Calves and Mama to the auction

This morning Donna and I took five calves and Mama the cow to the livestock auction in Missoula, MT.  I had prepared Wednesday afternoon.  I got Mama and the five calves into the loading corral, and I parked the pickup and stock trailer at the loading corral gate.

This morning I woke up a minute before my alarm clock would go off at 6 am.  After a bit I went out and got Mama and the calves into the loading corral runway.  I would have had them all loaded into the stock trailer by the time Donna arrived but one calf stopped halfway down the loading corral runway and didn't want to move any more.  I had my sorting stick, but the other calves were in the way, and I couldn't reach this stubborn calf to encourage him to move on.  I was getting annoyed.  I had the barn light on and also had a small flashlight to help me see in the dark.  Whenever I put the end of the flashlight in my mouth to hold it, the flashlight would start blinking on and off.  I had to turn of the flashlight and then turn it back on to reset the light to be a steady light.  Once Donna arrived she stood outside the loading corral runway fence and helped move the calves along towards the trailer.

We were on the road by 6:48 am.  Things went smooth and we were at the auction a quarter after noon.  Usually when I unload the cattle an auction employee would stand on one side of the trailer and I would stand on the other, one of us holding the trailer door open.  That way the cattle wouldn't turn around and trying to run out of the corral by running on the side of the trailer.  This time the employee stood on the other side of the fence and not in a spot where he could reach the trailer door after I swung it open.  The door, after I swung it open, would then swing back to close.  Mama and a few calves got out of the trailer before the door started to close.  I couldn't stand on both sides of the trailer, I swung the door back open and it then would start to close again.  I tried getting the rest of the calves out before the door closed.  I tried watching that smart Mama wouldn't notice that she could run on the side of the trailer to make her escape.  Donna said the guy on the other side of the fence, when he saw Mama, looked concerned and tried to move where Mama couldn't reach him. Donna also didn't come back to hold the trailer door open as she was afraid Mama would come after her if Mama saw her.  Finally Mama and four calves went through the gate.  One calf left who didn't want to get out of the stock trailer.  Number eleven.  The calf I always had trouble herding as he preferred to rub against me and be my friend.  Finally I got him out of the stock trailer and over to Mama and the other calves.

The drive home went smooth and we were back to Kalispell by noon.   Hopefully cattle prices remain at a good level and I get good prices for them.  I'm not expecting much for Mama as her bone structure and breed means her amount of meat is less than a typical cow.  So we'll see.

Earlier this week Donna got a puppy for a pet.  A toy mini Aussie dog.  He is so small and is very cute. Donna brought him along with us.  He behaved well and mostly slept.  On Donna's lap, or next to Donna, or next to me on my coat.

A photo of Rusty, Donna's dog.   So no typical photos of the mountains or the lake this time.

Mama and her calf.  Mama has a brand.  Her bill of sale listing the brand shows I bought Mama on April 26, 2012.  So I had Mama almost 10 1/2 years.  She had her first calf that year so that would make Mama around 11 years old.  Yesterday I was thinking about missing Mama and I started to think about keeping her until she dies.  But since she was already in the corral and ready to go, I decided to let her go.

Eleven