A busy day at the ranch

We had quite a busy afternoon here today.  We had nearly 20 calves to tag.  I have previously written about that. We need to weigh each of the calves that we will register with the American Hereford Association.  Sometimes we do this in the barn on the scale in there; however, today it was easier to use this portable scale.  We hang it in a tree.  It has a place for the calf and we can read the weight and record it in our calving book. 

The calf only "hangs" there for a few seconds while we get the reading then someone puts him back down and he can run to mom.

Here are some of the pairs that we worked with today.  You can see we have Herefords (red with white face) and black with white face.  There are also some all black ones and a few tan colored calves.

After all of that work, Lori (white) & Pandora(black) enjoyed going for a little swim.  Pandora loves the water.  Lori just wants to be popular!!  They had a muskrat with them for a while but it quickly swam away.  Then, it was back home to do chores for the evening.

Linking to:  Farm Photo Friday and Farmgirl Friday blog hop

Winter 2011-2012

WOW!!  This is the best winter ever!  We have had very little snow.  I had to look up the average for North Dakota.  The National Weather Service states that our average is around 24 inches.   Currently, it is zero!   The only snow at this ranch is in the shade - and we aren't complaining! 

I don't think that I have ever been able to check cows (at 3 AM) without snowboots.  However, this year, I can go out in my tennies (sneakers, whatever you call them)!  No need for heavy coveralls, coats, boots, and all since our temps have been above average too.  Yes folks, this is the life - healthy calves being born and this wonderful winter!

Here is a bit of photo evidence of the winter:

2012 Winter Wonderland

This photo was taken the afternoon of 4 Feb 2012 in North Dakota, USA. We have NO snow!! It is very rare (never in my lifetime) to have no snow in Feb and the temp was 40 degrees. No winter parkas, just a sweatshirt. Beautiful.   Shortly after taking this snapshot, the little boy on the far swing was stomping in the water puddle below his swing!!

Home

This photo was taken 5 Feb 2012.  The only snow is along the  shrubs and what was packed in (ice) on the driveway.  Notice the water in the lower right corner.  (As of 20 Feb, the snow/ice is gone from the driveway and most of it along the shrubbery has melted as well!)