By Staff Writer: Natalie Deleon
My brother shared a glimpse of one of his typical days—a routine full of feeding, checking on livestock, and helping with animals, all while making time for his girlfriend and our family. The morning started with the usual, him waking up, brushing his teeth, and having breakfast.
One of the first tasks was moving a calf he had kept in the barn back to the pen. He opened the pen to let the animals roam freely, making sure they had room to run around. Part of his job is monitoring the health of his steer, which he recently bought, so he kept an eye on it to make sure it wasn’t showing any signs of sickness. After that, he and my grandpa headed to their friends, Otos, to check if they had feed in stock. Unfortunately, he wasn’t available.
Photo Credit: Natalie Deleon
With no feed to pick up, my brother and grandpa cleaned the pens to keep things in order. The next task involved sorting bulls for slaughter. There were nine bulls, some weighing close to or over 2,000 pounds; massive animals that require careful handling. Once they finished with the bulls, my brother went to help his girlfriend, Stephanie, with her sheep.
Together, they treated the sheep and relocated them to a new pen.After the long morning and afternoon of work, they took a well-deserved break and went to Chili’s for dinner. Later, they stopped by our mom’s house to visit and unwind for a little while.Even though he had the night off from feeding at the ranch since there was already plenty of feed for the animals, my brother wasn’t quite done for the day. Back at Stephanie’s ranch, he moved her calf into the barn, set up a heat lamp to keep it warm, and gave it a bottle. Then, he fed the cows and covered their feed to protect it from the rain that was expected.
With the day’s tasks finally wrapped up, he ended the evening relaxing, enjoying some downtime after another busy day. This is just one example of the hard work my brother puts into managing animals and helping his girlfriend’s family. It’s not just a job it’s a lifestyle rooted in dedication, family, and responsibility. Whether it’s sorting massive bulls or caring for a newborn calf, every day brings new challenges, but he meets them with his head held high!