winter fun

When the work is done for the day (ice chopping and cattle feeding, and fence repairs and more) then Tom and Blake can ice skate on ponds near the river or go sledding.  This sled is the one that Raymond Wohlers received for Christmas as a boy 85 years ago.  The sled was later used extensively by Arden and used in lesser amounts by Travis, Carrie and Blake.

Winter work

Temperatures at night has been dropping into the single digits which means more work removing ice from the tanks so cattle can drink.  This is a great exercise program and gives Blake a couple of hours of cardiovascular workout and muscle development every day.  This workout and his skills in wrestling developed while handling 3-400 pound calves is making Blake one tough hombre.

solving water problems

The lack of wind to pump water for cattle this past summer helped make the decision to install solar power to submersible pumps as a more reliable power source in sunny western Nebraska.  This will hopefully bring more warm underground water into the tanks to reduce freezing of tanks this winter, which will allow the cattle to stay in the pastures that did not get utilized in the summer.  A problem developed after installation with the pump delivering too much water causing the well to pump dry.  Therefore we will drop off one solar panal so the pump won't pump quite so much.  Watch the blog for further developments.

health problems

The first group of calves to leave the ranch 6 weeks ago are now doing fine, eating well and playing because of their contentment of being fed well and water always handy.  However the second group just weaned 10 days ago are having serious respiratory disease problems, already 30 of the 177 have been medicated and 4 have died.  Hopefully the crisis is nearly over and the group will move forward.  This picture shows 2 sick ones in the foreground and 2 dead ones further away.  On the other side of the fence is the 158 head in group 1 happily crowding the bunk eating away.

drilling continues

The view from the house shows 3 drilling rigs lined up going SE from the lane in the south pastures.  This line of wells is up the heart of the ranch.  I thought they would just be drilling along the western edge of the ranch this go around.  The tire tracts, water ponds and holes are repaired when they are done, but it will still take years for nature to complete the repair.  Hopefully it will be worth our while eventually. 

Drilling again

Cameco is drilling 18 more exploratory wells in a canyon in the southwest corner of the ranch and 10 wells in one of the Dawes County pastures on the ranch so there must be something interesting 1000 feet below ground in those areas.  There are 3 rigs punching these holes operating at this time.  It takes a rig just one day to core to that depth to get the necessary samples for analysis.

Autumn colors

This vine in the trees was more luxurient and brighter a few days earlier, but I didn't have the camera at the ranch.  As the trees and grass obtain their fall colors there has been some great scenes.  This is at the river diversion below the buildings.  Finally the wind has started blowing and once again the tanks are full of water.  The past 10 weeks we have had no wind (can you believe that in Nebraska)and it has created tremendous problems keeping cattle watered in the upland pastures on the south part of the ranch.

Beaver have returned

  The Niobrara River through the Wohlers Ranch completely dried up because of our severe drought during the summer for 5 years between 2002 and 2009 resulting in the beaver all leaving.  The past 2 years there has been adequate rain and the river has continuously flowed.  This has been good news for the beaver and they have returned to the ranch.  We have identified 3 new beaver dams on the ranch this summer. 

animal species

I saw many species of animals in Tajikistan that I was to advise on how to make their husbandry more productive.  There were cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys and even this camel that shared the highway with pedistrians and automobiles.   We stopped our car to give this camel a drink of water.

mountain cattle

I saw a few head of cattle on the mountain hikes that I went on north of Dushanbe, these cows were in fair shape because they had a good growth of grass to eat at least where there weren't rocks and because of more moisture in this area and fewer cows in the herd.

horsemen in Tajikistan

Tajikistan has cowboys on horseback as we do in America, however most of the herding I saw was done on foot.  I thought the difference in tack (the saddle) was dramatic, I might not be a good enough rider to stay in this saddle.  This horse was stabled in a large barn left from a large collective  farm of the Soviet days.

livestock roundup

This is late afternoon in Tajikistan and time to bring the village herd home from a day of grazing in the desert, although within walking distance there was very little grass left to eat.  As the herd enters the village, livestock peel off the herd and head down the street to each of their houseyards.  This must be the ultimate in low stress livestock (cattle, goats, sheep) handling.  Arden spent a couple of weeks in the country as a train the trainers volunteer, The trainers will then train the farmers in improved ways to produce meat with the resources that they have.  Unfortunately the resources are very limited and/or restricted for the livestock numbers that they have.

We installed our 3rd 24' livestock water tank this week on the ranch.  It will hold 8400 gallons of water--this replaces 5 smaller old tanks that held a total of 6700 gallons of water.  However 2 of the old tanks were completely disintegrated and 2 others leaked quite badly inspite of our efforts to seal them.  So we only had about 2000 gallons of effective water storage at this mill.  Our rotational grazing system that we now practice requires running large groups of cattle for short periods of time in a pasture, so this increased water supply will allow us to get by when the wind doesn't blow for several days to pump water.

bulls to pasture

Tom and Blake (the one with the hat) are taking the bulls to the pasture where the cows are.  This timing will set the ranch up to start calving in mid April of 2012.  We did not have any problems getting the bulls to go to the pasture.

Prairie rats

The 100 plus acres that was destroyed by the rats the past few years finally was nearly restored this past year.  Alas I spoke to soon as they have invaded again, in another year this area will look as smooth and devoid of grass as a Walmart parking lot.  Once that happens the dirt will blow and horses will need to be careful not to break legs in the holes.  But aren't they cute.

many flowers

The above average amount of moisture the past 2 years has lead to incredable numbers of prairie wildflowers of many species in the pastures. This is 1 of 2 patches of wild Black-eyed Susans (10 acres each) on the ranch.

abundant grass

The ranch has had 13.5 inches of moisture in 2011, about 5 inches more than average for this time of year, June 28.  Consequently we have tremendous grass growth, lots of extra cow feed.  This is a seeded grass field, the native grasses are not this tall but doing very well also.  The native grasses i.e. Blue Grama and Buffalo Grass is shorter but more nutritious for the cow.  Since total ranch income is based on cow numbers and cow feed comprises 60 to 70% of the cost of ranching it would be nice to have another 100 cow or so.  But then weather would probably change and that would be too many for the ranch to sustain.   

last calf vaccinated

The 3 man ranch crew finished the spring calf processing today.  We did this in 5 pasture groups over the last month avoiding the hassle of organizing a 12 to 15 person crew to do it in 1 day.  The calf table allowed us to process 1 calf per minute without injury to calf or cowboy.  The calves received vaccines that protects them from 12 different diseases, they were identified with the "frying pan" ranch brand and steers were created.  All the calves need to do the rest of the summer is eat, sleep and play calf games.

All of this years calves have been born now and the work load should have been reduced;  not so; the unusually wet weather has added stress to the new born calves and they are experiencing an outbreak of scours (diarrhea).  Within a few hours a previously healthy calf can become too weak to stand due to the toxins from the bacteria that infect  them.  Oral electrolytes, antibiotics and an antiinflamatory has saved any that we find in time.  Sunshine has returned  the past couple of days so hopefully this problem will disappear.

They survive

The goose nest has been deserted for several weeks and there was uncertaintany as to it's inhabinants outcome.  But today they emerged from the cattails and rushes for my viewing pleasure.  We have several nesting pairs of ducks as well, but I haven't observed any ducklings.  The ranch has received 2.6 inches of rain this week so the Niobrara is still over it's banks.

Blake is nervous

We pushed a wire into the coyote den and estimated that the puppies are more than 10' away.  I was willing to tie a rope to Blakes legs so I could pull him out if mamma coyote was present.  But this was as far as Blake was willing to advance.  Hopefully we will find them out on another day. 

puppies

Blake has been observing this hole in the bank located in the middle of cow calving pasture #2 for several weeks finally he saw coyote puppies, about 12 weeks old playing outside.  We were a little late getting a photo, but look carefully and you can see a puppy face staring back. 

Blake delivers

This is the 11th dystocia out of 135 first calf heifers that have calved so far, Blake has been involved with all of them and was the first surgeon on the last three, soon the veterinarian may not even need to be there.  We are about 75% done calving now and will be completed in 3 weeks or less.

pronghorn multiplying

Antelope (pronghorn) numbers have been invreasing thr past few years.  10 to 15 is the most we see in a herd at the ranch, but I have seen herds of over 100 head 20 miles to the south.  All of our new fences have been built with barbless wire as the bottom strand and placed 16 inches off the ground so the pronghorn can go under (their favorite way of crossing) without risk of injury.

tree replant

Pat, Arden, and Blake spent the day replanting trees that have died in the 4 shelterbelts that have been developed  in the past year plus the one developed 6 years ago.  200 trees were replaced in the new belts and 200 in the older belt, though it could have used another 200 (the damage here was done by deer, shame is I planted this belt as habitat for them).  Pat has seen the eagle 2 miles north of the ranch, not flying well but surviving.

yearlings ready for grass

These are last springs calves, now called yearlings.  They have been in a feedyard since being weaned from the cow in November.  The feedyard provided food in a bunk where it was always available, water in tanks that did not freeze over and protection from winter blizzards--life was good!  None the less today they returned to the the ranch where the grass has became green and there is even more room to roam and play--life is better.  The heifers will become cows in the herd and the steers will return to the feedyard in August to enjoy a few more months of lesiure.   

calving emergency

Occasionally when the calf is born the uterus where the calf has lived for 9 months turns wrong side out and comes out too.  Then an epidural anesthesia (low spinal) is administered so the uterus can be more easily replaced.  As a practicing veterinarian grandpa use to practice for this surgery by putting toothpaste back in the tube. 

Sharyn visits

Grandma came to the ranch and stayed one night.  About half of the calves have been born and she needed to do the accounting to be sure our numbers were correct.  We were able to explain the deficits and therefore passed the audit.  

goose nesting

The nest I built for the geese worked, they are nesting about 20 feet away from it in the one they built.  This nest photo and the coyote photo in the prior blog are quite difficult to see as their colors blend into the environment so well.  Not to mention the limited capabilities of the camera and the photographer.

coyote observing new calves

The coyotes are carefully watching the progress of calving this year.  They have been hanging out in the pasture next to the house where the heifers are calving now.  The one in this photo is about 100 yards from me, but he had been in the middle of the herd.  Prairie rats and rabbits are abundant so hopefully he will leave our calves alone.

weather changed

Did I really say we were having great calving weather?  It snowed all day accumulating about 3 inches, the wind blew 20 mph and it was 27 degrees.  Not the worst that it could be, but if you are wet and used to a 101 degree climate it must be a shock to be a new born.  6 newborns today and they are doing O'K.  It will warm tomorrow so things looking up.

Problems happen

This heifer was having difficulting delivering her calf on her own so Tom (DOG) is taking her to the obstetrical room at the ranch for veterinary assistance.  She received help from Blake (CNA) and Arden (DVM) to deliver a robust healthy bull calf.  The 3 of us have been staying nights at the ranch so we can check calving progress of the herd every 4 hours and give assistance when needed.

Calving season has arrived

Spring has arrived in the Nebraska panhandle and calves are being born.  After 4 days there are now 30 new additions to the herd (only 329 more to go within the next 6 weeks).  The weather has been great for calving and this young heifer group has had some problems learning how to be new mothers but they are learning fast.  Fortunately under the left over grass from last year the new grass is becoming green and with warm weather approaching there will be plenty for them to eat.

Solving the energy crisis

The ranch has leased the right to test and drill for uranium the past 3 years to Crow Butte Mining a subsidiary of Cameco, a large uranium mining company.  Last year 18 test holes were drilled and this past fall another 12.  After the test the grass is reseeded on the 10' by 20' damaged area where a small pond had been during the drilling.  If a promising layer is found it is at about 900' to 1200', then a well is placed allowing a solution to be pumped into the hole to leech out the uranium so it can be recovered.  This uranium, if found, is a low grade and not very dangerous to be around.  The ranch is 10 miles from an uranium well field mine that has been in operation for many years.  If a promising layer of the ore is found it would probably be many years before a mine would be developed on the ranch.  

geese arrive

The pair of  geese that laid over for several weeks at the ranch last year stopped again this week.  Hopefully they will find the elevated nest that I built for them and decide to stay and raise little goslings here this summer.  The river is still extremely high as the frost comes out of the ground and the ice in the river melts, we won't tell the geese that sometimes the river dries up in the summer.  The eagle was released today (he runs on the ground great, but doesn't fly so good) we will see how he does for a few days on his own.

cleaning up

The ranch has an accumulation of 75 to 100 year old buildings that are in various stages of dilapedation and have been unuseable for many years, consequently we have dug a large pit to burn them and other old corral boards with their many nails and bolts.  It was 5 degrees today so the heat felt good.  This is the Wohlers Ranch private land fill.

Eagle attempts to fly

An attempt was made to release the eagle after 8 days, he has been eating great and jumps accross the stalls in the horse barn.  But he wasn't able to get off of the ground.  You can see in the photo that his right wing has some paralysis, he can flap it but doesn't have the strength for a lift off.  He will be given some more time and we will see what happens.

pregnancy checking cows

Pat, Blake and Dr. Arden found out today which cows were going to have calves born this spring and thus earn the right to remain on the Wohlers ranch eating grass for another year.  The pregnancy test is accomplished by placing the cow in a squeeze chute were they are gently held very still while the veterinarian reaches inside the cow to see if a calf is there.  The cows were also vaccinated for protection against diseases that could cause their calves to have diarrhea (scours) after they are born.

Brucellosis vaccinating

The replacement heifers were vaccinated for Brucellosis today and identified as such by placing a tattoo in their ear.  This is a disease they can get from other cattle, wildlife or people that causes their calf to die before it is born.  This disease is nearly eradicated in the U.S. but has health concerns for people who can get it from cattle as well.  They were also vaccinated against 10 other diseases in a combination to keep them healthy while producing beef to keep us healthy for many years to come.

The Eagle has landed

We were headed to the bull pasture to feed Monday morning (it was -15 F + chill factor) when we came upon this dazed juvinile golden eagle which  Blake easily captured. We have placed him in a barn and will feed him rabbits or prairie rodents and hopefully be able to release him in a few days.  No injuries could be found so suspect he received a concussion from flying into a power line.  By Tuesday afternoon he had become much more alert and was eating well. 

HDQTS (guest house)

When the weather is cold and the evenings are long Blake has been patching nail holes, removing wall paper and repainting the guest house at ranch headquarters.  The living/dining great room, upper level bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen area have been completed with carpet installation in the master bedroom.  A western and wildlife motiff  using prints and origional art work  that the Wohlers family has collected over many years adds to the relaxing atmosphere you can enjoy on your visit.  COME VISIT SOON !    

Unloading hay for cows

Hay was delivered to the ranch today so there will be feed for the cows when the snow is too deep for them to find grass to eat.  So far this winter there has not been that much snow-but just in case.  These bales weigh about 1600 pounds.  A cow will eat 20-25 pounds of feed each day.  Hay and grass contain the energy that a cow needs to stay warm in the winter.  Fortunately the past few days have been mild so the cows are doing well and using the energy to get fat instead of needing it to stay warm.