Ranching Photographs from the Deepwater Bay Bed & Breakfast

STUFF WE DO IN THE SPRING

In March and April we spend lots of time working with the cowherd as most of the calves are born then, and the weather can vary from 25 below zero to 70 above during that time frame.  The first calf (2 year old) heifers are kept in a pen where they can be checked night and day, as they sometimes need more attention than the older cows.  The third and fourth pictures below show the heifer pen which can be seen from the living room window, so we continually see everything going on in that pen.

The older cows watching for their daily ration of ground feed which is coming from the right on March 26, 2008.  A couple have calves already and they should all be done calving in a month.

The "My-D Han-D" grain tank mounted on a flatbed pickup works well to deliver the feed.  Notice that the snow is all gone and we are waiting for lots of spring rain to green everything up.
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The heifers are watching Elmer at the gate in the center of the picture.  He is bringing twin calves from the cow herd farther west in the calf sled pulled by the "Japanese Pony"

 

  

  Most of the time you get lucky and the mother follows the sled with her new babies in it to the barn where we can make sure that she mothers both of them

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The cow is put into the maternity pen to check her udder and maybe even milk out enough (in a pail...not on the ground) to to give each calf a drink

 

  

She is pretty proud of her new babies.....one will likely be grafted onto another cow that has lost her calf for whatever reason

This just isn't fair!!!  You're supposed to share!! Get over!!

 

  

I guess this works much better to try the other side

 

Another set of twins....this time we needed to use a little extra encouragement from Elmer & Ben to convince mama that she should follow the calf sled

 

  

This little cow consistently raises one of the biggest calves.  The number 19 heifer calf shown here weaned over 700 pounds and is in the bunch of 2006 F1 Baldy heifers we have for sale at the ranch

Elmer works with 3 year old Trinity to calm him down before loading him in the trailer for his ride to the horse trainer

 

  

All loaded and not too excited.  He will learn the basics from a professional trainer, and then it is up to us to continue his education on the way to becoming a useful cow horse

SUMMER STUFF

Sun sets way in the northwest here in the summer....after 10 PM some of the time

The cows and calves are hauled out to summer pasture, and the bulls are turned out late in June to start working on next year's calf crop.  We round up in each of the pastures and work (brand, vaccinate, castrate, etc.) the calves.  To see a more detailed photo journal of Branding at the Pleasant Acres Ranch check out this site.  Pastures have to be ridden every so often to make sure the cattle are OK.

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Sorting the cows from the calves before hauling them out to pasture.  They will have to ride in separate trailers for the safety of the calves.  Ronna "manning" the gate.

 

  

Arlen letting the cows go by and keeping the calves back...the way this sorting alley is set up has worked really well

 

All sorted and in the holding pen which services the tub which leads to the working chute on the left or the loading chute which is up around to the right

 

  

Wondering if they will ever see mom again......they have no idea of what a great time they will have out on summer pasture

 

 

The little red trailer is out ahead loaded with calves and the bigger aluminum trailer is full of cows

  

Time to put the sorting sticks away and drive the 35 miles to the Pierce ranch where these will be pastured

 

Out come the calves into the corral where they will all be incarcerated until they are all hauled and given time to "mother" up

 

  

And out come the cows....they know the drill and have been dreaming of the grass you see in the pictures below

Arlen on Hustler and Ronna on Ben checking things out in the Pierce pasture where these pairs ended up

  

Lunchtime for both the riders and the horses

 

FALL WORK

 After harvest while we are catering to hunters and fishermen, the pens at home have to be readied for the next crop of calves that we will wean (take from their mothers) and bring home.  They are rounded up a couple weeks before weaning in October or November and vaccinated with a series of shots against a wide spectrum of livestock diseases and pneumonia which can occur during the stress of the weaning process.....especially if the weather turns against you.  The mother cows are left in the pasture a long way from where the calves are...they quit bawling much sooner if they can't hear each other.  The cows are brought home later when the weather gets bad or the grass runs out...whichever comes first.

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This pen is a trap in Almit Breuer's pasture which is about 25 miles SE of our ranch.  We had first calf heifers here....they are used to going down this opening where the picture was taken from, and going on out a gate around the corner from where the horses are standing.  When that gate is closed it is a slick way to "trap" them.

 

  

We separated the calves and the pickup and trailer is coming back for another load....this opening has a lot more elevation to it than the picture shows and it takes all four wheels pulling and a good run to make it up out of here with a load.

 

The horses work is done and they are waiting for a ride home

  

Almit rode his mule, Tillie, this day about a month later when we rounded up the cows and hauled them home.  Deer season was still open so he was packing a rifle.

 

In the fall of 2005 we had a cattle drive stop by the ranch for a night.  They were driving a small herd of longhorns a couple hundred miles to the eastern part of ND.  It took them over two weeks and they had to find places to keep the cattle at night where they would have water and feed.  The cook pulling the chuck wagon would go out ahead and find likely places with a fenced lot or corral for them to rest.  He had stayed at our place as a hunter guest a few years ago, so he stopped to see if we could take care of them.  We were glad to participate in something as unusual as this, so we saddled up and helped them bring the cattle into the place

 

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A little over a half mile from home we let them graze on a little hayfield

 

  

The herd was pretty much trail broke and didn't need much tending when they found this alfalfa regrowth

 

Arlen on Hustler is on the right and Marina from Russia is on Bonnie....the black horse

 

  

Marina is standing by Bonnie while Arlen is sitting down pointing north for some reason

 

Longhorns not paying much attention to anything but filling their bellies....a few had some pretty impressive racks

 

  

Ronna trades Marina a car for Bonnie so she gets a chance to ride

 

Time to put Hustler away while they close the gate

  

They pulled a pretty fancy log cook car and some fine food came out of it....the cook who shall remain nameless was a big wide boy....but putting an "over size load" sign below him??????  Sorry Roger...just couldn't resist that one

 


WINTERTIME

The sun comes up way in the southeast in wintertime....well after 8 AM most of the winter

Winter finds us taking care of the cowherd, getting the newly weaned calves ready to market, and hauling grain to market.  Also there is lots of inside work with the bookkeeping and marketing the Bed & Breakfast for the next year.  Elmer makes good use of the heated shop when he is not feeding or working with the cattle by reconditioning the machinery for the next growing season.

 

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Elmer & Katie ready to head out to check things on Ben and Hobo

 

  

The cowherd uses lots of hay in February....didn't notice the big birds when I took this picture....hope they weren't buzzards!!

 

Round bales stacked three high make a great windbreak and is an emergency supply of straw if the spring is long and nasty

  

Coming 2 year old bred heifers that will calve in about 6 weeks....these came from the Johannes Polled Hereford Ranch who have bred for maternal value for decades

 

The guard rail fence makes a great feed line for feeding hay

 

High quality F1 Black Baldy heifers for sale at the ranch

 

 

More F1 heifer pictures...all taken on a day in February when the temperature didn't get UP to zero

 
 

 

We have been buying some of the top selling yearling bulls at the Roberts Angus Ranch's annual Bull Sale in Bismarck

 

These bulls are chosen with maternal traits a priority

 

 

And more sale heifers....most born the end of March and in April with a few in May

 

Another Baldy heifer picture taken the middle of February, 2007

 

  

Grinding and mixing peas and barley

 

General...a coming two year old bay with a star and a snip....time to start working with him so he can earn his feed someday

 

  

This coming three year old dun called "Bronco" is going to the trainer in February, so we will have another "green" horse to ride this summer...he is a smaller horse of about 14 hands but well filled out

 

Hobo is a grey 17 hand thoroughbred so you are way off the ground.  He will pull anything you can get your rope on.

 

  

Fresh broke (trained) Trinity, coming 4 years old, on the left and ten year old Hustler on the right

 

A big bull rack backed up to the loading chute fully loaded with 90 700 plus pound steers.  The trucker is taking off his coveralls before getting into the truck and heading for Kist Livestock Auction in Mandan, ND....115 miles south of the ranch.

 

  

This bale processor with a grain attachment at the backend is one of the best machines we have ever had.  We tried out two other brands before settling on this one, and we are glad we did.

 

It is with mixed feelings that you watch a big load of calves you have raised from birth heading out the driveway.....sadness for the calves unknown future, and a sense of satisfaction knowing you produced a fine set of calves

 

  

A bunch of 43 Baldy steers in the sales ring....these and the rest of our steers sold as the 12:30 radio special and they topped the market which made us feel good

In case you haven't noticed, we do get some snow....the large flakes  in this picture looked like pancakes coming down.  The little white building in the center of the picture houses a coal stoker furnace/boiler.  Water is piped underground to the shop on the right side of the picture, back underground to the house where the picture was taken from, and back the same route to the boiler.  A very economical way to heat the shop, garage, and house.

 

  

Just a typical winter scene here taken from the west window of the living room.....the cattle all fed and lots of snow on the ground

 

Some winters we never have to use the snow blower and others we are glad we have it

 

  

As we use Black Angus bulls, we try to buy bred Hereford heifers to maintain our cowherd.  These are being run through the working chute so we can give them a scourguard shot and put on identification tags

 

We started using brisket tags which seem to stay with the animal better than the ear tags which get ripped out once in a while.  Here Elmer is piercing the loose skin in the heifer's brisket so the metal rod that holds the tag can be inserted through it.

  

Notice the new white tag in her brisket.....a halter is put on her head to tie it up out of the way so she doesn't club the guy in the head who is putting the tag in.


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