Weather: Warming trend and melting snow
NBW5: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: Moved cows to 4th split. In the evening cows break out at cell center and head everywhere. I will correct in morning in prep for feed day. Work on 2’s at Todd’s postponed until next week. Dana working non-stop to prepare house for return of our full Family Christmas.
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Weather: Woke to 4” new snow. Chilly north winds give way to SW wind and slow warming late in the day
NBW5: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: Moved cows to 3rd split. Weather: Soft clouds, mild SW breeze, and 35 degrees before the sun comes up. Quick little chinook only to have wind turn from the north bringing more snow and single digit cold.
NBW5: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: Oh my, my… arm hurts plenty from the booster. Cow feed day. Everybody gearing up for Christmas arrivals. Weather: Not so bitter winds switch to the SW bringing some warming later in the day.
NBW5: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: Some cows find the hole into NBW. I push all the cows into NBW5 after returning from Billings to get my booster shot and make a second split in the almost dark. Ryan’s worried about lice on the group at Todd’s’. On the hunt for some portable panels. Weather: Bitter NW winds welcome the day, calm and crystal cold finishes out the day.
NBW6: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: NW winds push a few cows into SBW6. Wanted to move into NBW5 but winds made it impractical. Cows ok cleaning up old feed. Weather: 3” of snow and colder over the period.
NBW6: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: On the road for meetings so report is general. No moves during the period. We started supplementing cows on the 13th with 2 square alfalfa bales every 3 days. Weather: Winds abate, and temperatures rise.
NBW6: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: Cows float into first split in 6. Cows in good condition but I will plan to begin protein supplementation with alfalfa tomorrow. We have our Christmas tree up and lit and the sheep wagon is wonderfully lit as well. Dana is on a role for the season of thankfulness and good will. Weather: My goodness this wind is relentless, yet nothing like the tornado devastation in the Midwest-beyond all bounds.
NBW7-8: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: No moves yet prepared a new split for tomorrow. I hope to slowly begin 1-to-3-day splits as we finish out the NBW unit. We lost all the water out of the pit because tank float broke in SBW9 east of the house. Ryan and I both recognized that this MISTAKE could have been simply avoided if the riser had been shut off while tank was not in use. The ARC of practice bends toward perfection but don’t hold your breath waiting to arrive. Lone harrier spotted hunting near reservoir. Weather: Straddling nice and not nice
NBW7-8: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) SNG7: 2 lame bulls and 9 small calves Notes: Probably a good time to share why we are not stripping more tightly right now. The paddocks we are rotating through (NBW) were grazed during the growing season. To get through the winter on grass, with available forage limited by the drought, we are ‘skimming’ these paddocks again to pick up enough animal days to get to next spring. We are offering more selection for the cows versus non-selective high impact use as there is not enough standing cover to knock down for litter. Soon we will be going onto fresh cover not yet grazed this year, and we will begin to strip graze more closely. This practice is an adaptive response to our situation. Time will test the merits of this approach. Weather: Sharply colder this morning for loading calves yet turning mild later in the day.
NBW7-8: Cows (294+15B). Todd: 2’s and Opens (112) Notes: Loaded 390 calves on 4 trucks in 75 minutes. Heading to grow yard in Sterling Colorado. Very smooth with great help. Fed a nice breakfast of elk steak scrambled eggs to the helpers. Cows finally move further east into NBW7-8. Ryan chose to spend night over at Todd’s as he suspects someone may be scoping out the generator at the water driving in from the south. |
Bill Milton
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