I just spent the nicest day
Zee and I just spent the nicest day at Lily, Katy, and Mike’s calf branding; our daughter and son-in-law. Calf brandings are a necessary and fun part of the cattle business. The necessary part is the hot iron brand that is put on each calf to show ownership. It's kind of like when you buy a car you get a “pink slip” that shows proof of ownership but when the calf is weaned from its mother without a brand whoever has the calf in its possession owns it. At the same time the calf is being branded the calf is given a vaccine to protect against 8 different Clostridium bacteria and the bull calves are castrated. The time that the calf is on the ground being worked is one to one and a half minutes then the calf is put back with its mother. The castration is necessary because as bull calves reach sexual maturity remember half of your calf crop would be fighting over who would be “King of the mountain” with all its bellowing and pawing the dirt. A fair number would be walking with a limp or sometimes a broken leg plus they are tough to handle, but as a steer, a neutered male, they are much easier to work with.
A few of my grandchildren and great grandchildren that came to help.
(Left to Right) Kathryn, Jack, Sage, Hank, Sammy, Brinan, and Kayla
I hope my explanation as to why it’s necessary to brand calves suffices. Now for the fun part. In order to brand and vaccinate the calves there are two ways to restrain a calf. One is to use a mechanism called a calf table and if you need somebody to help, you're going to have to pay that somebody a day's wages, but if you choose to catch them from a horse using a rope you’ll get all the help you need for the cost of a BBQ when the work's all done. It’s also a time to renew old friendships and for future cowboys and cowgirls to participate in a necessary and fun day.
My trusty steed, The Dude, which we purchased a few years back from the Bourdet family, a local ranching family.
I’ve been blessed with pretty good health my whole life, so at 87 years I’m still able to climb up on the edge of a watering trough the same height as my stirrup, and with a giant grunt, I’m on the gentlest horse on the ranch, The Dude. Today I was still able to catch my share of calves, some roped around the neck and some by the heels. Some will say “Jack you have nothing to prove,” that is true, but I do it because it’s something I have enjoyed my whole ranching life and I was also trying by example to show my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren that I have to work and train at being older, as they say “to grow old gracefully” and I’ll add useful and worthwhile. I constantly have to work at it, but it’s fun work.
My granddaughter Sammy and I holding our calf “at the fire.”
Calves remain in this position for less than 90 seconds where they are vaccinated, castrated, and branded by a crew of cowboys and cowgirls.
The context that I wish to put forth, with no malice intended, I think that too many of our senior citizens, sell themselves short when they spend many days at a time just watching the T.V. Somebody years ago called it “a vast wasteland” he’s got my vote so why not read a book once in a while, it can be a nice change. For me, there are way too many senior care facilities that offer to care for all of one's physical needs. That’s fine, but what’s missing is family and young people. So to all of my weathered and wiser souls that are still of good spirit let’s all take a walk tomorrow and try something new and different.
See Ya
Jack
Researchers at OSU recently did a study on stress levels in calves after branding them. They found that stress levels are lowest when calves are roped rather than ran through a chute and the stress comes from a brief separation from their mother rather than the act of branding. They say, “We know that livestock have evolved to better tolerate pain than humans in order to escape predators, even after being bitten, cut, or scratched.” Branding is an effective way to mark ownership and maintain healthy cattle as well as keep alive the rich history and culture of the cattle ranching way of life