Spermination

Yes, in fact, I did just use the word "Spermination" as my blog title for the day :) hahahahaha.

It really does have to do with what I'm talking about....babies. Cow babies. NOT MINE! haha, had you fooled again.

So this begs the question...where do babies come from? Well, we have to keep the bulls (the boys) away from the cows (the girls) so we can get them all pregnant at the same time, so they all start having their babies at the same time. Every year, we usually add a few new bulls into the mix, to help diversify our cattle, and to make sure that we don't do any inbreeding. That's gross.

They have bull sales, which I think are fun! You go (with Muck boots on of course!), walk around the bulls, see which ones you like, then bid on them when the auction starts! A good bull sale will also provide lunch for everyone. We went to a bull sale several weeks ago, and I got some pictures, AND video!!! This is my first video! How fun :)

When someone holds a bull sale, they basically get their year's income in a couple of hours. There were several bulls that went for $10,000.00!!! For ONE! At this particular sale, there were about 130 bulls that were sold.

This is when we first arrived. I thought it was funny to see all the cow butts lined up like this.


Here, hubs is walking in a pen of 4 bulls. We diversify the types of bulls we get. These white ones are called Charolais (pronounced Shar-lay).


Here, MIL is petting a bull. He REALLY liked his ears to be scratched! We like bulls that are nice, because they have much nicer dispositions, and are friendlier. No one likes a naughty bull or cow, and nice bulls breed nice cows. Notice the PINK muck boots!


Heeeere I am! Do not judge the outfit...I am ranching. There are no fashion rules when it comes to ranching. P.S. This was not a friendly bull. He didn't make the cut.


HA! Look how funny this one is!!! That's some CRAZY curly hair!!!


Here I am posing with my sweet boots. They're brown, with pink, purple, white and orange flowers on them :) :) :)


Ok, enough fooling around, onto the auction. Here is what the sale ring looks like, with the crowds sitting in bleachers along the sides.


Here's the video!!! You can see how the whole thing happens!!!




At the end, we bought 2 bulls for the low low price of $7,000.00. No joke. We paid that much for 2 sperm machines. Crazy huh? After the sale they come careening down a long corridor from the sale ring, back to the feed lots. Before they get to the lot, we separate out the ones we bought.


This is Eddie! Yes, I name the bulls too.


Here, we load them into our stock trailer. Mmmm, cowboy butt :) hehe


Then we take them home, unload them into their separate pasture, and they fight out to see who is top bull. We put them back in with their lady-friends around June 20th, which gives us babies around March 20th every year. The end!!!!