BRANDING

Derrald, Jon, and Sydney - Branding

           Time to think about getting those new calves branded before we move them to their summer pasture. Branding day is usually a long, hard day for those involved in the process.. When our son, Derrald, picked the date for this year’s event, Skyler, our live-in grandson, wrote  Branding Party on our kitchen calendar.

            Not everyone would consider rounding up calves, separating them from their mamas, pushing calves through the corral and into the chute, getting manure all over your clothes as a “party” but Skyler does.

            And we have a lot of people who actually volunteer to help on this day. It’s interesting to see our volunteers and how they work:

• Lee, our unpaid hired man who comes every day and fusses over the calves as much as the mama’s do. Lee often is seen on his horse when the cows are moved from the back pasture toward the corral and he is one person who can rope if needed.
• Glenn, who has his oxygen tank hooked over his shoulder, oxygen tubes in his nose. His job has been to put the elastrator’s on the bull calves.
• Ken, who was 85 on his last birthday. His job is to help get those little “doggies” moving through the alley way so the branders can keep busy.
• Scottie, a truck driver for a potato warehouse and who keeps a few of his cows with ours during the summer. He works the branding chute, and that’s a hefty job, but Scottie is a hefty guy and perfectly capable of doing this.
• Craig who works at the INL, and also keeps some of his cows in our summer pasture. He’s out in the corral moving the calves toward the alley way.

And our not-so-volunteer group:

• Derrald, our son who is taking more and more responsibility with the cattle operation, usually works at the head end of the calf, giving shots if needed.
• Debbie, Derrald's, wife, who oversees the whole thing and keeps things moving.
• Jon, another son, who helps where ever he is needed.
• Boyd, who turned 74 recently, works in the corral separating cows from calves
• Jack, Boyd’s brother and partner. He is in charge of and does most of the actual branding.
• Spotty, our dog who encourages the calves to go through the correct gate when it’s released from the chute.
• We also often have nephews and grandchildren come to watch and/or help.

We have to keep Ken and Glenn separated, as those two argue about everything. If a calf comes through the alley way and Ken hollers to say it’s a heifer, Glenn would say it was a bull. If Glenn said the calf was black, Ken would say it was red. So to keep our records straight, we keep those two at opposite ends of the branding process.

My men are not ropers. You can’t expect guys who walk around with their shoes untied to be able to rope a calf, do you? And we don’t heat the branding irons in a fire anymore, but use electrically heated irons.

By the time everyone arrives, gets equipment assembled, brands heated, calves ready, it’s usually 10 a.m. before the actual branding begins. However, when it begins there are no breaks until the job is finished.

When the last calf is branded there are a bunch of tired, filthy dirty, stinky, and hungry people. That’s when I step in. If the day is warm I make sloppy joe’s and a salad and serve it outside. On cold days I fix soup or stew with hot rolls and they come into the house to eat.

Branding is a big day: one that grandkids like to come to; one that encourages a hot shower or bath and a good nights sleep afterwards; one that gives the workers a feeling of having accomplished something – of doing a necessary job and seeing it to completion.

After this day we look forward to moving the cattle to the ranch!