Poems From A Montana Rancher
Calving ( a short Story from a Montana Ranch)
It was Saturday morning and the kids were free for the weekend. Daddy came in from checking cows he told Mom about the run of calves born last night. Mom asked how many and Dad replied, thirteen and two more have water bags. Cayleen was laying in her big feather bed and as her Daddy came into the house, she heard his conversation with her Mom. She jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen. Daddy held out his arms as she jumped up for a hug and kiss. Mom moved close and wrapped her arms around both of them as they all giggled together and said, "Family Hug". The dogs immediately ran in from the porch to see what was going on. All the commotion caught Brian's ear and in just a few seconds he was out of bed and part of the family hug. Family Hugs were a long standing favorite for big brother Brian as Mom and Dad had started it when he was very young. Brian was seven years older than Cayleen and he had been up twice during the night. He checked the heifers at twelve and four. It was pretty early for him to be up. And he decided to head back to bed for a little more sleep. Cayleen flashed a big smile at Daddy and said, "Can I go out to calve with you today? Daddy smiled and said "You sure can Dolly, we will have a great time and I can sure use the help.
They ate breakfast and talked about the plans for the day. Dad and Cayleen would feed and check the old cows and Mom and Brian would go down to the corrals and turn out the heifers with new calves. Dad said he had already tagged the calves on the heifers and they had all sucked. The heifers and their new babies just needed to be turned out one at a time so they stayed mothered up. Daddy told Cayleen, A heifer is a first time mother cow. They often get their baby mixed up with another heifers baby if we turn them out together. Mom and Brian had plenty of experience letting one pair go at a time to prevent a mix up. Daddy told Cayleen that she could load the ear tagger for him and shut the pickup off if he had to go fast to catch a calf. Cayleen squealed with delight as tagging new baby calves was her favorite thing to do. As they finished breakfast and dressed for the chilly weather, Cayleen chattered with excitement.
She and Daddy jumped into the pickup and headed to the stack to get a bale of hay. The pickup had a flat bed with arms, powered by hydraulic rams. By switching toggle switches on a control box, they could move the arms over the back to where they were behind the pickup. As Daddy backed up the pickup in line with the bale of hay, they could move a switch and squeeze the bale with the arms. When a second switch was moved forward the bale was lifted on to the pickup bed. As they approached the second bale, Cayleen asked Daddy if she could load the bale. As Daddy carefully backed the pickup, Cayleen flipped the switch to loosen the squeeze and pushed the second switch to move the empty arms to the rear of the pickup. When Dad said "ready" she flipped the switch to tightly squeeze and toggled the loading switch to load the second bale. She smiled as Dad told her what a great help she was. Daddy told her she had just loaded over a half a ton of hay all by herself.
They drove to the calving pasture and Cayleen jumped from the pickup to open the gate. The gate was a special electric fence gate that was very easy to open and close. As she ran and jumped in to the pickup the cows began to run toward them. Feeding time was a happy time for the cows and they all wanted the first bite of hay. Cayleen toggled the switch to move the bale near the ground. She held the steering wheel so the pickup would drive straight ahead. Daddy jumped out of the moving pickup to cut the net wrap off the bale. As he un wrapped the net wrap, small pieces of hay fell to the ground. The cows crowded tightly as dad jumped back in the pickup and lowered the bale to the ground. The bale unrolled and left a nice row of sweet smelling hay. The cows lined up on both sides as they enjoyed their morning feed. As the last of the bale unrolled, Cayleen moved the switches to grab the second bale. When it was all unrolled she moved the arms back to their resting place on the sides of the pickup bed.
The cows with new babies did not come to feed so they were scattered all around the pasture. Dad guided the pickup near the first Pair and jumped from the truck to grab the calf. The calf ran as fast as he could to get away but dad was faster and he caught him by the tail. Cayleen giggled as she shut off the key and watched her daddy chase the speedy calf. As soon as the pickup stopped she jumped from the cab to bring him the ear tag in the tagger. Dad quickly punched the tag through the calf's ear to connect it. As the Momma cow moved very close, Cayleen jumped back into the pickup and Dad finished processing the calf. As each calf was done, dad would jump back in the pickup and write information in the calving book. He wrote the momma cow's number, the weight of the baby calf, weather the calf was a bull or a heifer and the date of birth. Dad told Cayleen how this information helps to keep track of the cattle and gives information so they can select the best animals to improve their herd. By the time they were done they had tagged and processed fourteen new baby calves. Dad said this was a record number of babies for one morning. He told Cayleen how much help she was. She smiled a sweet smile as she reflected on how proud Dad was of his Rancher girl.
The next job was to feed the mommy cows with older babies. They loaded two more bales of hay and headed to the lower pasture. As they drove into the pasture, one little bull calf stood directly in front of the pickup and pawed the ground. Dad honked the horn and he turned and ran away. As he ran he stuck his tail out straight behind him and Cayleen giggled with delight. This was Cayleen and Daddy's favorite place to feed. As the cows came to eat the hay, the calves would gather in small groups and run as fast as they could up the hill then back toward their Moms. Dad checked each cow carefully to see that they had been sucked. Cayleen giggled, as she imagined herself as a baby calf, running with the bunch. Dad asked what was so funny and she told him. They laughed together as Dad said he would not let any old cow be his baby's mom. As they drove around they checked every calf to make sure none were sick. Dad smiled as they headed home. This was really a great day.
When they got back to the barn, Brian and Mom had just turned out the last heifer pair. Dad and Cayleen grabbed pitch forks and helped clean the barn. Dad cut the strings off the bales of fresh straw to spread them in the pens. Cayleen and Brian kicked and threw the straw until it was spread like an amber carpet in the pens. Dad and mom walked out to check the heifers and found one laying flat on her side with a water bag. Dad could see that there were front feet showing in the clear water bag. Mom took Cayleens hand and led her near so she could see. Mom explained that the baby calf was coming out the right way as she pointed out the tiny feet for Cayleen to see. Dad said we should give the heifer an hour to see if she could have the calf by herself.
They all jumped into the pickup and headed to the house for a break. Dad and Cayleen opened up the Cow book and he showed her how to enter the calving information in the permanent section of the book. Brian told her how he used to do that for Dad. She was so proud to be big enough to help with the cow book. As they were sharing snacks and drinks, Brian turned on the TV and put a disc in the Kareoke machine. As he punched the buttons, "Achey Breakey Heart" came on the screen. The music started and the words flashed across the screen. They all sang together. "Don't break my heart my achey breakey heart I just don't think he'd understand. If you break my heart , my achey breakey heart , I might just go out and kill that man. Mom suggested we change the song and Brian switched it to "Angel of the Morning". He handed the microphone to Mom they all sat back and listened as she sang. Brian and Cayleen sang along softly as Dad smiled his biggest smile. Mom was truly his angel of the morning and nobody sang that song better. When Mom finished singing, Brian loaded "Amarillo by Morning" and it was Dads turn as he belted out his favorite George Straight song
By now it had been an hour so everybody bundled up to go see the new baby or pull him to help him be born. As they walked into the Corral they could see that the water bag had broken. The feet were sticking out but no sign of the head. Dad said it was time to help her. Brian slipped through the gate and went around to the far door to the barn. He had helped many times and he knew just what to do. He set the head gate with just enough opening to let the cows head in. He opened the panel and the gate and turned on the light. Mom fixed the alley gates and opened the barn door. Dad and Cayleen gently coaxed the heifer into the holding pen and shut the gate. Mom slipped through the gate at the other end of the holding pen and spoke very gently. "Coo boss good cow we just want to help you." With her gentle voice she persuaded the heifer to enter the barn. Cayleen and Dad followed as mom moved the heifer to the OB pen. Brian and Mom closed the gate and squeezed the side panel until the heifer entered the head catch and it locked. By holding the cow's head we were able to help deliver the calf without the mommy cow running away. Dad took off his coat and rubbed lubricant on his right arm and hand. Mom grabbed the OB chains and made a loop. Brian grabbed the puller and held it ready. As Dad grabbed one foot and slipped the looped chain over it , he made sure it was above the dew claws. Mom handed him the other chain and he did the same with the other foot. Mom squirted lubricant into Dad's hand and Dad lubricated all around the calf's head. The tiny feet moved as the baby calf struggled to be born. Brian lifted the puller into place as Dad hooked the chains. Mom grabbed the handle and jacked it until the chains were tight. Dad grabbed the rear opening and stretched it to give the calf more room. As Mom tightened the chains and pivoted the puller down, the calf's body started to move toward the outside. As Mom jacked the handle and kept steady pressure the calf slowly slipped from his mother. As the hind legs fell out, Dad swiftly dragged the calf to clean straw and worked to clear the fluids from the calf's mouth and nose. Brian handed Dad the oxygen mask and he placed it tightly over the shiny black nose. The Calf started breathing and in no time at all shook his head. This sent the oxygen mask sailing and Brian picked it up and stowed it away as he shut off the oxygen valve. Dad smiled as he wiped his arms with a towel. They all stepped out of the pen and Brian released the head catch. The heifer backed up and turned toward her baby. She softly mooed and began licking him. Cayleen smiled and hugged her Daddy as she watched the new born calf struggle to stand. Mom said it was a good thing we helped her as the calf looked pretty big. Dad put his arm around Brian's shoulders and told his family what great help they were. As they headed to the house for lunch, Mom smiled at Cayleen and said "You sure are good help, Dolly love". Cayleen smiled her biggest smile as she knew she was born to be a Ranch girl.
Comment On This Poem --- Vote for this poem
Calving ( a short Story from a Montana Ranch)
Calving ( a short Story from a Montana Ranch)
