Saturday

Today started off with chores, and I successfully got shocked while setting the hot fence line, George smiled and may have even chuckled at me for all I know. We gave the herd a good look over before trekking back to the house to warm our cheeks. Today's weather started off really cold. The air temp was about 15, but with a 10 mph wind it was about 8 degrees. As the day went on the temperature warmed, but with a slight wind that would gust occasionally.

We headed to town today to take care of grocery shopping and some meet-and-greet with folks along the way. We first stopped by the yearling herd and checked on their body condition, which has been dropping since they were put on some alfalfa stubble. Another gentleman is overseeing this herd for G&J. At the moment, he is trying to use the cattle as cutworm annihilators by having the hooves crush the larva in the soil (I think it is the larval stage).

Afterwards, we headed over to some family friends/co-op partners. They were interesting folks and I had a good time talking ag and sharing my story of how I ended up in CO.

We eventually headed to town and had lunch, and at lunch, I met George's son and his wife. I also had the pleasure of meeting the grandfather of the family later in the day.

We ended up watching the sunset as we drove home from the yearling herd again. This photo does not convey the pink sky that covered the eastern mountains a bit earlier in the evening...

A long and productive day.

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Some of you might want to understand a little bit more about how weaning works with nose rings. The nose rings are reusable. They do not puncture the septum, but squeeze it. The ring pushes away the teat that the calf is going for and the spikes might also make the mother a little annoyed by the calf's attempts to get milk. Sometimes a smart calf will figure out it can turn its head and still reach a teat. The ring will stay on for about 12 days.