Weaner Time

14th Nov

Nope not the sausage variety but the cattle variety. A weaner is a calf that has been taken off it's mother so it can no longer suck off her. They can be weaned as young as 6months although some aren't weaned until 8 to 10months of age. This depends on the property, the cattle and the season. When steers and heifers (boys and girls) are weaned here they are usually tailed for 2 weeks. Tailing means they are taken out every day to feed and walk along the fence lines and learn how to stay together in a mob. This is done on horseback here.

Here are some pictures of the horses and riders getting ready to go ...

 

 

 

The weaners were put into the paddock beside the house to feed and water for a few hours yesterday before being moved along again.

 

 

 

A previous post on weaners can be found here.

Texas Longhorn (Part 2)

 

Here are some more photos of other things taken while at the Texas Longhorn Wagon Tours near Charters Towers.

 

 

 

Some observers on the tour.

 

This is what you call squished into a pouch.

 

 

The muddy Water Buffalo.

 

 

 

 

Our mode of transport to see the Longhorns.

 

The covered wagon used for tours made by Michael.

 

Some very pretty and shy deer.

Sunset and Horses

The other evening I was loving the look of the sun coming through the gathering clouds and so I set off to take a few photos. Here is some of what I saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back In Action



I know I've been MIA (Missing In Action) for a while but things have been a little hectic around here. I will get around to the whys some other time but for now we are getting back to the norm after three weeks of routine mess up.



Today saw the steers being mustered and dipped so they can be inspected on Monday and trucked on Tuesday ... busy, busy. There were a few extra helpers around of the adult form with the brother and sister of Boss R and Boss H and their spouses staying for a while.

This was a good thing as Boss H and his family, Boss Lady H, Miss E, Mr E and Mr T are away for a few days. Hopefully all will be back on board by next Wednesday as the schoolroom is a bit light on at the moment. It is a nice change and brings back memories of when it was like that before, just me and two kiddies, but I do miss the others and what they bring to the schoolroom.

My lawn mowers, the up side to no fence.



Today was our second day back in the schoolroom (first full one, with proper school work) after time away. I think we have now spent a grand total of three days in the schoolroom in three weeks. Well done us. It was quiet but very productive and as a reward for wonderful work I won over the two workers, Miss S and Mr R, with a 'spider' (drink of cause, no way I am going round catching spiders for kids ewww, I'll leave that to Miss E) and a Boost to 'boost their energy for the afternoon'. I was a hit, now who doesn't love that.

Spider - Ginger Beer and Icecream

This afternoon I had a very productive time snoozing dreaming up new activities and capturing a glorious sunset. A beautiful end to a lovely day weather wise and an awesome day in the schoolroom.

A real spider

Taking Away and Rotational Grazing

On Thursday afternoon after being worked in the yards all morning (drafted, dipped, branded, tagged, castrated) the bulls, bullocks, steers, weaners, heifers and cows were 'taken away' to their new home.

'Taking away' is when the cattle that were mustered and then worked in the cattle yards  are taken back out to a paddock.

As is the case here they go to a new paddock as the station practices rotational grazing which means the cattle move paddocks each muster so each paddocks has a chance to grow new grass before it is used again. It depends on the season how long the paddock goes without cattle but it is around 3 - 6months but every couple of years it has a longer break. This practice means the station is holding less than capacity numbers of cattle but there is more feed and better feed so fatter happier cattle. It also lasts longer when there is no rain. Not eating the place out also prevents erosion. The downside in a good season though is with all that grass comes fire like here.

Now the best part, some photos of Boss R, Boss H and Miss E taking cattle away to Paradise Lagoon Paddock on Thursday. They brought the cattle right past the houses to get there.