Ask Me about Branding Cows or Ranching Out West (Pics)

[Fishwhenican]

OK, I do not own a ranch but the whole area where I live in SE Montana is Ranching country and the place I work at has a 20,000 acre Ranch that we have both cattle and Buffalo on. I have been around it a fair bit and think I have a fair handle on it so any questions are fair game. If I do not know the answer I likely can find it!

I recently had the chance to go out to the ranch and help with branding. I started out helping run the calves through the chute, then cooked lunch for everyone and finished the rest of the afternoon running the gate on the "table". The table is a device at the end of the chute that has a thing that closes on the calf's neck to keep him there. There is also another thing that is closed against the table with the calf in between, again to help hold it there. The table is then turned on it's side with the calf on top of it. It is at this point where the calf is vaccinated, ear tagged, branded, given medicine for scours if it has scours and while all this is going on if it is a bull calf it's nuts are banded. After all this the table is turned up and the restraints released and then we have to convince it to get out so the next one can get in. It is a pretty good system. BTW, getting the calves to move generally means grabbing it by the base of the tail pushing it up and forward. My shoulders are pretty darn sore right now and my leather gloves are really in need of a cleaning!

So, Now the pictures:
Some views of the ranch in springtime

Calves as they are worked through the chutes and bin


An overview of the chute and table, table is up (I am hidden in this photo!)

Working on the table:
This is a calve on the table with the iron being ready to brand the calve. The calve is also ear tagged, given it's shots and given scours medicine if needed.

This is the work on the other end of a bull calf, Banding. A rubber band it put around the base of the scrotum eventually causing the nuts to fall off.

That may sound bad but it is better than the old way which was basically to make a cut and tear the nuts out. Of course this was good because we had fresh Rocky Mountain Oysters when we did it that way. Believe it or not, once this is all over, the instant they hit the ground they have no idea it even happened!

This is the brand actually being applied to the side of the Calf. The smell of burning hair is something else! It stays with you for a few days!

Some fun ridin a calf in the chute.

Everything is done and the calves and moms are put back together. The cow/calf pairs will now be turned out in a pasture to eat and fatten up on grass all summer and into the fall.