Tuesday morning, we gathered our first-calf heifers and their Wagyu X calves and drove them a couple of miles to our corrals to be processed with a second round of vaccinations before shipping the calves to Snake River Farms in Idaho.
Wednesday morning, Clarence and the girls separated the cows from their calves to be weighed before processing.
Once separated, the calves come down the lane to the scales. With these weights we can lock in a price when we ship the calves at the end of the month and determine if all the calves can be hauled on one truck. But after balancing the scales, I noticed a rabbit hiding in the scale box.
With very little grass to grow up on, the calves weighed about 100 pounds less than normal, in part because we’re shipping three weeks earlier due to our drought conditions. Nevertheless, we were pleased that both cows and calves were in good shape.
All very routine, little things like rabbits and cobwebs seem symbolic as we all hang in the balance.
drycrikjournal 
I’m a born and raised suburban gal… and I appreciate all I am learning on your blog.
(I have a parcel of rangeland in Eastern Oregon that my great-great grandfather bought as a land speculation at the turn of the twentieth century … my husband and I are the only ones who have ever seen the land… cattle from one of the local ranches graze there.)
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Thanks, Jane, we’re glad to hear that our perspective is beneficial. Likewise, your blog offers exceptional photographs, information and Native American legends that makes our connection to this earth even richer.
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