Ranch

So these are from a field trip we took last Wednesday to a Ranch! Pretty neat, not really my thing but hey if that's what you like then awesome!

Have some random facts I learned:

• Cows can be re-branded
• Calfs can be branded around February, Older cows in March
• 3 acres are needed per cow
• Automatic feeders help to feed cows more efficiently
• Before placing the hay in the feeder the wire needs to be cut away
• Bales weigh 1300 pounds a piece, and 2 1/2 of them will feed 150 cows a day
• Pregnant cows eat even more
• Before Hay can be used as feed it needs to be cured and dried (also away from the cows because they'll jump fences or tear them down to get to it!)
• Calfs are fed pellets for nutrients
• When cows are ready to birth they're taken to the barn (shown above)
• Calves are pulled out head-first with chains around the legs and hook wenches to pull them out (when the mother is pushing as well, of course)
• After the calf is born something needs to be shoved up the nose to get the mucus out
• Newly born calves need to be checked on every two hours to make sure they're eating, if not they need to be bottle-fed every half hour on the hour
• Calving takes around 15 minutes from start to finish
• Older cows sometimes have complications
• Calves gain 8-10 pounds a day

And that's about it! Pretty neat, actually.. aside from the almost stepping in cow shit all day. But y'know.