Calm & Steady Wins in the End
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This past week we spent a lot of time and early mornings trailing pairs. During the week I picked up some tips and tricks that help keep the cows moving effectively. For starters, it is beneficial to have a good cow dog. When the cows are not trailing good it is a battle trying to get them to go and a good cow dog will help that. However, a poorly trained cow dog does more harm than good and not every dog is meant to be a cow dog. Furthermore, when driving cows, the calves tend to get separated from the cows and hang towards the back.
After losing track of their mom, they want to turn back and go to the last place they nursed, or lay down and wait for them, which tends to make the drive more difficult. Therefore, it is beneficial to take the time after a few miles to let them pair up and find their moms. You’ll know if they aren’t paired, typically by morning, because either the cow or calf will be at the fence. On the other hand, it is important to not drive sick cows/calves. Instead, it’s best to leave them, then come back and doctor them. A concept that I would emphasize after this week is stressing the importance of taking your time when moving cows and finding the balance to keep them moving. Chaotic environments typically create chaotic cows and, in this case, slow and steady is the best way to go.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of having to go go go all the time, yet with ranching, that mindset can do more harm than good. I would really encourage ranchers to take a deep breath and ensure the safety of themselves and their livestock before they becoming worried about completing a task. At this point, questions that I still have are ideas on how to keep track of cows and calves efficiently, as I have heard of new apps on the market that allow ranchers to update their herd information from any device. I think this technology could be very beneficial to ranching! What I plan to do with what I have learned this past week is to not allow myself to get caught up in the go go go mindset, invest in a well trained cow dog, and research ways that technology can allow me to keep better track of my herd, and improve overall heard health.
See Chloe’s video here, Henderson_6_18_23
Submitted by: Chloe Henderson
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
