July/Aug Rodeo and Hay Making Season

Barrel Racing Event

    

Brian managing Chesaw Rodeo

Welcome!

Steward Leslie Bronc Riding


 July and August are the seasons of Rodeos and Hay making. This year I, Cynthia,  had the unfortunate experience of having an unexpected accident on July 8th which is why these months are alittle late. We were riding and moving some heifers to another pasture when my horse ran away with me. I ended up being thrown off and broke my pelvis in 3 places, had a C7 neck fracture and a brain bleed. My horse must have gotten stung my a bee. Anyway, I do not remember the event or a week afterward due to the brain injury.  I am now functioning well, no paralysis and hardly any pain now. I am recovering well, just lost 2 months!  Anyway here are some beautiful pics of this season. Brian and Nick made 600 acres of hay.  We are now starting to get ready for roundup!  Enjoy!

Katie Nelson 4th of July Chesaw Rodeo

Katie Nelson getting Magic ready
for Chesaw, Rodeo

                           

Flag Team

Nick Root/Brian helping at Chesaw rodeo Chutes

Cutting hay

Cutting hay by old homestead

Baling

Gathering hay

Unloading hay at stacks

 Finally finished all the Hay making and Hauling to stacks at various places on the Ranch to feed in winter! The next season is Roundup time. 

Nelson Ranch

June Brings Baby Foals and Summer Turnout!

Howdy!   June is the month for baby foals to be born,  2 are now here with 2 more to go. We have our own quality registered  AQHA horse herd with 4 mares and one stallion. We raise our own horses for Ranch work.

"Gunner"

 

Sleepy colt   Born 6/13/13

 

 This is also the month to turn the cows out to the forest for their summer outing.  We gather the cows in the local pastures by groups and pair them up to haul them by trailors to the forest permit. They spend the summer months there. It takes about 2 weeks to do this. We put out 614 cow/ calf pairs out. 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathering cows

Way to go Girls!



Sorting cows and pairing up

Hauling cows by trailor

Turning out in forest

 

 

 

All the cows pairs are turned out for the summer months on several USDA forest service permits.  Next months are now filled with hosting the 4th of July rodeo in Chesaw, and making hay.

We really enjoy the weather here for these few months. This year brings us lot's of rain now and cool days.  Enjoy!!

 

Cynthia Nelson, Nelson Ranch

May Brings Healthy Calves, Branding Time and Planting Hay!!

May brings lots of activities after the calving season. No more getting up at midnight to check the cows, but we now are branding the calves and starting farming the ground to raise hay. We still check the herds for any sick or injured calves and we have turned most of the cow pairs out to Spring Pastures. The grass is FINALLY starting to grow!

 

Happy Calves!
 

Nick and Brian are also starting to farm, getting ready to plant hay.



Branding Time in Full Swing!

Jodi, Walter and John gathering calves

 

Jodi pushing calves to chute

 

In the chute

 

Sarah Quinlan giving shots

 

Cynthia giving shots, Nick is branding

 

We gather the cow/calf pairs in the different pastures and brand and give vaccinations. We do about 200 in a group in one day. It takes about 3 -4 hours to sort, brand and give vaccinations. We also sort and give vaccinations to the cows. It takes 4 separate days to complete. We then turn the cow pairs out to Spring Pasutres.

 

 

Katie Nelson helping turning out.

 

 

Cynthia Nelson, Nelson Ranch



"Baby Pics! " 450 Calves , Way to go Moms!

Today we  have 450 calves now,  way to go Moms!!  Only about 100 or so more to go. Now is the time to start checking fences to get ready to turn out when the grass is ready. Every Day after feeding is done, Nick goes on the 4 wheeler and checks all the calves to see if they are doing ok. Only had to treat 3 or 4 for scours ( diarrhea) and about 4 for bloat ( Clostridial bacteria issues) Then the rest of the day is checking miles and miles of fencing around the pastures .  Turn out and branding is done in May.  Let the grass grow!!

Sometimes a cow loses a calf due to birthing difficulties and we try to put another calf on her to raise. Our bottle baby calf was introduced to her new mom and a successful pair was created!!  She now has a new mom to care for her! We do our best to keep all the cows and to "graft" calves from cows that are not good mothers or getting too old (14-15 years) to younger or more "motherly cows"

The weather has been cool, and the wind cold again. Hope it warms up soon so the grass can keep on growing!    Happy Spring!

Cynthia,  Nelson Ranch

 

 

Just Born!

Busy Time at the "Office"

Howdy again, we really had a really busy time this week. Our typical day starts with Brian doing the 5am check  then he goes and feeds the fall pairs.  While he feeds the fall pairs, I get breakfast done and any typical housewhole chores done. I then go check the cows again at about 8 am , and feed any of the calves that may need it.  This week we had several " slow calves" that needed extra attention. I also have a "bottle baby" that his mom died after his birth. ( She was born backwards with a leg back ) Then I go check and feed our horses which takes about 1 hour or so.  When I come back, I draw the tags for all the calves that were born that night and morning so Brian and Nick can tag. Nick feeds the bulls and yearling heifers in the morning as well as the pairs. After they tag the calves and move them to the pair pasture, Brian feeds the main cow herd. In between feeding, sometimes we have to pull a calf with a difficult delivery. We check the cows every 3-4 hours for problems.  Usually they finish about 1-2pm, but then all the miscellaneous chores get done in the afternoon. Brian then checks the cows at 6pm and Nick comes back at 9pm. I check them at 1230 pm. Then Brian starts checking them again at 5 am.  That is our typical "Day at the Office"

 This week we lost several calves to coyotes which is very frustrating, Nick and Brian try to eliminate some of them. The coyotes seem to be more of a problem this year that usual.  The weather has been cold at night this week, about 15 degrees. Spring is slow to come!

Cynthia, Nelson Ranch

Heifer Pair

"I am Proud"

Early Morning

Hiding

 

Leader of the Pack