I can now officially say that I have pulled a calf.  Trent and I brought a second calver up to the barn that was having some troubles.  Trent being the thoughtful and caring husband he is, thought it would be in my best interest to learn how to pull a calf,  in case I ever was home alone.  Usually I am the calving assistant, this means that I get the calf puller and straps,  pull the tail out of the way, clean the skin off of the calves nose and am the general cheerleader to the person doing the pulling.  I like to stay away from the stuff that can get me yelled at or that can cause any sort of complication leading to an animal demise, but not this time.  I should point out that the feet that were sticking out of this cow were huge.  Trent did assist me in getting the straps on the feet but then I took over.  He talked me through the process and I pushed the puller down letting her stretch out and help to push this monster out.  It takes a lot of strength to crank those calf pullers and I was using everything I had.   Things were going great until we got to the end of the puller and the hips were still in.  Trent took over  to get him the rest of the way out but I think I will still chalk this one up as my first.  We weighed the bull calf and he was about 102 pounds.  Not the biggest one this year but definately a whopper.  Mom and baby are doing fine.    Sorry there aren't any pictures but I was a little busy and it was midnight. 

I know I haven't posted on here for a long time but things have been extremely hectic around our place and lack of sleep is starting to get to all of us.  We have been averaging about 15 to 20 calves  a day but the last two days we have had closer to 30.  There is new life springing up everywhere.  :)   The good thing is the temperatures seems to be taking a turn for the better even though we get a few spurts of snow here and there.  

Trent and I have been busy tagging all of the new babies and getting them to new pastures.  My dad (Jim) and Trent's dad (Darrell) have been in charge of feeding all of the hungry critters and my mom (Darlene) is the mobile veterinary unit.  Once those babies are out on pasture she makes sure that everyone stays healthy and happy.  She is often seen with a couple of kids and a dog or two loaded up assisting her with her duties.  Around our place everyone gets in on the fun.   

As of April 1st, 2013,  we are about 1/2 done calving.  Once we get to the halfway mark, everyone seems to breathe a sigh of relief. We are at the top of the hill and things are usually easier going down, Right??  Either way those babies are going to be born and we have to be there to help them into this world.  There are going to be some long days ahead but ranching is our passion and we wouldn't trade it.