By Staff Writer: Natalie Deleon
Running a cattle business can sometimes be overwhelming and can cause trouble in day to day life. Although, one issue with animals is that there is technically never a day off. We forget to realize that some jobs are closed for the day. Working with animals prevents that from happening. My brother usually gets up around 8 to get ready to head out to the ranch. Sunday, February 11 was a snowy day from the moment we woke up. My brother, being a young person, assumed he could drive out to the farm on his own but understood we were worried for his safety. My uncle picked him up and they fed, broke ice and cleaned up.
Breaking ice can be an adventure for sure! During freezing temps it can completely freeze the ice and can keep the cows from being hydrated. To solve this problem, we find a shovel, ax, or anything that won’t break and basically beat up the ice until it’s all shattered. This can be fun but also stressful. Since the animals understand what we are doing they get eager to drink water and although we know they are thirsty, we have to shush them away until we are done. All we need is to cause an accident. Afterwards, they headed home to have a good breakfast.
Around 4 in the afternoon we headed out there again. Making sure the animals are being well cared of and checking on the sheep if any have given birth. During this time the snow had gotten much thicker and heavy. When we arrived luckily we didn’t get stuck. After checking on the animals and giving more water we decided we wanted to enjoy the snow and let off some “steam” or shall we say “shivers”. We made snow angels and realized how deep the snow actually was. I would say we at least had about ten inches of snow that day! After enjoying the time we headed home and made some hot chocolate to enjoy the rest of the evening and also watched the Super Bowl. What a game!
