Just Rambling

Winter update in Wyoming:  11 below last night (not including the wind chill)!  Everything is moving pretty slowly this morning.  Hay is disappearing much faster from the feeders - keeping those bellies filled keeps Moosters warmer in this weather.  Starting the tractor ought to be a good time today!

A Belated welcome to our latest Moosters from Missouri:  Last month we made the long trek to Missouri pulling a trailer that made our rig almost as long as a semi.  A very long detour to get there and back (who knew that the flooding along the river last summer would still be an issue?).  Six very nice cows, three very nice bull calves (soon to be steers), and two bulls destined for Tiny Twisters made the trip back to Wyoming in great shape.  Can't really say the same for the two humans involved, but we made it!  Here are a few of our latest additions:

That's SF Mulgwen and two of the bull calves.  Neither belong to her, but they seem pretty attached to her anyway.  She's a fine older cow with the most beautiful face, nicest build and amazing horns.  We're hoping for a few red calves in her future.

Gladhour Rominy Reah - a very pretty girl with a super nice udder and another pretty face!  She's polled and potentially homozygous polled at that!  Seems like we've been trying to buy her forever and now she's here!

Gladhour Swallow -  lovely horns and a great traditional Dexter look.  Not the best picture by any means; it just doesn't do her justice.

At this point, we're sure they are wondering what the heck with the weather!

Chow Time

It's been a bit busy around Moosters Meadows lately, so not many pictures have been taken.  A post without pictures isn't much fun, so the camera finally made it outside today.  All three feeders for the big herd were empty.  If you are a Mooster, that's serious!

Time to fill the feeders!  The girls hear the tractor and come running when it starts up.  The biggest challenge is to get the bale into the feeder without three or four cows attached to it. 

They will follow those round bales anywhere!

Even Miss Carnival comes to the sound of the tractor delivering hay....   She's getting so tall already.  Lots of leg!

 Sometimes it's more work than play at Moosters Meadows.  This was definitely not a play day!  We were holding two bulls in our corrals for Tiny Twisters (the bulls had hitched a ride home with us when we picked up our latest cows - more on that later).  Our corrals weren't exactly designed with horned bulls in mind. 

Let's just say that we learned that a water hydrant can be unscrewed (and bent) by a bull who needs to rub against something.  The offending bull (pictured behind the tractor above) had managed to twist the hydrant round and round enough that it came undone - not broken - five feet below ground.  Hoping that it was black gold bubbling from the ground rather than water (well, we can always hope), we discovered the source of the leak and the digging started.

Our soil turns to quicksand when wet like this.  More than once I thought Chris was going to sink to China!  That mud weighs a ton per shovel full!





The hydrant has been replaced (and surrounded by posts to prevent this from happening again), the water has been turned back on, and the bulls have moved on to their new homes. 

We're just happy that this didn't happen when it was 30 below!  Winter is coming to Wyoming.

A True Disappointment

Wynter did not become pregnant last year and she came up open again this year.  Since she's such a beautiful girl, we were naturally disappointed that we haven't had a calf (despite using two separate bulls).  Given that it's nearly time to put the "fall calf" girls in with the bulls, we decided it was time to have her vet checked so as not to go through the issue again.

After a full pelvic exam, our wonderful vet delivered the bad news.  She has ovaries and a uterus, but they are not free floating as they should be.... she'll never be able to have a calf.  He said it could have been a result of an infection that never manifested externally or it could be a congenital defect.  In either case, the news was just bad.

She'll be our first cull animal.

Carnival has arrived!

 She's here!  It seems like we've all been waiting forever for her arrival.  Meet ES Carnival Red, the daughter of MornStar Seana and Tama Titanium.  We knew that Seana's calf would be both red and polled, but we still had the excitement of waiting to see if it would be a bull or a heifer.  Carnival was bred by Elissa Emmons in Texas.  We purchased Seana at the AGM in Stillwater this summer.  Thanks Elissa!

She arrived while we were on our long planned cruise vacation (Carnival - get it!?!) on Friday.  A Murphy's Law kind of thing -- we were certain that Seana was going to calve on the day we left for the airport, but she managed to hold out for six more days.  Glad we didn't wait!

Mother and daughter are doing fine.  Seana has one of the nicest udders we've ever seen and she's a really sweet mom.

Seana loves her treats - with or without Carnival nearby.  She is a treat hound (which means we can always get great pictures of her)......

Moosters Big and Small

 Meet the smallest Moosters - Johnny Ringo and (sometimes known as) Lily.  Their parents are our two adult mini schnauzers, Brewster and Ripley.  Johnny Ringo will be staying here at Moosters Meadows.  Lily will be heading for her new home in Colorado in about two weeks.  We're pretty attached to both of them, so it's going to be hard to say good bye to Lily. 

Here's our largest Mooster - Gladhour Winchester.  He's a big marshmallow!  Winchester was born here, left us for a while and has returned home - much to our delight.  He hasn't changed much (other than those extra 700 pounds or so) since he was a little bull.  He still loves to have his curlies scratched, is a treat hound and just a true gentle giant.  He's halter trained and will be the sire for about a half dozen of our spring 2011 calves.

Today we turned Yellowstone and Harper out with the big boys.  As you can see, Winchester is happily welcoming the little guys to the bull pasture.  All's well in the land of the boys.

Goodbye to Four Footed Friends.....

Sometimes they are born here; sometimes they arrive from elsewhere.  Sometimes they get sold.  This month a few of our four footed friends have been sold - to wonderful families, I might add.  The last of this year's sales left yesterday and we are going to miss them.  Our reasons for sale are as varied as the Dexters themselves.  We always strive to make a good fit between our Dexters and their new owners.

Elsie is off to Cheyenne.  She's bred to Winchester and should have a wonderful (dun) calf in the spring.  She's going to be a milk cow!  Her temperament is so suited to milking.  She's easy to lead and handle, including her udders.  She's interested in everything and truly sweet.  We hope Addison enjoys her as much as we have!

Yardley and Wish are safely settled today in Blackfoot, Idaho.  Wish is perfect with another buddy or two.  She's a bit skittish in a big herd, so we think she and Yardley are going to make great pals and super Dexters for their new owners.  Wish is sweet natured, but shy so she will be happier with only one or two pals.  Yardley is still really young but she enjoys brushing and petting.  She'll grow up to be a fine young heifer.  We're going to miss them both, but know that they will have a great home with Page and Natalie.

We haven't yet decided our perfect herd size.  So far, so good, as we are able to "visit" with them nearly every day.  It means we know the personalities of each of our Dexters.....and they know us.