PART 4 OF SIX
CATTLE HANDLING
Moving Cow/Calf Pairs Hold Up to Stay Put By DYLAN BIGGS
I
have touched on moving cow/calf pairs in a previous article, but because of the universal challenge moving pairs presents, a more in-depth discussion is warranted.
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All ranchers I have spoken to, without exception, over the last 24 years of doing livestock handling clinics have experienced the challenge of moving cow/calf pairs. Any and all of them, including myself, have had calves run back either on the way to or shortly after reaching the new pasture. All of us can relate to the frustration of doing
our best to get all the cows and calves to the new pasture, and minutes after we close the gate the cows have headed off to graze, but the calves are coming back to the gate. We all know how well a fourwire or even five-wire fence or gate holds young calves that are determined to go back to find Mom — not at all. Once calves make up their mind and are on their way back, it is very difficult to convince them otherwise. And when one goes, almost guaranteed, others will follow. Once the calves have gone back, the moms too will eventually go back in search of their calves, so it is not uncommon for the job of cleaning up runbacks to take as long as the original move. It may not be the most challenging cattle handling job, but it certainly ranks right up there. Typically, the younger the calves, the larger the herd and the farther one is going, the greater the probability of the calf losing track of Mom — especially if Mom is more interested in green grass than she is in keeping track of her calf — and the more challenging the job becomes. The age of the cow matters, too — first-calf heifers have a
PHOTOS COURTESY TK RANCH
COWBOY WAY
