Start weaning calves

 I bought from my brother an older but more powerful pickup to better tow my stock trailer with cattle inside.  I had a repair made on the pickup and also added wiring and a plug connection to the pickup for towing the stock trailer.  They were done today.  So now I can use this pickup to tow my stock trailer.  I tested it out and the wiring and connection all work fine between the pickup and trailer.

I plan on hauling calves to the livestock auction next Thursday as it is getting late in the year and the weather is starting to change for the worst. Snow is predicted for this weekend. So today I started to wean the calves from their mothers.  Well, all but the three smallest calves.  I have 14 calves.  My trailer won't hold all of them at one time.  Last year I was able to haul only 8 calves as they were heavier than usual.  Again this year I have at least 5 heavier calves.  So maybe 8, or 9 or 10, calves will fit in the trailer if I am lucky.

While Donna is still recovering from her surgery on her big toe, and therefore doesn't walk too much, she still came and stood at a gate and opened and closed it for me as I herded cattle.  I had let the cattle into the main corral.  Then I either herded cows back out of the corral, or if easier at the time a calf or two into the south corral.  It went better than Donna or I expected and we quickly got all the cows out of the corral, and 11 calves into the south corral.  Toby remained in the main corral as he preferred to eat the grass on the east side of the corral.

Off and on the rest of the afternoon I checked on Toby in case he wanted out of the corral to join the cows.  He didn't.  When not eating he would lay in the loafing shed.

After the sun set and it got dark I again checked.  I even stood at the corral gate.  But the cows who were standing outside the corral and mooing at their calves saw me and wanted in the corral.  Toby had walked closer to the gate but he preferred to just stand there and watch the cows outside the corral.  Eventually I gave up.  He can stay in the corral overnight.  With the cows wanting into the corral I couldn't leave the gate and herd Toby out of the gate.

Mama has one of the three smaller calves.  When we started getting the calves to go in the corral Mama - being a smart cow - immediately knew what was going on and came over to protect her calf before I could close the gate.  Fortunately I was able to herd Mama's calf as the first one out of the corral to go join his mother.

Once out of the corral, as time went on, the cows made more of a fuss than the calves did.  By dark a few calves started mooing.

Looking at the 11 calves together in the south corral it is obvious not all will fit in the stock trailer.  Of the 11 calves the smaller ones are females.  I would prefer not to keep females until next Spring in case they come into heat early. Early pregnancy is not good.  And Toby is a large size.  My large cows are able to handle his weight, but not a small calf.

Cattle prices seem to be trending down this Fall.  Doesn't look like a good year to make money.

So for now I am not sure what will happen next Thursday.

A few of the calves in the south corral.