Home on the range

At long last some of our (and I use the term "our" in the least financially indicative way possible) cows and calves made it out of the muds of spring and into the pastures where we had repaired fence. It was a long day of work sorting, giving shots and shuttling the cows and calves to the pasture.

Due to the complications of moving cow-calf pairs it is safer for us to move the cows (mothers) at one time (actually four trips with the moving trailer) and then make a fifth trip to the pasture with all of the calves. This makes for a wee bit of separation anxiety, and in the end for some endearing moments of cow-calf reuniting. The cows would greet us at the pasture gate waiting for their young each time we arrived with another load.  With the first four loads containing only cows the awaiting mothers' hopes were dashed when they did not find their calves. On the last trip, with calves in tow, the mothers could finally smell their young and got very excited to the point of trying to rush into the trailer to rescue their calves (not exactly helpful or all that safe).  In the end the cow-calf pairs trotted off into green fields happy and content.