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Moderate to warm. Cows moved to next split in the evening. Wade and Judy Rungen helped cut opens (cows without calves) from the cow pairs.
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Very cool and windy. Early evening move back into SBW1-new split. Swainson’s hawk often seen perched just south of house. I helped facilitate discussion in Winnett between DKMT and local ranchers about elk management.
Damp fresh morning. Cows move to next split in SBW2.
Cool with surprising afternoon shower that dropped .3 of moisture in a few minutes time-cooled and softened the country. Two bulls escaped and found the cows. Ryan cut them out and trailed to the corrals. Meadowlark flocks are growing in number.
Drove to Helena early for half-day sit and dharma talk. Returned late in the afternoon to help locate all the cows in SBW2 after breaking out of SBW1. Taking some time to get the pairs located following branding. Some sunflowers along road to town are starting to bloom-very early.
Partly cloudy and alternatively cool and hot depending on wind direction and cloud cover. Calf branding and cow vaccination day! We went to calf tables versus roping. Aside from a few glitches, the day was more relaxed, controlled, and clearly less stressful for the animals. Water was a problem, and we allowed cows to drift to the tank east of the house (SBW1), where they will all go tomorrow. A smooth transition that helped avoid a potentially perilous problem. As light fades, the cows and calves are calm and resting on good feed. There contentment is our happiness.
Partly cloudy with continued mild temperatures. We trailed cows to the corrals for branding, and while successful, it was not without a lot of problems with keeping cows mothered up. I chose to come up the county lane (Griffith Rd south of the house) and it just speeded up the cows chasing green feed, and left many calves in the rear. I also should have started another day earlier, in case difficulties were met. Next year I will start earlier, as we have done in the past, and I will treat the county road as a ‘pasture” and not something that has to be crossed all at one time. This may require watching them at night. Another alternative, requiring an investment of time and training, is to teach our cows to ‘pair out’ when we make longer moves. I will be talking further to Wade Rungan about this practice.
Cool morning and calm. I came across an upland sandpiper family this morning with three small chicks. Earlier, 7 cormorants flew over me in formation while checking the cow water.
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Bill Milton
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