Those Poor Little Cows!

 On Saturday, Dave and Char came out to help Jared separate the calves from their moms!  They had wanted to do it the Saturday before but the weather turned quite cold and Jared was worried about the fence, so they waited one more week and Jared was able to tweak the fence to perfection!  It was another busy week for him though!  Monday I came home from the hospital and he stayed in that night to help me get the kids to bed; Tuesday he had Young Men's; Wednesday he drove up to Red Deer after work for a transmission course he was registered for on Thursday; Thursday night when he got home from Red Deer he fed cows and took a look at the fence to see what exactly he had to do to make it better for Saturday, he got the tractor stuck feeding, was able to pull it out with the Jeep and finally came in at 12:30am!  Friday night after he got home from work and had some supper he went out to hook up the electricity to one of the wires and also strung the fifth wire around half of the corrals.  Again he came in after midnight!  It was all worth it I guess because sorting the calves from the cows went very smoothly!  They had a great system going, Jared and Char would round up a small group of cows and calves and push them into the alley, Char would go back to her post and Jared would calmly take one or two animals at a time, Dave manned the gate to either let the cows "by", or the calves "in"!  The only problem they had was when two cows decided they didn't want to follow the rules and they climbed over the fence where the snow had drifted, three calves followed them.  The four of us were able to get them back into the field with little difficultly, however, Char did disappear to her thigh in a snow drift while Jared was manning the gate and Dave was standing his ground so the cows wouldn't go by him!  They finished the separating around 2:30pm and then they sprayed the cows and the calves with Ivomec, to treat for ringworm.  They were also able to finish stringing the fifth wire the rest of the way around the corrals and through the alley.  It was a busy day, one I wish I was able to help with more than I did.  I really like working cows and I am thankful that there will be plenty of opportunity for me to help.  I did have a good time in the house with all the kids, Cora, Leah, Blake, Emry, Calum and Armin!  Cora was put in charge of her sister and brother and did a great job taking care of all the kids when she needed to.  Calum helped me make cheesecake for our dessert on Sunday, he mostly licked the mixing bowls and utensils when I was finished, but he was cute when I told him how thankful I was for his help!

The two cows and three calves that jumped the fence cooperated nicely the next day, well except one, she is out in the field and Jared will get her tonight, he'll feed her alone, spray her and then let the rest of the cows out of the corrals back into the field!  I have a feeling this cow will be sold sooner than later!  I was told by Char that Jared was so polite to all the cows when they cooperated, he would thank them as they went by him, and when I was out there to see how it was going he would gently call them "momma"!  I really admire the way he treats animals, and it seems to pay off, because with the barbed wire set up that they have for the cows there could have been a lot more fence jumping or worse, cows going through the fence and destroying the wires.  The noise of the crying calves isn't even that bad, though it is easy to feel sorry for them when you hear the odd chorus of mooing.

It turned out great and I think fun was had by all!  A real adventure is at hand and I know working together will be a blessing for all of us!