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Fenceline weaning: Take 1

This year we tried something different when it came time to wean the calves.  Weaning typically happens in October or November when the calves are about six months old.  We like to wean before taking the cows to graze cornstalks.  Cornstalks aren't really high quality feed, but they are good enough for a non-lactating cow.  To keep a calf growing usually requires better feed than what cornstalks provide.  The difference this year was the manner in which we separated the cows and calves.  The old way was to bring everything into the corral, sort cows from calves, and keep everything locked in separate pens for a few days.  This year we left everything in the pasture, and used a three-wire electric fence to keep them separate.

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It worked pretty well.  There was one cow that crawled in with the calves, and three calves that crawled in with the cows.  That's not a big deal, since we had a portable corral set up to sort them again.

The blue tub on the left side of the fence held a liquid supplement for the calves.  It contained minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and probiotics designed to help the calves manage the stress of being weaned. 

There are several advantages to weaning this way.  The calves get to stay on mostly the same diet as they have had, minus the milk.  Doing it the old way, they would have to eat dry hay or other feed in the corral.  Changing diets causes some stress as they learn to eat something different and their body adjusts to it.  With fenceline weaning, the calves can still be close to their mothers.  The social bond with their mother is broken more slowly and naturally once they realize they aren't getting any more milk from mama.  Keeping the cattle on pasture keeps dust and mud to a minimum and gives the calves room to spread out.  Dust and mud are a bigger problem when calves are already stressed from the weaning process.  Last year when we weaned, I was very concerned about dust due to the drought.  This year we had 3 inches of rain a few days after weaning, so mud would have been a problem had we put everything in the corral.

It was a good learning experience.  I would call it a success and plan to do fenceline weaning again in the future.

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Change

A couple evenings ago, Isaac and I went out to move some cattle to fresh pasture.  He's always game for anything involving "work," but with extra enthusiasm when the cows are involved. 

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He would have walked all the way out to the cows had I let him.

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This pasture has a little sentimental element to it.  My grandpa ran cattle here before my dad.  One of my very first cattle-working memories was having a picnic out here next to the corral with Grandma Vivian and my cousins while the men were doing something with the cows. 

After we got the herd moved, we parked on another hill and spent a while enjoying the evening.  I taught Isaac about litter and that it is good.  Not the empty-beer-can-in-the-ditch litter, I'm talking about the dead grass and organic matter that covers the soil surface between plants in a healthy rangeland.  It keeps the soil cool, retains moisture, and helps rain soak into the ground.  We didn't get that in-depth, but it was fun watching him explore the rocks and grass and forbs growing there.  We sat quitetly as a flock of Canadian geese flew right over us – low enough that I was whispering "take 'em!" under my breath.  We listened as Wilson (our dog) howled from the yard, answering back at the coyotes to the east and south.  It was a quiet enough evening that we could hear the cows munching on grass from 75 yards away.  It seemed a crime to start the 4-wheeler to take us home.  It made me think about how I need to find another old plug of a horse for the kids to ride for times like this.

We idled home and had a bowl of ice cream – a Perman tradition, especially after a long day trailing cattle like we had.  I took Isaac up to bed after the usual routine.  After prayers, as I was tucking him in, he said, "Thank you daddy for working with you."  I didn't cry but sure did catch a lump in my throat.  I said, "You're welcome buddy, thanks for helping me."  He said it again before I closed the door to his room, just to make sure I understood.  I don't need to explain any more.  It is safe to say I will remember that exchange for quite some time.

I came across this picture in one of the photo albums at Grandma's house last winter.  It is taken in the same pasture, just from a different hill.  Just like in the first picture, you can see Lowry in the distance, as well as "Haystack Hill" to the right of town.

Things change.  Grandpa's Herefords have been replaced with Angus.  The dam in the old photo is washed out.  We've added some crossfences and water tanks.  Lowry probably has 50 fewer people.  My photo was taken instantly with my smartphone rather than on film, no dark room required.

However, some things don't change.  Haystack Hill is still there.  There's still four-legged bovines wandering these Lowry hills.  The coyotes howl just the same as they did back in the 60's when that old photo was taken.  Litter is still important. 

In 50 years, I expect Haystack Hill to still be there.  I expect that cows will still be roaming those gumbo flats.  Most of all, I hope Isaac will be able to have good memories of this land; of times when he learned something about the world around him, and learned how to coexist with it.  I hope he learns the value of working until the job is done.  I hope he learns the importance of sitting on a hill and taking it all in. 

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It’s complicated…as it should be

I'm learning to appreciate diversity and complexity more.  Nature seems to favor these over simplicity and monotony.  It frustrates us as humans because we have a much harder time managing all that complexity.  Maybe we don't have to manage it.  Maybe we can just be part of it.  I listened to several speakers at the Grassfed Exchange in North Dakota a few weeks ago, and in a nutshell, what I learned was that it takes more skill to work with nature's complexity, but the skill is rewarded by healthier and thus more productive natural resources.  It fits with something I remember Dr. Tom Noffsinger (cattle handling expert) say in another venue about the need for humans to greatly improve our powers of observation if we are to be successful in relating to nature.  We like to compartmentalize different components of a system and max out each components production or value, sometimes at the cost of other components in the system.  The interactions between these components are very important for the overall health of the system.  Push things out of balance and there are consequences.  One example I can think of is chemical application on rangeland.   I think there is a place for it, please don't misunderstand.  But I cringe when I read a herbicide brochure describing anything that isn't grass or alfalfa as a weed, and worse yet, taking away from the "productivity" of a pasture.  Wrong answer.  Removing invasive noxious weeds, ok (although I'd rather use biological control methods).  But taking out everything that isn't grass?  That diversity is there for a reason, and it's rather conceited to think we understand all the implications of messing with that balance.  There is not a plant we have that I haven't seen a cow eat at some point (except leafy spurge).  The more I learn about plant interactions, below-ground biology, and cattle diets, the more repulsed I am by our (my) want for simplicity for management's sake. 

Set aside 20 minutes and check out this thought-provoking video.  Mike Rowe, host of the TV show Dirty Jobs, is a hero for those of us who work with our hands.  In this video, he speaks of his experience castrating sheep and how American culture has forgotten the importance of manual labor.  It's well worth your time to watch.  Trust me, there are much dumber ways to spend 20 minutes on the internet.  It is such a good video that it might warrant its own follow-up journal post some snowy day this winter.