Neiber Ranch

With our field now in pasture, we decided to pick up some replacement heifers and run them on the ranch. Neiber was the last name of Mom's great grandfather who homesteaded the place we now live on. And this area where the Gooseberry Creek dumps into the Big Horn River is still known as Neiber. Sheep have been the main critter of choice around here for years. But with the pasture and set up we have now, it's time to see how well she run cows. 

Luke has been running our red calf Andi for the past year. So we picked up a few matching calves from him and hauled them out to the house. 

Different colors, but similar in size and disposition. 

Welcome home. 

It's good to make the working pen a friendly place. So we ran them down the alley and through the chute with no pressure before kicking them into the corral. The next time around they shouldn't hesitate because the first time was a good experience. We'll see. 

Later we trailed them back into the pen. No problem. 

Then we ran them in and branded them. The squeeze chute works good. Small calves are always a challenge with a big chute. Alls well that ends well. 

Reverse L Drawknife was my great grandfather Adam Lungren's brand. Grandpa Lloyd then gave it to Dad. 

We also re-tagged them. 

Andi has fared well over the past year. 

They'll spend the next few weeks hanging in the corral, nibbling on hay until the pasture is ready. 

The grass we planted last year is coming along!

Let the fun begin. Our place has been a good farm, now we'll see how she runs as a ranch. Watching corn and barley grow is fun. But I think Mom will equally enjoy keeping an eye on cattle. Let's ranch!