Trench, day 2

Tuesday I cleaned up the trenches I made on Monday and made sure the depth was 18 inches.  In the corral was the real work.  Buddy had pushed most of the dirt back into the trench.

First I had to dig and 'move' the trench to be right next to the barn.  Daisy of course had to inspect the new trench.  Then she decided to lay where I was digging so I had to move to the other end of the trench.

The cattle of course also decided they had to be with me.  Even the heifers came and laid next to the gate.  That ensured Buddy was staying here.  Before they all laid down they were milling about.  Because Buddy wants a larger personal space when cows or heifers are around I had to really keep an eye on him and make sure I didn't intrude into his personal space.

Once the heifers left to go eat out n the NE pasture Buddy and the steer got up and wandered around - mostly around where I was trying to work.

The steer decided to move the board from the corner to where it is here in this photo.

Once the trench was cleared of dirt I placed boards and a few pallets over the top to (hopefully!) keep the trench from being filled in by tomorrow morning, and to prevent the cattle from stepping in the trench and possible hurting their leg.

Here is a 2 minute 30 second video of the cattle playing with the board: https://youtu.be/dKxyP5WKgzY


Here is a better view of how the horn has healed on the steer.

Once the trenches were cleared Daisy and I walked out to the pasture and the river.  I wanted to see how the cattle had eaten grass in the south pasture.  The turtle was on the river bank near the same place when Daisy and I walked by.  We both said "Hello" to  the turtle.  The turtle stayed on the river bank side of the new fence which is smart as the cattle can't reach it.

At another spot Daisy laid and watched the swallows swirling around over the river.  A group were flying around and around for two reasons:

1. Daisy was laying on top of a high vertical riverbank and the swallows made their nests in the side of the riverbank.
2. They were eating bugs.

Daisy was interested for two reasons:

1. She had never seen swallows before, and their flying in loops in front of her was interesting.
2. She mainly had to look out at them and not up.

I had seen a beaver swimming across the river at this spot the other day.  Not tonight.

Trenching

I am upgrading the electric line to the barn to handle 220 volts.  Because the electric lines to the well and all the out buildings are very old (cloth wrapped wire) and a hassle being overhead lines (I worry about a tree branch taking out the electric lines to the well in the Winter), I am doing an upgrade to new wire and placing the wire underground in conduits.

First step (after getting an estimate and selecting an electrician) was to call Udig.  They wouldn't guarantee the locator would call prior to coming and their estimate for them coming was for Wednesday or Thursday last week.  They said I had to mark the location of where I was digging.  I laid ropes down.

Fortunately I was here when the locator arrived last Wednesday.  Marking the location was pointless as my digging locations were all 'beyond the meters'.  The locator studied the maps and then marked where the gas and telephone lines came to the house.  Udig doesn't check for any electric or water lines that an individual may have buried 'past the meter.'  Udig was useless.

Udig's markings

 
Sunday I hand dug in a few places.  I found the electric line that goes to my well (along with a few tree roots).

I found the drain field pipe from my grey water septic system.  I was amazed to find the pipe on my first attempt to dig straight down when I only had a general idea of where the pipe was from the time I opened up the septic tank ten or so years ago.

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I had an electric wire buried that left the garage building and went who knows where?  I had the time and had no problems digging so I dug between the garage and tool shed, and then between the garage and where the line will go to attach to the trench to the barn.  The electrician preferred the trench to be here rather than the shortest way between the house and garage (due to concerns about the willow tree roots).

I didn't find the wire.  After I was done digging the electrician found where the wire came into the tool shed.  A board in front of the tool shed hid and protected the wire.  The wire was for 220 volts as the overhead wire was only 110 volts.  The wire's outlet was funky looking and the electrician thought it may have been used for a welder in the past.

Hand digging out from the house.

All the other areas I had dug by hand.

Yesterday (Monday) I rented a trencher to finish the digging.  I know my uncles must be shaking their heads as they know I like digging with a shovel by hand.  But I wanted to get done sooner than later and the trench would cross my driveway which is very hard packed gravel.

From pickup time to return time I had the trencher a little less than four hours.  A half hour plus of that time was the electrician and his worker checking where I had/was trenching and for the electrician to update his helper (who would actually do the work as the electrician was going on vacation in a few days) as to what had to be done.

Also a time sponge was the fact the trencher would not quite drive up the small tilt trailer for transport.  The tires wouldn't quite get a grip on the smooth wood and I couldn't quite get the trencher over the small extra 'bump' board on the middle of the trailer.  Because one had to hold their handle on a button at all times for the machine to run I couldn't quite push/pull the trencher to help it.  I called and asked Donna to come hold the button but she elected to give the trencher an little push while I handled the button and controls.  That extra push did the trick.


The trencher was a pain to operate.  All levers has to be in a 'neutral' position before the engine would start.  The forward/backward lever was tricky as it had to be in a certain spot which could be hard to find.  If the button was not pressed down the engine would die.
 
Levers (from left to right):

1. Orange: speed
2. Blue: some sort of lock which I left alone.
3. Green: raises and lowers the bar with the chain
4. Orange with button: forward and backward.  It also controlled the wheels for turning.  This was annoying as sometimes the wheels swiveled fast and other times slow.  And times I wanted the wheels to turn they wouldn't and other times when I didn't want them to turn, they did.  In the end I hand dug straighter lines than by using the machine.
5. Next Orange: engages the hydraulics.
6. Yellow: starts and stops the trenching chain.

I did inside the corral first.  After I finished trenching and started to drive out of the corral Buddy came over. I easily made it through the gate as he went wild rubbing his face and neck in the fresh dirt.  Then with a dirty face he stood up and bellowed for the cows.  Half the dirt has been pushed back in the trench by now and the rest spread about.  Later I placed boards over the trench so he and the steer do not accidentally step in the trench and twist their leg.

The trenches. Tuesday I will clean them up, fix the connections between various trenches, and fix the corral trench.  Our high Monday was a new record at 94 degrees F and while the trencher was faster, wrestling the machine was still work.

Wednesday the electrician will bring the conduit and wire so I can backfill the trenches, then they will hook up the various buildings during slack time on their current projects they are working on.

Here is a 25 second video of the trencher operating:  https://youtu.be/_DYIi2H-5fQ

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Horned steer - done

The last horn is off the steer.  Monday, June 1, when spraying the cows and giving the shots to the calves Donna and I noticed the steer's horn was tilted up.  A closer look revealed that the horn was close to coming off.  While the horn looked very loose and that it would fall off anytime now, once we were done with the cows and calves I decided to run the steer into the head gate and pull the horn off.  The steer looked like he might have a slight headache and the sooner the horn was off the sooner the healing would begin.

Herding the steer was the hard part.  Once he realized our attentions were on him he ran to stand right next to Buddy.  Getting the steer away from Buddy without riling Buddy up took some caution.  Once we got the steer out of the south part of the corral and into the main corral - and the gate shut before Buddy could join us - the steer ran all over but into the loading corral.

Once I got the steer into the loading corral he quickly ran into the head gate hard enough to trigger it and lock it.  And I thought this part would be the hard part.

Once the steer was in the head gate I easily pulled the loose horn off.  The 'stump' was red with blood but no blood flowed.  It appeared a small amount of blood had run when he first knocked the horn loose.  Definitely less blood with this horn than the first horn.

I sprayed some gentile iodine on the horn's stub as an anti-bacterial agent.  Then I released the steer and let him back in the part of the corral with Buddy.

The horns were banded back on April 3.  http://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2015/04/tagging-and-banding.html
The first horn came off April 28.  http://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2015/04/dehorning-one-horn-off.html

I would use bands again to de-horn cattle.  I would put the bands on sooner if I could, to speed up the process.

The first horn's stub is healing nicely.

Prepping the cattle

Before I let the cattle out of the corral to the pasture I had to first prep them. I did so on Monday morning.  For the cows and yearling heifers I sprayed their backs with Ivermectin to control worms and other parasites. Donna helped me as I separated the cows and heifers from the calves in the loading corral.  We ran the cattle through the loading ramp where they had to stand still so I could spray them.  We were done with the spraying in a half hour.

Now that the cows and heifers were done, we left them in the corral as we started to work on the calves.  Or tried to.   The cows were in a cranky mood.  Mama and the red cow started fighting.  Really fighting. Both were going around and around in circles trying to reach each other's udder.  I tried to break them up by whacking each of them with my sorting stick but they ignored me and kept fighting.  Usually a couple whacks and they break off.   Donna went and closed the yard gate to the road and we then let the cattle out into the yard to eat grass.  Once Mama and the red cow saw everyone leave for the grass they finally quit fighting and ran to eat grass too.
 
The next thing to do was to give the calves each an Ultrabac 8-way shot.  See here for a description of what it guards against.  It was only $7 for 10 doses.  And it gave me a reason to try out my new calf table.

How do you like that?  One calf is already in the calf table.

That didn't last as the calf backed out once we entered the corral.  I ended up placing corral panels to divide the loading corral. We didn't want calves who had shots to mix with calves who did not have shots yet.  It would have gotten too confusing remembering who got what.  I also placed two panels on each side of the table's entrance to act as a chute to guide the calves to the table.

Donna and I chased a calf into the two gates and then Donna followed/pushed the calf to the table.  Usually the calf would balk at entering the table and Donna would push it in.  Once the calf was in I pulled on the lever to squeeze the side with the bars against metal side thereby pinning the calf.  Donna got kicked a few times by a calf.

I had the head gate at the end of the calf table but only one or two calves put their head into the gate.  Usually they tried to slip out the side through the bars as seen below.  So later I would quickly squeeze the side before the calf could try to put its head through the bars.

Once the calf was held tight I had time to fill the syringe, find a loose bit of skin to pinch together (usually on the side of the neck), and then give the shot under the skin.  Once we were done I opened the head gate wide and release the squeezed sides.  The calf then would invariably try to back up instead of moving forward.  Donna would block the calf and we would give a push to get the calf to think of moving forward, which it then would do.

As we worked the mother cows would occasionally come into the corral and bellow at us in response to their calves mooing. So after a few calves had shots I would release them out of the loading corral to join their mothers.  As time went on we had less visits from mother cows - and less bellowing.

After administering the first shot I accidentally pricked my hand with the empty needle. I was more careful after that, and also got the hang of how to fill the syringe and to give the shots.

The calf table worked great and was well worth the hundred dollars I paid for it.


Yesterday I let the cows and their calves into the middle pasture. Today I let the yearling heifers into the NE pasture.  I kept the heifers an extra day as I had to place some wire around the new trees I had planted in the NE pasture.  It rained most of yesterday so I didn't get the trees protected until today.

Even though they had plenty of hay for themselves, the heifers were not happy at being kept in the corral away from the cows and calves.  Plenty of mooing.  They were happier once I let them into the pasture.  For a while.  Once their bellies were full and when they were at the west side of the pasture and could see the cows off in the middle pasture, their mooing began again for a while.

Buddy is not happy.  First the cows and calves left for the middle pasture.  Now the heifers left for the NE pasture.  Lots of mooing by Buddy today.  Off towards the middle pasture, then off towards the NE pasture.  He wants his girls nearby.

Why did I separate the cows and yearlings?  When I release Buddy to be with the cattle, I want him to get the cows pregnant first.  Then he can be with the yearlings.  This will give the yearlings two to three more weeks to grow and age before getting pregnant.  And I would prefer to have them calve last as they may need assistance and I would prefer to do that at the end of the calving cycle and not at the beginning or when other cows are giving birth.  I am fine with having the yearlings have May calves while the cows have April calves.

Released into the NE pasture.

In the yard and a jailbreak

Only one large hay bale left for the cows and one large bale left for the bull and steer.  Last Thursday it was time to drag the last bale in for the cows.

To make this last bale last longer than two and a half days I let the cattle into the yard to eat the grass down.  I did it in stages.  I set my corral panels in the hayfield over the septic system drain field where the grass was the highest.  If I didn't have the cattle eat this grass now it would be tall and stemy and most will go to waste as it will fall down and not get up when the cattle step on it later this year.

I wired up four unused metal gates to block the yard at the tool shed.

I locked the cattle back into the corral overnight to prevent any mischief.

First time out into the yard

Buddy kept an eye on the cows.

I did have one calf who somehow got outside the corral panels the second day the cattle were in this section.

The calf couldn't remember how to cross back through the panels.  I went out there and herded him into the corral where Buddy and the steer were and then through that part of the corral into the calf's part of the corral where it could run out and join its mother.  It got right to drinking her milk.

Once the cattle ate this section down, I moved the panels to the front of the house.   This area has the tallest grass in the yard and I found in the past that the livestock liked this grass the least and it would be the last to be eaten down as they would go over and over the rest of the yard.  By limiting this section it forced the cattle to concentrate on this area.  I let the cattle stay in the yard overnight as I knew on Sunday they would be in the corral all day while I went hiking.  I was a little nervous about leaving the cattle out overnight but the cattle behaved.

Taking a break in the driveway.

Oreo

Mama and her calf

Taking a break in the shade.

Monday afternoon I opened the entire yard to the cattle.  At 7 pm it began to rain and I quit working on a pasture fence.  The cattle had most of the yard eaten down and were working on finishing it off.  Beulah was trying to eat the caragana shrubs through the wire fencing so I added some chicken wire to stop that.  A little later she and another large cow were reaching for box elder tree leaves and the fence was making cracking noises.  I needed to trim the tree anyway so I did which eliminated their ability to reach the tree.

All seemed well now so I decided to take a shower before putting them back into the corral and giving them a bale of hay.

Big mistake.  After I finished my shower I saw three or four cows and heifers in the hayfield and a line of more cows waiting to cross the broken fence.

By the time I got my shoes on and outside eight cows and heifers were in the hayfield furiously eating the grass and alfalfa.  The remaining five cows and heifers and all ten calves were in the yard and I cut them off from the broken fence.  I herded them into the corral in a hurry and closed the corral gate.

Now to get the eight back into the yard.  I opened the gate to the yard and tried to herd them to it.  But both the red cow and Mama instead would move away from the gate and further out into the field.   Over and over I tried to herd the cattle to the gate but each times they would veer away from it.  Mama and the red cow did not want to be herded and a few times bluff charged me and I had to 'wap' them on the forehead with my sorting stick. When the cattle ran along the corral fence Buddy got worked up and ran along the fence from the inside.

I was getting nowhere after 20 minutes and it was starting to get dark.  I needed a second person to cut the cattle off from veering away from the gate.  I called Donna and asked if she wanted to herd cattle in the rain and dark.  She did.

While waiting for her I continued trying to herd the cattle.  I got three cattle into the yard.  But when I opened the corral gate to get the cows into the corral they balked and in the confusion all the cattle in the corral ran back out into the yard.  One cow remembered where the broken fence was and ran to it.  Even though the cow was huge, and I had propped up the broken boards, she jumped over the broken fence.

I had got all but one of the rest of the recent escapees back into the corral by the time Donna arrived.  Donna was by the corral gate as I went to herd the one cow back into the corral.  Before I could do so all the other cattle and calves ran past Donna back into the yard.  It was getting dark now and harder to see the cattle.

Again I had to go to the far end of the yard and herd everyone back into the corral.  Once we got them into the corral we went around and around trying to get the cattle into the loading corral.  The cattle did not want to go there as they wanted out to join the other cattle in the hayfield.  Around and around and we finally got half of the cattle into the loading corral and half into the loading corral ramp section.

*whew*  Now to the main event: the cattle in the hayfield.  Also keep in mind the cattle in the loading corral were all worked up, unhappy they were not with the cattle in the hayfield, and were mooing and bellowing at the top of their lungs.

The cattle in the hayfield were still furiously eating and did not want to go into the corral.  Even with Donna's help they would make an end run around us back into the field.  Each time they would go further out.  They wanted to stick near the corral fence - but in the hayfield - as their calves were screaming their lungs out for their mothers.  When two cows went to the corral gate to check on their calves Donna and I herded them into the corral, then loading corral.

Of the remaining five cattle I told Donna to forget about the three furthest out and help me with the to closest to the gate.  I got the two into the corral and right away Donna had got the remaining three back into the yard and I opened the gate and got them into the corral.

I had to get a flashlight and count the cattle to make sure all the cattle were into the coral.  After several attempts of counting I finally counted everyone present.  An hour later and soaking wet from the rain and sweat.  So much for taking a shower.

I briefly thought of not giving them a bale of hay but changed my mind and gave them hay.  Not that needed the hay after all that grass; there was some hay left in the feeder in the morning.


Tuesday morning was the time for the cows and calves (but not the heifers) to go out to the middle pasture.  Donna came to help me separate the heifers from the cows and calves and to herd the cows and calves to the middle pasture.

What difference a day makes.  Three heifers and one cow ran into the loading corral and the cow quickly ran out.  That was easy.

I opened the gate to the pasture and the cattle all moved left and followed the fence to the middle pasture gate and then went through it.  Not one tried to move right and go further into the north pasture.  That's a first.  All the herding was quickly over without a fuss.  Donna said, "that wasn't an adventure".   Well.. after last night's adventure I felt I earned a drama free herding of cattle.


I had put wire around bushes and plants I did not want the cattle to eat or molest.  With varying results.  Most things were saved.  But if I didn't add a steel post to reinforce the wire the cattle would push and move the wire.

Even though the cattle didn't like the taste of this bush that didn't stop them from moving the wire.

Now to let the fertilizer dry before raking it loose and them mowing the yard to even the grass clumps the cattle left.

Here is a  40 second video of the calves running in the yard:  https://youtu.be/MFTl8t9VKxY

Here is a 1 minute 13 second video of the cattle entering the yard for the second section: https://youtu.be/BeeQf6YDuoM

Here is a 32 second video of Buddy watching:  https://youtu.be/uK_aM-ad0Fc

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Two steers sold

We haven't have rain or snow for a long time. It is getting dry and the grass is shorter than normal for this time of year.  I'm concerned about there being enough grass for the cattle.  I told the people with the horses I couldn't pasture them this year.  Earlier I told Dan I could only take his two cows.  So I am sticking with that.  He had eight other yearlings but I don't have room for them this year.  So he called Evan to haul them to the livestock auction in Missoula for the auction on Thursday (today).

I decided to sell two of my steers now instead of waiting until Fall.  I would have liked to have kept them till Fall but I don't trust I will have enough grass.  The other steer still has his one horn so I am keeping him until that horn falls off.

The long hair must be from Buddy's tail.

Since Evan was hauling Dan's cattle to the auction on Wednesday, along with another person's bull, I shipped my two steers with Evan.

I had to haul the steers to Dan's corral.  I wasn't planning on shipping steers so the bale of hay was in the way in the corral.  It would be hard to maneuver Evan's long trailer around it.  And Evan was short of time anyway as he had to go to Libby to get the bull.

One steer was with the cows, the other steer with the bulls.  Separating them may take time.  Me maneuvering my stock trailer around the hay bale would take time.  Donna offered to help me sort and load the steers.

We started shortly before 9 am Wednesday.  The one steer was the first to run into the loading corral and I closed the gate.  That was easy!  I then easily got him into the far end of the loading corral ramp.  Then we got the cows and calves into the loading corral to keep them out of the way.

It took a few more minutes to separate the steer from the bull.  That steer didn't want to leave the bull or the horned steer.  He kept running back to be near the bull.  With the excitement Buddy started to get excited and began to jump up and down and buck.  We calmed things down.  After a few more tries I got the steer through the gate and quickly closed it before the horned steer ran through it too.

I have a second gate to the loading corral ramp and we herded the second steer in there from the corral and not the loading corral.

We were done herding by 9:30 am.  That was fast.

Waiting to be loaded into the stock trailer.

Yes, you guys are going for a ride.

With Donna giving me directions it didn't take me long to back up the stock trailer to the loading corral ramp.

Backed up to the head gate.

View from above.

We were to Dan's place in plenty of time.  Evan was running late so Donna and I left as she had an appointment and I had fence work.  The auction was today and I will know in a few days what the steers sold for.  This week was a regular auction.  Next week was the last larger feeder auction sale.  It would have been nice to have sold my cattle at that auction as there could be more buyers at that auction.  But one rolls with the opportunities they are given.