Last Sunday we spent the morning at a friend's ranch watching the calf branding. The babies were separated from their moms, and then roped one at a time.
The calves are brought over to a group of people ready to brand, vaccinate and castrate the males. I was a bit apprehensive at first, quite honestly. I hate to see suffering. But the calves didn't seem to mind too much (some barely made a peep), and they were all sitting around chewing their cud shortly thereafter. Cud chewing is a sign of a healthy, comfortable animal.
Jordan used to help with the branding when he was younger, but this was Annabel's first time. It takes a lot of strength to hold the calves down so that they don't injure themselves, and Annabel was a trooper.
Thane was content to watch and learn. He's spending lots of time helping Great Grampa on the ranch, and he'll be ready to jump in next year.
Afterward we ate a huge picnic lunch hosted by these lovely ladies. There were almost 50 people (including a dozen or more small children) at the event, and we were able to process over 180 calves in a little over 3 hours. It was a multi-generational event, and it was incredibly heartwarming to see and feel the sense of community here. This is true farm country, where neighbors help neighbors at the drop of a hat. You can really get a sense of the value of small farming. The care for the animals and each other was very evident. We'll take that over a feed lot any day!
No comments:
Post a Comment