Branding, Round Two

Last weekend we finished up our branding season by getting our cows done. This included our cows, my in-laws' cows, and our grandparents' cows. All in all there were 106 that we branded. About 10 or so hadn't calved yet, and we moved some of the yearlings around to a different pasture. So many different groups of cows to keep track of, but there were enough people there that we managed it pretty well!

As usual, we start off rounding up all of the cattle:

After we've separated the calves and cows, it's time to load them in the chute:

Flip the table on its side and brand away!

This is our cow Ginger's calf. I named her Reba.

When we were rounding up the cows, my Patrick and my FIL found a calf that could barely move. They don't know what happened for sure, but either way it wasn't eating. They had to load it up into the back of the Gator and bring it into the barn. Here, Boone and my MIL are bottle-feeding it some electrolytes. 

It was having a hard time sucking, so they had to coax it along a little bit.

Here my MIL is comforting the calf before it gets branded.

The dogs are watching anxiously, wanting to chase all of the little calvies! 

My MIL pushing the calves into the chute:

The pups watching on:

Sleepy little pup:

 This calf was sick, so we had to give it vitamins. They go in the end of the long blue thing...

...which then gets shoved down their throats and into their bellies.

This was the CRAZY cow! This cow did NOT want to be caught and it took a heck of an effort to get them into the pen, and then into the chute! They saved the worst for last!

After we get them all branded, we eat lunch and like last week, and sort the calves into pairs. We then sort them into different groups to go in different fields, and herd them back into the pastures.

Well, branding is over for another year. These calves will grow up and be sold in the fall. It's always a fun time with family!