blooming honeysuckle on the fence line was telling them otherwise!

But back to Lily Cow who was grazing outside our fence. She followed me from the neighbor’s pasture, along the fence line, into our backyard (by the garden), along the fence line in the front yard, all the way to the gate at the road going into our front pasture. You should see all of hoof prints all through our property in the muddy grass! 20200405_123158Lily made her way to the spot where she had first jumped (and broken) the fence. The three calves had been following Lily around all week and we were afraid that she would teach them how to jump the fence! What an exciting afternoon!

Guess who we discovered out of the fence on Monday morning!! We coaxed her back onto our property to keep her safe until her owner could make arrangements to pick her up. He had already been there on Sunday afternoon and started making plans to pick her up in a couple of weeks. She wouldn’t go in our gate so we closed our gate at the end of the driveway. She was ok with that until our cows went across the creek and she wanted to join them. Lily Cow walked up to the fence at the road and jumped over that fence and headed down the road where our cows were. I walked down the road and she followed me back to our front yard. Thankfully, she was off the road. I went inside to get back to work and Charlie went to take care of his tasks. After about two hours, we walked outside to see our cows coming back across the creek to the pasture beside our house. Guess who was with them! Somehow and somewhere, Lily had jumped back into our pasture. 20200406_152524After all of that jumping and walking, she was exhausted and had settled down for a nap! We didn’t see where she came in and couldn’t find any broken fences.  Needless to say, Lily’s owner came over along with a cowboy to take her home. She wasn’t too happy being loaded into the stock trailer and taken home. I must admit that Tuesday morning, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her in our yard or pasture. However, she is now behind an eight foot tall wildlife fence. We’ll see if that can keep Lily the Jumping Cow at home!

On our horizon – working the cows for shots, treatments, pregnancy checking, and branding (of the new cows) AND weaning the three calves. Charlie and Jason will finish preparing the pens this weekend and everyone in the family is ready to come help with the cows and calves at the Wheeler Lazy J Ranch. Maybe when it dries out, I can finish planting the garden!

Time To Garden

Cattle, Gardening,

20200328_115932It’s been almost a month since we moved the cows to the back pasture to give the front pasture time to rest, recuperate, and grow. And grow it did! With all of the rain, the grass was tall, green, and lush. The cows are enjoying grazing in the tall and tasty grass. They are also enjoying being closer to the house, so they can enjoy Kimmie’s Cow Candy at least once a day. Soon we’ll be ready to wean Joni, Stevie, and Annie. Those details to follow.

During this last week, I have found two bird nests on the back porch, a box turtle that Shadow pointed out to me, and a huge green frog hiding under a timber that I moved. I have worked on planting seeds for vegetables and transplanting seedlings that I started a month ago. Some of the plants are in the ground – cantaloupes, pumpkins, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, and watermelons. Others are in pots and large tubs that Charlie helped me move and fill with soil. I’m trying several varieties of lettuce this year, along with spinach, onions, carrots, and sweet peas. And last, but not least, sweet and jalapeno peppers. I’m hoping for lots of fresh salads and homemade salsa!

We’ve worked on the ‘front yard’ by adding walking stones for a walkway from the driveway to the front porch, added more roses to the front bed and rearranged the mums and calla lilies. The goal for this next week is to add stones to the front bed border. More grooming and “fixin’ up” coming soon!

Over the last couple of weeks, 20200328_120733we moved from hay pastures, to gardening, to cows and calves! Stay tuned to see what’s up next!

Grass Farmers

Cattle, Hay

Sometimes ranchers consider themselves grass farmers. It’s important to have pastures that grow the best grass for your herd. Charlie and I have attended several classes on which grasses have the highest nutritional value for cattle. There is definitely a science behind forage – ask the Texas A&M Agrilife professors! Our focus this spring is on seeding and fertilizing our pastures so we will have the right forage for our cows. It’s also important to have enough grass for the cows as well as enough for baling for hay for future use.

Charlie and Jason moved the cows and calves to the back pasture several weeks ago to let the grass in the front pasture grow. With all of the rain we’ve had, the grass is really growing and getting green! It won’t be long until the cows can be moved to the front pasture to begin grazing. I can’t wait because I can walk out and feed them cubes whenever I want! Right now, they are a side by side ride away!

Several more things will happen when the cows move to the front pasture: they will be pregnancy checked and vaccinated, the three calves will be weaned, and Lily Cow will be escorted home!

 

20200103_164001

New Year Surprises

Bull, Cattle, Cow-calf

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.

Curly 4One 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. Curly 1Charlie 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. Curly and CalvesTime 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!

A Season for Everything

Cattle, Family, ,

As the book of Ecclesiastes says: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” So many things happened here on the ranch after the last post back in May. There was “a time to be born and a time to die.” We discovered that two more of our original five heifers were bred and there were hopes that they would give Genesis (#1 calf) some siblings. Unfortunately, #60 (yes, that’s what we called her) had difficulty with her birth of a bull calf. He was simply too large for her to give birth to. We thought we could save her and we did our best doctoring her for a few days, but she decided the journey back to health was too long and hard. She was under a tree close to the house and we stayed with her for many hours. Even Shadow would go out and lay down with her. She simply closed her eyes and went to sleep. Then just a bit later, the third heifer went into labor and had issues. Charlie and Jason stayed with her until the early morning hours when she hid herself in one of the thickets. We found her the next morning and unfortunately she had lost her calf – another bull calf. She had an injured back leg but we were able to nurse her fully back to health. Melissa was here that weekend also to help out with #64. (Yes, that was her name.) It was a true team effort! We learned a lot about the bulls that you choose to breed your cows, breeding heifers, and breeding cows and have made plans to go a different direction when the next breeding cycle begins. We also learned the value of hiring an experienced and knowledgeable cowboy. Cowboy James taught us so many things about taking care of a sick cow with his know-how and his compassion.

Since the last post in May, the first five bred cows that Charlie bought have calved and the five calves that he bought have grown. They all have names because that makes it easy for me to keep track of them…and it’s fun! So much has happened since May, but I like to divide the posts by year so I can create a book from them. While this will be the ‘official’ last post for our second year on the ranch, there is much more to share. Stay tuned!

Here are some photos to enjoy so you’ll know the names of the calves too! (Click on each photo and it will pull up a larger image!)

Growing Pains

Cattle,

It was just a year ago that we purchased our first five heifers. Now we have one cow, one calf, and four heifers that we are waiting to determine if they are bred. Genesis_5.19We are fairly confident that we will have 2-3 more calves, but only time will tell. Our goal for our cow-calf operation was to have a herd that was on the same calving schedule. It makes it easier to manage a herd if the calves are born around the same time. With Genesis (calf #1) coming in January and no others showing up yet, we were trying to determine the best method to meet our calving schedule goal. After talking to some local cattle raisers and a broker, we decided that our next purchase would be bred cows that would give birth about the same time as those that we already have.

On Tuesday, Charlie went to a ranch that came highly recommended to look at bred Brangus cows. We thought we would try to find ten cows to grow our herd. 6 + 10 = 16 (with future calves) sounded like a good formula. Imagine my surprise when he sent me a text saying he had bought 5 bred cows and 5 cow-calf pairs. 10 cows + 5 calves = 15 new head!!

To prepare for these new cows, Charlie and Jason plus a couple of friends built a new pen with chute. The plan was for the cows to be delivered and unloaded into the pen where they could stay for a while until they settled down from the ride to our place.

What really happened was the driver didn’t want to drive into the pasture and back up to the pens. (He had several reasons why.) He decided to back partially into our gate, let out the five calves and then the ten cows. He assumed that the young calves would huddle around and wait for their mamas to come out of the trailer. Boy, was he wrong. Those calves, all being 30 days old and younger, went c-r-a-z-y! The two older ones ran out into the pasture but then headed back to the fence line. Shadow herded one of the calves to keep it in the fence. One managed to find its way out and was in the area by the fig trees where Raya was. 0430191138bIt was just standing there when Raya was trying to walk up to it. We scooted it back into the pasture. However, the oldest calf – a black Brangus steer – hit the driveway and headed out to the road. As I made it to the road, I saw not only the black calf but a tan one following it! Charlie and the driver took off after the two runaways in the side by side and found one in the neighbor’s pasture and the other one pasture down. So the phone calls began to call the neighbors to help round the calves up. The tan one found its way back to our pasture shortly – listening to the mama cows billowing. We were afraid that it was going to take more effort to get the steer back, but soon he was in the pasture next to ours. Our neighbor was able to rope it and was leading (pulling) it back to our pasture. Charlie, on the other side of the fence, was trying to guide the steer and did a great job because the steer looked at him, put his head down, and plowed over Charlie knocking him to the ground! Charlie wasn’t hurt but discovered how much power a 200 pound calf has! All 5 calves were safe and sound in our pasture.

When we checked on the new members of the herd after dinner, we could only find 3 calves! It was a warm day and it had been a strenuous day for them so we were hoping they were bedded down in the woods where we couldn’t see them. Several friends told us to be patient because even though calves might stray, they would always come home when their mamas called for them. And, they were right. Charlie went out for a headcount on Wednesday morning and saw all 10 cows and 5 calves, plus the original 6.

In the afternoon, we went out to check the herd. The new group was back by the pond figuring out the best shady spots.

After dinner we drove out to see where all of the cows and calves were. We found the ‘Original 5 + 1’ in the front of the side pasture and the new herd members in the back of the side pasture. DSCF7436We parked next to the Originals and watched them and talked to them. It was in no time that the new cows began walking toward us bringing the calves with them.DSCF7461 They came close enough for me to take some great shots. DSCF7484One of the Originals let out a loud ‘mooooo’ while facing the newbies. She has done this several times! She’s the one that I call “Sassy Pants!” It didn’t stop them from coming closer.

After a bit, one of the cows decided it was time to move on and began walking to the back of the pasture again. All of the new cows started following her and her calf except for one cow. The youngest calf had decided that it was time for a nap. Her mama stood there beside her and then started nuzzling the calf until she woke up, stood up, and then followed her mama to the others.

It’s hard to believe that our herd has grown by leaps and bounds in such a short period of time. 5 cows + 1 calf (Genesis) + 5 bred cows + 5 cows + 5 calves = 21 head.

Now the question is how many calves will be born and when!