I've Got Friends With Pastures

You ain't got a thing on me, cause I've got friends with pastures.

Was your weekend amazing? Mine was! I spent it with my lovely friend and roommate-to-be, Chantelle, at her ranch west of Calgary, Alberta. The weekend's projects included building a new calf shed for the cows to calve in during the spring months and processing cattle. It may sound like work, but the fresh air and break from real life was just what I needed before I head off to DC this week. 

The cows and calves on their pasture

Processing is a term for working the animals individually through a chute system to perform some type of herd health routine. Today it was vaccinations against Bovine Viral Diarrhea and a few other common and dangerous diseases. My job was to operate the vaccination needles. Calves were also given identification tags in their ears and de-horned if necessary.  

Crossing the creek that runs through their pasture

Herding them to the corrals for processing

The few pictures I did snap don't really do justice to how beautiful this part of the world is. I've always said I'll have a ranch in this area near Calgary, but I might have to become a millionaire before I can do that with current land prices. Yet another thing for the "someday" list!