Visit to Reichert's Ranch - Lambing and Calving Season 2018

We visited the Ranch on May 20,2018 to see all the new lambs.

 Most of the lambs here are less than one week old, some even younger.

These lambs climbed through the fence to get into the feed trough.

 Ewes in waiting

 Bear Butte in the distance

Then we attended Calf Branding on June 4, 2018.


Before branding the calves, the herd was brought to the branding pasture/corral with horses, where each of the cows were vaccinated, and then calves separated from cows for branding.

Each heifer gets an ID tag in the ear, an insecticide tag in ear, a vaccination in neck, and branded - one on right hip (R), and one on right shoulder (+).

Each bull gets an ID tag in the ear, a growth hormone under the skin, an insecticide tag in the ear, a vacination, then is castrated, and branded - one on right hip, and one on front right shoulder.  This takes about three minutes to do a heifer, and maybe 5 minutes to do a bull.

This one is named...

Propane branding iron heater

So the calf, who is leary of small places anyway, is trying to find a way out of this chute.  He finally sees an opening at the end and tries to run for it.  The cowboy slams the door when the calf puts his head in the opening at the end of the chute.  Then he flips the calf on its side, somebody pokes his ear - twice, somebody pokes his neck with a needle, somebody else may put a needle under the skin, somebody else puts a hot iron on his hip and shoulder and if a bull, he gets castrated - all this takes just a few minutes.  Then the calf is stood back up and he can run free.

Only looks like a BBQ - doesn't smell the same!

Sometimes a calf gets upside down in the chute, so its easier to just pull him through and work on the ground like the old days, than to try and get him right side up in the chute.

When not ranching:

the end