Post by tcranch on Jan 16, 2020 11:55:21 GMT -6
Tuesday was the day! Finally going to catch/load & take the calves to the sale barn. I had moved one of the bunks into the corral last week and they pretty much always follow me with the feed bucket so caught all the them fairly easily in record time - except the largest steer who absolutely refused to go in. Okay then, plan B. Fortunately he's a hand feeder so I grabbed a small container of cubes and walked him over to the chute, opened the door to the palp cage and he followed me right in. Dumped the cubes in the alley, climbed over the panel and quickly shut the door behind him. Easy peasy, right? And just like that, the fun was over.
Still saturated from the last rain/snow/ice storm, Hubby got stuck almost immediately & slid into the waterway - I'm talking even before the first load. There may have been profanities. Got the tractor, got out, took an additional 30 minutes to back up to the chute. More profanities. Got the majority of the first load in the trailer but one heifer would NOT budge and naturally the hot shot was at the barn (and the batteries most likely dead). I straddled her, standing/balancing on the panels in the alley, twisting her tail and finally giving her a swift kick in the butt - with my broken toe. Sonofa!!! That'll teach me to loose my temper.
2nd load. Pasture around the corral is now completely destroyed and the tires of the truck/trailer are so caked with mud there is zero tread. Loading was easier this time except one steer kicked my sorting stick so hard it flew out of my hand and nailed Hubby. Oops! More profanities. He takes them to town while I feed the rest of the herd.
Heading back to the calves pasture I have minor heart failure when I see 2 calves out of the corral and at the lick - and I had left the gate to the pasture wide open. Quick count, they're all there, whew! Evidently on the last load, I was pushing the last calf all the way through the chute onto the trailer, Hubby went out the door to the palp cage and didn't latch it and I just exited from the head gate. Didn't realize the door wasn't latched and didn't dawn on me to check. My bad. Again, both calves were hand feeders and relatively easy to get them back in.
3rd load. So. Much. Mud! And a solid butt plant, saturating clear through my jeans. If that isn't uncomfortable! But the rest was drama free. Buh-bye, babies!!! My steers averaged 719 lbs at 1.565 per and heifers were 640 lbs at 1.47. Done! Until next year.
Still saturated from the last rain/snow/ice storm, Hubby got stuck almost immediately & slid into the waterway - I'm talking even before the first load. There may have been profanities. Got the tractor, got out, took an additional 30 minutes to back up to the chute. More profanities. Got the majority of the first load in the trailer but one heifer would NOT budge and naturally the hot shot was at the barn (and the batteries most likely dead). I straddled her, standing/balancing on the panels in the alley, twisting her tail and finally giving her a swift kick in the butt - with my broken toe. Sonofa!!! That'll teach me to loose my temper.
2nd load. Pasture around the corral is now completely destroyed and the tires of the truck/trailer are so caked with mud there is zero tread. Loading was easier this time except one steer kicked my sorting stick so hard it flew out of my hand and nailed Hubby. Oops! More profanities. He takes them to town while I feed the rest of the herd.
Heading back to the calves pasture I have minor heart failure when I see 2 calves out of the corral and at the lick - and I had left the gate to the pasture wide open. Quick count, they're all there, whew! Evidently on the last load, I was pushing the last calf all the way through the chute onto the trailer, Hubby went out the door to the palp cage and didn't latch it and I just exited from the head gate. Didn't realize the door wasn't latched and didn't dawn on me to check. My bad. Again, both calves were hand feeders and relatively easy to get them back in.
3rd load. So. Much. Mud! And a solid butt plant, saturating clear through my jeans. If that isn't uncomfortable! But the rest was drama free. Buh-bye, babies!!! My steers averaged 719 lbs at 1.565 per and heifers were 640 lbs at 1.47. Done! Until next year.
