Flat Aggie visits Douglass Ranch

Back in January “Flat Aggie” came to visit us. We took her out with us while we gathered the cattle up in order to vaccinate our calves. These pictures do not showcase any photographic skill, taking photos and staging a laminated flat object into them is no easy task while you are trying to also get some work done. I'm just glad we remembered to bring her and to take some photos.

Setting up panels

Our cows spend their winters on "dry" ground. This is ground which is not high quality soil and does not have irrigation water. The combination of poor soil and no water do not make it well suited for crop production, but cows don't mind it. The soils are usually well draining and thus the cows never deal with any mud.

So when we need to gather up the cows, we have to set up a portable corral. Flat Aggie wasn't much help to Kelly while setting up these panels.

ATVs

Then we use the 4-wheeler to move the cows where we need them to go. Some ranchers use horses to move cows but we use 4-wheelers or ATVs. This is the ATVs lined up inside the stock trailer. An ATV is sort of like a motorized bicycle with 4 wheels.

  The Stock Trailer

This is what the outside of the stock trailer looks like. It is shiny because it is built from aluminum to make it strong yet lightweight. The trailer is hooked up to the truck. Instead of making the cows walk long distances when they need to be moved, we put them inside the trailer and let them enjoy the ride. Flat Aggie looks pretty small next to the trailer. The cows are tall enough that they can stick their noses out the ventilation openings above Aggie's head.

Getting ready for vaccinations

This is some of the cattle lined up to get their vaccinations. Just like people, cows need shots to help keep them healthy. This photo is mostly calves but there is one mother cow in the photo. When we need to move calves, we like to keep one mom cow with them to show the calves what to do and keep them more calm.

 We had a nice visit with Flat Aggie. Hopefully she can come see us again this summer when we have more crops growing.