Herding words – or cattle – in South Eastern Montana
This buck antelope met me near the edge of the hay field then led me as I made my first round raking this year. There is little monotony in haying because of Mother Nature’s bounty (especially on a wet year like this) and tracking the movements of birds and animals in the field – meadowlarks, pheasants, grouse, ducks, deer, antelope, rabbits…an unending display of protective parents and curious or frightened babies.
Is there anything more majestic than a Pheasant rooster strutting his stuff? It’s taken the whole of the Head Honcho’s life, but finally Pheasants and Grouse are plentiful. He monitors them nearly as closely as he does the cows, so don’t even ask – no hunting allowed!
One of the many joys of spring is noting when I see the first Meadowlark, Robin and Killdeer. And the Head Honcho and I report every sighting of Sage Hens since they are so rare any more. We had a Sage Hen visit the ground hay pile and checked for her every morning all winter, but she was too skittish and I didn’t get a single decent picture.
This spring we discovered she was a cock Hen when he started doing his mating dance for the Grouse. When I saw two Sage Hens a pasture away, I talked to our boy about the direction he needed to travel but I can only hope he was listening to my suggestion. Mother Nature has to take care of the rest.
This year a Red Headed Woodpecker comes to the yard every time it rains. That’s the only time we see the Robins, too. The young Curlew are testing their wings and two Bull Bats flew up in front of my horse the other day.
What brought all the birds to mind is that this morning I shared 50/50 with the birds on my first ripe strawberries – they got one and I got one! But ooh, so good, and since I found a ripe one I’ll be watching a little more closely so I beat the birds to them. All’s fair in strawberry wars and I intend to win the early bird battle.
Mother Nature gave us this intimidating view last night before dropping 0.6″ of rain – but no hail! Then this morning a thick fog rolled over this hillside so it feels like we’re on a mountaintop in the middle of a cloud. We don’t get many fogs like this!
During the rain, the Head Honcho worried about having so much hay down getting wet. But like all Montana ranchers, he was thrilled with the moisture!
Next year’s calf crop is in the making as we got the heifers AIed and are putting bulls out with the older cows – breeding season feels as much like a new beginning as calving.
Since calving, we’ve been counting bulls once or twice a day to be sure they haven’t jumped the gun (and the fences). By tomorrow we’ll be worrying about whether or not they stayed where we put them.
We trailed some bulls out and hauled others – some were easy to handle, and some not so much. As the Head Honcho and I age, the hard runs and sharp turns our horses make turning cattle are tougher to handle – no less satisfying, just more challenging to stay in position (OK, I could replace “in position” with “in the saddle” but I didn’t want to be quite that honest!).
Cow #236 is perpetually lame. In fact we call her Spraddle Legs as she walks with a distinctive rear end swing. All winter she was the last one to get to the feed ground, but went the furthest from the feed ground to graze. Through calving, we made countless trips to check on “that cow that didn’t come in” and it was usually #236 making her slow way in for hay.
The Head Honcho was checking cows the other day, looked down toward the road and saw four cow legs flailing in the air. A cow was doing the backstroke in Peabody’s Pond, a shallow spring fed bend in the creek named after our old dog that used to swim there.
#236 was on her back, head under water, but with enough strength to pull her head up and blow to clear the water out of her nose. Not as spry as he once was, the Head Honcho says he thought he was going to end up in the pond under the cow as he attempted a rescue.
Luckily there was an old rope in the bed of the Ranger, so he roped one back leg, tied it to the Ranger. He didn’t have enough power to pull her over the bank, but he pulled her along the bank about 30 feet until her hind end bumped into a hummock and he couldn’t pull her any further. By then, she had rolled upright so he untied the rope and went for help.
Both sons came to the rescue with tractor and chain. They pulled the old girl out of the pond and well away from the bank then removed the rope and chain. We checked on her later that night and she was venturing too close to the bank. She was more wobbly than normal, one hind leg barely worked and her ears hung to her knees.
We tried to move her away from the bank but she kept veering toward the creek. Finally the Head Honcho said, “Let her go. There’s only so much we can do for them.” And as we drove off, we were discussing whether or not she’d survive the night.
But she did!
The next day, once again she was the last one to the feed ground, but when she arrived she created chaos. The other cows had no idea what that mud covered thing was so were pushing her feeble body around, knocking her this way and that. So we (I say we but I was the only one afoot!) walked her about 1/2 mile to the lot near the house and put her in with a few two year old heifers that hadn’t calved yet. They were curious, but less aggressive than the old cows.
We thought she would lose her calf from the ordeal, but a few nights later, she gave birth to a set of twins. The Head Honcho said, “That poor old soul – as if she didn’t have enough problems!”
She’s raising one, though even that has been a bit of a struggle. But with each spring rain she looks more like a cow. Even without the weight of twins her spraddle legged gait hasn’t improved, but the one legged pull through the mud doesn’t seem to have done any permanent damage. One ear still hangs, but now only to her chin.
The photo looks innocent enough, but watch the video. It catches two year old heifer #712 in the act of stealing milk from the back as the calf sucks from the side. Turned out she was making a habit of it so we separated her from the heifers that had calved.
She now has her own baby but we’ll be watching to make sure that her maternal instincts are stronger than her criminal ones. If not, she’ll run with the old cows who won’t put up with such thievery.
Even the Head Honcho said this isn’t something he’s seen in a cow before – in a yearling, occasionally, but not in anything older.
I’m a proud momma today as my one and only two year old heifer successfully calved, loved her baby just the right amount, and had the good sense to calve on our warmest day for weeks! The Head Honcho figured I’d go pester the poor cow and interfere with their initial bonding, but I kept my distance and just took a few pictures, then left them to get on with getting that critical first meal. They are spending her first night in a shed – just trying to keep those tender ears from freezing.
The girls are always glad to see us on these frigid mornings. We enjoy the view of cows on feed, the nearer bunch in a bend of Pumpkin Creek.
The first batch of sourdough biscuits from new starter – with a choice of honey or chokecherry jelly – now that’s living! The Head Honcho said these were the best I’ve ever made!!!! It will be something special if he ever says they’re the best he’s ever eaten.
Somehow, though, I don’t think they fit into the plans for our waistbands to fit more loosely. Good thing I started the day with sit-ups, V-sits and crunches, but I’d better add an evening exercise program, too.
Yesterday I started a batch of sourdough and just look at that yeast working! Now we wait four or five days for it to “sour”. I’ve used sourdough before – sometimes successfully. But with my first effort, the Head Honcho finally begged me to throw it out!
My mom made the best sourdough biscuits ever, so I figured I should be able to. Obviously, it’s not hereditary. It has taken me a few batches of sourdough to even approach hers, but I’m not giving up (I did inherit that trait from her!).
Then today, I spent about 6 hours making a batch, about 1/2 pound, of cheese curds. It was silly of me to use 1 gallon of milk – should have used 2 gallons. No sense going to all that effort for such a small batch. Live and learn!
I froze Bugaboo’s milk last spring during calving season when I didn’t have time to make cheese. Fresh milk produces 1 pound of cheese per gallon of milk, but I got about half that today. But that’s all right. It was sure good to have an indoor project on this bitter cold day!
If only I’d started the sourdough a week ago, we could have fresh bread and cheese curds for supper. Then the Head Honcho would have something to complain about!!!
Sandy Snider Stahl 