October | 2012 | Tammy Goldammer

Archive for October, 2012

Plans for this Sunday?

Posted in Daily Working Ranch Chores, Local Community News on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Do you want to have a fun place to eat this Sunday? Yes! I thought so!

Come to Russellville, Missouri ‘n right along the highway is the Lutheran church. We are having our annual (40th yr.) turkey and ham smorgasbord. There’s a word you don’t hear anymore…”smorgasbord”.

We have a few hundred pounds of potatoes to peel, cook and mash. Dressing to make, turkeys to massage, wash and bake! 5 days of work so that we can feed several hundred people!
Call me if you want to be on the crew to do the potatoes, bake the dressing, and slowly warm up the turkey.

We have a lot of fun so if you are into laughing and having fun…come on over!

!!…lol (smilin’)

Read Full Post »

Never Tired of Seeing New Life Arriving!

Posted in Cattle, Cowdogs, Daily Working Ranch Chores on October 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I am at the end of my fall calving. Any cows that were at places without facilities I simply gathered them up and brought them home to a lot. I had one here, one there and it just was easier and more efficient with my time to bring them home. Plus, from a lifetime of experiences in the calving department I also know that the most issues I have are at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season. So, call me, “The Paranoid Calver”…yep, that’s me! The kinks, quirks, oops, bobbles, dang its will pop up the 2 weeks before “the start” and the last couple weeks of “the end”.

Saturday I was trying to get some more dirt work done and 3437 began “the pacing”. I had 2 autogates open so that I could traverse from the wean lot to a pasture where I was using wean lot dirt/compost/road rock to fill in a hilly fenceline that was washing out from cattle foot traffic. So of course, 3437 kept snooping around the autogate going to “the pasture”. You could just read her mind, “I’m outta here!” I had Ms. Hawk and Ms. Ducchess in the tractor with me for those “just in case” moments. And a couple of times, I invoked the autogate guardians who were snoozing at my feet on the floor of the tractor. So handy! “Psst, psst… girls ‘look’, watch, watch the gate.” The girls perk to attention, looking at the door and ready to head down the tractor steps to go to the gate and watch it while I do my thing and they patiently keep an eye on 3437. The cow and the cowdogs just look at each other and then the cow turns and “paces” into a different direction. This went on for a couple of hours.

Then, as 3437 began the next phase of parturition I thought, “Here is my chance to try to capture the birthing process so that I could share the experience with my less than rural friends.” Of course, 3437 was already at the water phase! But, I hurried off to the house to get my camera. By the time I got back, 3437’s water had broken so I missed getting that photo. But, for the next hour from 1-2 PM, I stood near the tractor or moved to another spot to take pictures of the unfolding event…the gift of life coming to its next phase of its being.

Enjoy the pictures! I enjoyed taking them. It never gets old or tiring to see a new life arriving. Especially when it happens without a hitch!

: Water broke, lay back down, push.

: Rest.

: Stretching pelvic, push.

: Push.

: Switch sides.

: Concentrating, push.

: Switch sides. What a room with a view!

: Push.

: Rest. Push.

: Dang nasty birds…visitors.

: Push…oops, little progress.

: Switch sides again.

: Really pushing.

: Switch sides again. She’ll finish on this side…she is favoring laying on her left side.

: Push. See, here it comes!

: Almost home! Push…

: Ah, progress…

: Slip slidin’ away…

: Push…here come the hips.

: Bloooooppp…perfect! And no sack over its nose. Yeah!

: Start to finish…1-2 PM…now to clean and dry the little one.

: Just a few minutes old and already beginning to want to set up.

: Removing the sack, clean, clean, clean…moo, moo, moo to her baby.

: Wow, sitting up…what a champ. Let me clean your ears.

: Wigglin’ around. Good mother clipping navel.

: The last of the sack is disappearing.

: Navel cleaning.

: Moo, moo, moo…talking to her baby…cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

: Rubbing the back encourages the baby to want to get up.

: Now, the other side. Caressing her new baby. How cute!

: Attempting to get up!

: Lay down and let me do your face…moo, moo, moo.

: Little one is loving this!

: Gentle, tender, long, slow wipes…a mother’s love.

: Cow switches sides and begins to nudge the baby up…licking and pushing the baby up hill to help it balance itself. And, the cow is holding it up to help it get some strength in its front legs.

: An hour later. Been up, puttering around. Found a teat. Looking clean, dry and spiffy!

: Ready to rest after my 1st stroll!

: A great cow and a job well done! She is a model 2003…a gal I raised.

: Sleepy, feeling sleepy!

: Still some fluid in its lungs…see the bubble in the nostril.

: Breathing to clear up some mucous in its lungs. She also has laid on her ear funny while in gestation…see her left ear! All is well though.

Read Full Post »

Pile on the Prayers, Please…

Posted in Cattle, Daily Working Ranch Chores on October 25, 2012| 2 Comments »

Sometimes things just seem to pile on to the point of disbelief and suffocation. I have some friends from Arapahoe, NE that just need a few extra “prayer mentions”…even if from folks they do not know. 2 brothers and their parents and all their family.

The parents…dealing with cancers and extended health issues. 1 brother…Stage 3 colo-rectal cancer and in TX for next phase of diagnosis, options, treatment(s). Other brother…both knees operated on and replaced…and trying to support ‘n care for his parents and brother.

If you would, just mention to God that the Anderson families appreciate God’s care.

Still droughted out here, but Wed. Oct. 17th…late afternoon we got a teeny shower of rain and then this gem.
Peace to the Anderson Family…just believe in God.

Read Full Post »

Missed Church…For This.

Posted in Cattle, Cowdogs, Daily Working Ranch Chores on October 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Sunday, October 21, 2012 –

Suppose to sing, “The Lord’s My Shepherd” in church today but had to call to let them know I’ll not be there.

I had left early this morning to do a few sketchy chores. And had this nagging feeling to go check the cows up N. No, things are okay…no, go. So I went N. Took Ducchess & Hawk…for some nagging reason.

Counting, counting. Hum, short the red cow. Looking, looking. There she is…tail cocked up. Get closer…calf’s hind feet are out. O Lord. Looks long gone. Well. Guess we’ll gather a group of pairs and take her to the lot. I would be LOST without my cowdogs. Handling some pairs, gather them to a group, put the dystocia cow with them and off we go. I am so blessed to have some teams of cowdogs that are savvy enough to turn snarly cows, not injure calves and then respectfully take the cows and calves to the lots.

What a relief to have such great help. Go to work, not cause trouble, think about what they are doing, do their job without tweets, listen, pressure when needed, back off when needed, thinking on their own. My job? Get the gates, drive the pickup, feed them good food, clean their pens each day.

What a life we live together!

I was one shocked gal when I turned the calf’s hips sideways, it came out, hit the ground and took a gasp for air! I was totally convinced this was “an overbaked” situation and just get the calf out, tend to the cow, sob a little, kick myself…but, that gasp, a blink of its eye…I was on Cloud 9. It is doing really good. She cleaned it up, it was pretty dry in 2 hrs. and I helped it up to see if it had any hing leg issues, striped some milk for it, fed it a tad and left them be. Fingers x’d I can take it back to the pasture later today! TTL…my shepherd.