Feeling silly

I found myself feeling silly recently.  You see, on the morning we worked the cattle, I had asked Elizabeth to send some Reiki.  Three years ago, I had gotten knocked down by a large calf that day and I was sore for weeks afterwards.  Since then I have always felt better when folks are praying, and/or sending positive energy, to us on cattle working day.

When Elizabeth wrote back asking what, "Cattle working day" means, I felt silly.  Of course, people who have never done something cannot grasp the magnitude of tasks involved in it.  All I can say to you, Eli, is that it's like our free clinic day with hundreds of things to attend to, only a lot more dangerous in that the "Clients" all weigh between 500 to 1,200 pounds. 

I decided to do a detailed post on the subject for all of my readers who have never had the "Joy" of cattle working day.  Perhaps people avoid sharing the details of this day because some parts are rather gory, but these are the facts of life for ranchers.

The first thing to do is to tie up the dogs.  Some people have taken countless hours training their dogs to work well with cattle, but nobody here has had that much time.  Past experience with these 2 has taught us that they are MOST useful when they are tied up and not running around chasing cattle in all kinds of directions.  Of course, every time that I went to the house for something, these 2 would beg mercilessly to be let off, but I knew better.

 Well, in our main herd there were 161 large animals.  Some of these were bulls or slaughter animals but most of them were mamas.  We had 120 calves out of these, revealing our high death loss this Spring in all of the mud and slop. 

We ran all of the animals (except the ones in with Sally which we did at the end) into the corralling.  This means that about 300 animals were in an area the size of a large restaurant.  This means that they are in close and anxious as they do NOT like being cooped up. 

Jerome, the children, and I started sorting off the cows while Robert fed them out in the pasture.  The trick was to keep the calves in the corral while letting everyone else out.  Have I mentioned that these animals are large with the bulls (male breeding animals) being VERY large.  Which brings me to an important point for those who seriously know NOTHING about ranching.

Bulls are the daddies of the group and I believe that we have 7 of them.  These animals are bought from breeders who specialize in breeding up the animals to their maximum potential.   Bulls can cost anywhere for $1,000 to $30,000+. Cows are the breeding mothers.  Calves are the babies that were born this Spring to the cows.  Now, bulls that have been castrated (having had their testicles removed) are called Steers and they are kept for butchering whenever we get enough orders. 

So, being we were going to work the calves, everyone else had to be sorted off.  Usually the older animals know that they are to leave and, seeing as they were hungry, they headed for the open gate.  However, being the calves are used to walking beside mama all their life, they headed there too.  Our job was to encourage all of the older animals to leave while convincing the calves that they were to stay whether they liked it or not.  Did I mention that the calves are the most jumpy of them all--ready to kick at any provocation. 

I don't have any picture of the corral when all of the animals were inside of it because I was too busy staying alive just then to take pictures.  One has to have eyes on the back of your head, or loving family members, to keep body and soul together.  Once, Cora almost got it so I yelled at her to turn around and she saved herself from an unpleasant encounter with a small group of swirling hooves. 

In this picture, we finally had all of the cows, bulls, and steers removed from the pen and were ready to begin.  It was 10:30 AM and not very warm outside. 

 Cora is our bookkeeper so she got ready to take the records.  We need to know the ear tag number of each calf; it's sex; it's color; if it has horns; and anything unusual about it that needs to be remembered for the future when the calves will either be mamas or steers for the freezer.

 Robert's cousin, Jerome, loves to work cattle so he's become a permanent part of our crew.  He gave 2 shots on his side of the shoot while I gave 1 and a goodly dose of Eucalyptus oil down the spine of each calf.  These are shots that are approved under organic standards and are NOT implants or hormones.  We eat this beef and raise it under the very highest standards.

Now, I can hear someone asking, "But how do you give a shot?"  Well, there are 2 main types of shots--subcutaneous (which means under the skin usually in the neck) or in the muscle which is usually done in the rump.



  This is a look down the alley way through the shoot as we wait for another calf.

Here Robert went back to fetch the next, "Victim."  As you can see, we have a small corral within the big corral.  We put about 20 calves in there at a time so that we don't have to go running so far all the time.

Andrew's job is to catch the calf at just the right moment.  The calf comes running, or is being pushed by Robert, into the chute with a high degree of agitation.  Andrew slams the chute shut on the calf's neck and the action begins.

As soon as Andrew has the calf caught, he puts his hand over the calf's eyes.  This calms the calf down almost instantly.  Then Jerome gave one injection from his side; I gave my one injection; Jerome had picked up his other syringe while I was giving mine and he gave his second injection; and then I dropped between 10 to 30 drops of eucalyptus oil on the calf's spine depending on how chipper he was looking.  If they came in dragging a bit, they got more, and one even got some in his nose which really gets the healing energy flowing to the bloodstream fast.

The heifer calves (the females) were finished at this point unless they had horns.  Very few of our calves have horns but about 5 of them did.  Are you ready now?  You're not eating are you?

Well, there is a handy little device that you put over the horn of the calf to de-horn the animal.  It takes a lot of muscles, so this is Robert's job.  When the man squeezes down on the horn, while squeezing the de-horner together, it cuts into the calf's head and cuts the horn off.  Of course, there is blood so you need to put the worst smelling blood stop powder on the spot where the blood vessel was attached to the horn.  This is AWFUL smelling stuff and I did it once just to quit being such a coward.  After that, either Jerome or Andrew took the bottle from me when I went over there while Robert washed the hair and blood off of the de-horner. 

Now, for what I did behind the shoot.  When the calf is a bull calf, it must be banded to keep it from breeding.  We have always banded our bull calves in the Fall of the year so that they grow to their greatest potential as full males.  However, the day of reckoning comes when the banding must be done.

Well, Robert puts his hand through the bander and reaches down around the scrotum.  He slips the large band over the scrotum making certain that both of the testicles are down in the scrotum at the time.  Jacob held the tail up tight so that there is no pain while Robert checked that there were no hairs inside the band--OUCH. 

When Robert tightened the bander, it squeezed the band tightly around the scrotum.  There was usually a little flinch then but there is not much pain involved.  You can use this same tool to band fully grown bulls, so it's not as hard on an animal to be cut with a knife and have the testicles dug out with blood everywhere like we did when I was a girl.  We all prefer this much better.

Next Jacob handed Robert the tool to cut the band off with and that was done.  I went behind Robert at the back of the shoot to make sure that none of the animals in the holding pen were coming up behind him.  I caught them at it every so often so Robert was thankful to have someone watching his backside.

Some of the calves that were born up in the pasture also needed to have ear tags put into their ears so that we can match them to their mothers and determine who is the owner before we sell them.  This was either Cora or Jacob's job.

Lastly, Andrew opened the shoot and out jumped the calf.  This was one of Jacob's with the orange tag.  He moved too fast so that I couldn't get the Orange tag but I still thought that this was a cool picture.  As you can see, all 4 feet are off the ground as he exited the chute, so it is a bit of a rodeo.  YEEHAW!



Three calves were pretty little so we knew that we'd have to do something different.  The first one we took out of the chute but he proved to be more of a handful than we had thought.  The other 2 babies, we held in the chute and did their shots quickly and then pushed them out the front--no leaping with them.

Jerome, Andrew, and Jacob have worked together so many years that they just know what to do and the feeling of camaraderie is the only grand part of the day.

Some of the bigger bull calves, feel it quite a bit as that band begins cutting off the blood supply to the scrotum.  For as long as I can remember, one of my jobs was to walk amongst the herd and see that nobody was reacting to any of the meds in combination with the banding.  Of course, now that I'm a BodyTalker, I gave everyone cortices while they were in the shoot.  Some of these more miserable steers also got short BodyTalk sessions too.  Our animals really have got it good.  :)

Well, after we finished working on the main herd, we turned all of the calves out with their mothers.  Next, we brought in the group of about 30 animals who are in with our milk cow in the small pasture here by the farm.  These are young breeding stock for next year and several cows who had too young babies to make it up to the pasture this Spring.  This was the only time that I was really nervous.

I have no idea what got into them but they were snorting and bellering and even our calm, sweet Sally started pawing the dirt.  I decided to crawl into the trough and I started doing some relaxing breathing for them all.  I started the calming Reiki too and stayed real still hoping that nobody would notice me there. 

Finally they calmed down; we sorted them off; worked the few calves in the bunch; and turned everyone out of the corral.  It was a long day and I was very stiff and sore but we had only 2 minor accidents between us 6.

Just as things quieted down, I gazed up into the Heavens to praise my God who gave us such a lovely day at the end of November in North Dakota to work our calves.  I decided to take this picture as a tribute to Him who preserved one lovely day for us.  The very next day it started snowing and it's been MUCH colder since then, but we are rejoicing that the calves are all worked for the year.



Now, we've begun insulating the shop so the guys can work out there when it's colder still.  I'm needed out there at this very moment, but I wanted to take this time to pay tribute to God who has made us organic farmer/ranchers and to the incredible people that I live with.  Oh, what a wonderful life we have!!!

Here's to you, oh God, maker of Heaven and earth!

Dawn

Misoulla, here I come/Day 3

Can you believe it?  The Lord has worked it out for me to go to AnimalTalk after all!  Robert said, "I've never seen Montana either."  He's going to try to take me but, if work keeps coming in like it has been before then, he'll send Andrew along as my escort.  Either way I know that I'll be perfectly safe on the road with one of those 2 mechanics along.  The CP (Crysler Pacifica) is almost new but I wouldn't feel safe traveling without a man with me anyway and I know that my neck would not take that much driving.   I am so thankful that my family feels that this will be a blessing to our farm to go through so much trouble to let me go to the class at the last minute!

I hope this won't seem tacky, but there IS always the issue of money.  Gas is high; the class will cost $750; plus the hotel expense.  I've been meaning to do this sometime anyway so this seems like a good a time as any.

You may recall that KRT allowed me to become a BETAR dealer last Winter.  Since then I have finally slept through the night.  The BETAR sleep units put out the frequency which the brain copies to either dream or go into deep dreamless sleep.  I think that I must have been too big of a dreamer (pun intended) as I couldn't go down into the deepest sleep before I started using my BETAR sleep unit.  All you have to do is plug it in close to your bed, so that's pretty easy.

There are also BETAR relax units which help you to relax when you are stressed out.  These are wonderful anywhere you are tense--including driving in the car with a bunch of children. 

I'd like to send you to http://www.betar.com/ if you think that you'd like to purchase one of these units at this time.  They cost $150 plus shipping so it would really help me get down the road to Missoula.  If I can answer any questions about the units, please let me know.  I realize that this is a long shot but, just in case someone out there has been putting off buying a BETAR unit from me, this would be a great time to do so.

Oh yes, day 3 of the Master Cleanse is over and it was ok.  Both Cora and I woke up weak this morning so we resorted to taking some of Dr. Mercola's whey protein powder too.  She had to go to work and, for me anyway, day 3 has been the hardest in the past, so I urged her to take some protein along with her lemonade to work today.  I keep praying for her as the work that she does is very strenuous and this cleanse goes deep.

I started seeing some major cleansing today so I'm happy.  However, this is the first time that I've ever taken a class while on the cleanse OR gone on a long trip.  It does make me a little bit nervous so I continue to ask for prayers as I make my preparations for AnimalTalk.

God bless you who keep me covered with your prayers,

Dawn 

New Feature on my blog

Hi everyone,

I have been trying to come up with a way to let you, dear readers, start to get a basic understanding of how BodyTalk works. This morning when I was giving Clara (my Brown Swiss milk cow) her daily BodyTalk session, after I finished milking her, the answer lept into my mind.

I will post Clara's daily session reports on my blog. I had Andrew set up the new gadget for me as he is such a wizz at these things. I guess I'll have to start writing down the links then, but I'd really like to help you start to grasp the beauty of the BodyTalk system. Being Clara usually gets 1 or 2 BT sessions every day, the sessions are pretty short and that makes them easy to fiigure out--I HOPE!!! If you ever have any questions about them, feel free to ask them. I'd be happy to answer the questions to the best of my ability.

With a drumroll now, I urge you to check out the addition to my sidebar named, "Clara's Daily Session." By reading these reports I hope that you will be able to start getting a grasp on what a BT session is like and why it is able to do such miracles.

When our shoot bosses were here, I found something was buried in my subconsious that I had no idea was there. I was telling them about my deep affection for my cow when out came these words, "One of my goals is to have the oldest cow in the world." By doing these sessions on her daily, I have seen her spirits lift and she eats better. Even though my girl is almost 14 years old, she looks pretty wonderful to me and I intend to do all that I can to keep her that way.

Please join me in observing the process.

(Revised) Restful but still painful--with pictures added

I am in posting on Andrew's computer as I was exercising and missed the first part of Sunday night Bonanza at the Bornemanns. It's hard to pick up in the middle of something that's already begun--especially a love story which it sounds like it is tonight. I expect Jacob to show up in here at any minute, as he just can't stand the love scenes. "YUK", he says. Anyway, I will have to add the pictures of yesterday tomorrow when I can get back on my computer.

It's been a couple of restful days, but I'm still finding myself in pain today. You see, I am learning that even fun days can be stressful. STRESS EQUALS PAIN TO ONE WHO HAS HAD SEVERE NERVE DAMAGE LIKE I HAD IN 2006-2007. Even being overjoyed to have friends come, if it leads me to neglect my daily health care schedule, will cause me pain. Live and learn.

It was soooooooooooo nice, though, to have Lynette Dagley and her son, Ben, plus Hannah Stover come to visit us yesterday morning for our first ever swing set party. By the way, I said to Robert last night that our swing set party was a BIG success. He said, "It better be, it's a BIG swing set." :)

Everyone seemed to gravitate to the swing set and it was occupied all day except during meals. Jonathan and Jaidra Dagley came up from Mobridge for the day too, and brought Amanda with them, so she could catch a ride home with Ben after spending a week with the South Dakota Dagleys. Eli Dagley was also returning home from there--he's one of Lynette's grandsons.

Here is a picture of my long time friend (14 years) Lynette and I on the swings. I so admire how slim and trim Lynette keeps herself. You inspire me to keep working on my weight, Lynette!!! Thank you!! I feel kind of silly as I had just gotten out of the shower right before they got here and my hair is wet on the pictures. Lovely hairdo, Dawn! Oh well, as Robert likes to point out, "It's your smile that draws me to you, Dawn!" The wind was blowing up our skirts so it was nice and cool as I posed with my friend. :)

Cora and Hannah on the double swing--a little blurry so sorry.

Across the road, where I want to have my health center someday, there is this gorgeous tree that Cora just loves. We all stopped underneath it to have our pictures taken with our dear friends. Lynette and I enjoying the beautiful summer morning and each other. :)

Andrew crawled up the big stack of big bales to "Spy" on us ladies. Cora got him at it here, but not before he caught some pictures of us ladies down below him. :)

Shortly after this our friend, Chuck, stopped by to drop off a CD full of Andrew's graduation pictures. He took the pictures at the graduation but has been too busy to get them to us. He had just come back from the Steele vet clinic where he had taken his dog, Jack. Jack got in the way of the sickle mower and had gotten his foot cut off.

It was amazing how I was drawn to go do some AnimalTalk on Jack--Chuck didn't mind my taking the opportunity to expand my knowledge of working with animals. A lot of links came up to the foot and guess what? Jack needed to be balanced to the mower that took off his foot. Are you shocked? I'm not. :) This is a picture of Chuck and Jacob who are great pals--it looks as though Jacob had his mind on swinging instead of visiting though.

Anyway, we spent yesterday morning looking at the garden; the yards; and Andrew's graduation pictures . Then we had lunch together and while we were eating, Lynette leaned over and asked if I would teach my, "Voice lessons 101" class at the home school convention next year. Nothing like dropping a bomb--although it was a bomb with exciting possibilities. A few years ago I had shared the basics of good singing at the Dagley's music day in a little class I had called "Voice lessons 101". Lynette said that it was very helpful to her and she would like the information to be available to all home schooled students. I told her that I'd think about it.

After dishes were finished, we looked at the wedding pictures of friends and Lynette brought out Polly for a quick lesson in puppetry. I was trying to get her granddaughter, Valerie, to warm up to Polly but no such luck.

However, when Grandma Lynette put Polly on her hand and started talking, Valarie warmed right up and went over to meet Polly. I guess it matters who the puppeteer is when not working behind a screen and when working with children. Valarie and Polly became fast friends under Lynette's charming influence!

At one point in the afternoon I was looking for Cora. Guess where I found her? On the double swing with her dear friend, Amanda Dagley. I got this picture of them from the deck without them knowing that I took it. I think it's so awesome that, as Lynette and I treasure each other, so do our daughters.

Lest you think that the swing set was enjoyed only by the females, you are wrong. Robert and Jonathan were here most of the afternoon--to the point that Robert sun burnt his head. These 2 men have been friends for a long time and it was so great that they got to get caught up on their farming techniques. Robert has such a nice way of sharing with young men that really endears him to those who are seeking organic farming answers. :) Perhaps you can see Jonathan holding his daughter as he swang?

After dishes were finished, we visited and then Andrew worked with the Dagleys on their Prairie Days DVD project. During that time I wrote up a short overview of my lifetime vocal music experiences. They needed the writeup last week, as they are already beginning work on next year's convention. I was surprised to see how much singing I actually have done as I'd forgotten many things.

Lynette also shared with me that our friends, Steve Schadler and Christopher Scigliano, are working together on a project that will be introduced at the home school convention called the Dakota Survival Challenge. Both of these men have lived in survival situations in North Dakota successfully and they have much to share with us as we ponder an uncertain future. Then, next year at Prairie Days, those people who have signed up for the Dakota Survival Challenge at the convention, will share what they learned about surviving in emergency situations. It sounds like a very worthy project.

Ben, Lynette, Hannah, Eli, and Amanda left around 4:00. I got to know Jaidra better then and they accepted our invitation to stay for supper too. It was so nice to get to know Jonathan's family! They left for their home in Mobridge around 7:30 and we did chores and headed for bed.

It was such a lovely summer Sabbath day. However, I neglected my health care yesterday and I woke up at 3:30 this morning in terrible pain in my neck and head. I zapped; took a bunch of clove capsules; did some basic BodyTalk procedures and finally fell asleep around 5:00 this morning.

It's been a pretty quiet day here today as I'm taking it easy and Cora is too. We watched the movie, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. I recommend this movie wholeheartedly as a sample of the power of truth and perseverance. We had a strange experience when it was over though. It didn't seem like the movie would end there and we couldn't find the next part on U Tube. Finally Andrew found it on his computer and it said, THE END, where the other one had ended. I certainly wouldn't have written it to end with the hero in a state of exhaustion and he not in his sweetheart's arms. What a hopeless romantic I am and, come to think of it, Jacob never did show up in here. Maybe he's getting over the "Romance is rubbish" stage a little bit?

Well, Bonanza just ended and it's time for family prayer so I'll close for now. Check for pictures tomorrow.