Let's Surprise the Cows

    If you didn't know yet that farming is full of surprises... well today I am telling you it is! Part of it is lack of good communication and part of it is the unpredictability of animals and the weather. If it rains and stops seeding, haying, or harvest you move on to the next job on the list. If something brakes you do another job while someone goes for parts. Or if the weather is mild and the animals are in good humor you go tagging hahaha

    At breakfast, Carrington surprised me by mentioning that they wanted to do some tagging today. That is when we run the cow and the calves through our squeeze chute to put ear tags in the baby calves and castrate the bull-calves so they grow up as steers. The ear tags help keep track of which farmer/rancher owns that particular animal and also helps us identify them if one needs to be separated from the herd because they are hurt or sick.

    It can be done with two people, my husband, and his father, but often my mother-in-law helps load the taggers and mark the details in our book. Today she was busy off-farm and that meant I got to step up and help... if I could get myself and the little one ready and to the farm in time.

    

    I always leave the main diaper bag packed as well as another farm bag and a city bag. I take two bags with me most places and that may seem like overload but I have found with being a new mom being prepared makes for better days. Each bag has different essentials... extra diapers, toys and CD songs for the long trips in the city bag. Extra-extra wipes, mommy's toilet paper, and a mosquito net in the farm bag.

    

    We made it just in time to get the stroller positioned and the tagger loaded before the guys started with the first calf. I would call it a success!