Twins

The twin we brought to the calf shed today.

We were beginning to wonder if the cows in our breeding program were ever going to begin to calve.  Four of the five bred cows we bought to replace cows we had to sell had already calved.  The start date for our own cows was two days ago; but finally this morning at about 8 AM, the first cow of our herd presented us with not one but two calves.  Twins can mean problems. Over the last decade, we seem to have more than our share of twins with the highest number of sets of twins at six, most years it has ranged between two and three sets, but never less than one set.

A dairy farmer selects breeds of cattle which produce a large quantity of good quality milk.  A beef rancher selects breeds of cattle which will develop muscle with just the right amount of fat to provide high quality meat.  We are concerned that a beef cow have a good mothering instinct and produce enough high quality milk to grow her calf  and keep it healthy.  While a beef cow may be able to produce enough milk for two calves, it usually is at the expense of her own physical condition. Through years of observation, we have noticed that our cows deal with twins in one of two ways.  The first way is to feed the calf which is closest to her and demands food.  I jokingly tell my friends that because a cow can't count to two, she feeds which ever calf is closest to her and doesn't realize that there are two different calves.  In this instance, both calves become weak because neither gets adequate nourishment.  The second way that a cow deals with twins is to pick one and refuse the other.  From our observations, size, sex or strength don't have a baring on why a cow chooses one calf and refuses the other.  That's a study for the scientists.

When we have a set of twins born here on the ranch we always remove one calf so that the cow will raise only one.  This way the cow and the calf will both be strong.  Usually, when twins are born, a cow will have the first calf, clean it off, get it to stand and feed; then after awhile, leaving her first calf , she will go off to a different part of the calving grounds to have her second calf which she will clean off, get it to stand, and feed it. It from this point that we spend the day watching to see how the cow will react to her twins.  If the cow chooses one and refuses the other, it is easy to pick which one to pull (take away from its mother).  If the cow is willing to feed both calves then we must make the choice for her.  We usually pull the weaker or smaller calf.  For whatever reason the calf is pulled from its mother, it then becomes a "Bucket" calf; it's called that because we use a one gallon blue bucket with a nipple to feed it.  On some ranches where they use one gallon plastic bottles to feed the calf they're called bottle calves.

Measuring cups, bucket, colostrum, scale, whip, calculator, pen and paper are all used to make sure the calf gets what she needs.

The mother of today's twins was one of those mothers who seemed okay with both calves.  The smaller calf, a heifer, was born first and was an only calf for about two hours.  This meant that she had a great start, was completely dry and had a good dose of her mother's colostrum.  The cow went off to deliver her second calf.  He too received a good tongue drying and a good dose of colostrum.  This cow had a strong mothering instinct and took an pretty equal interest in both calves.  We chose the smaller calf to bring up to calf shed.

Because there is so much snow that we can only get to the calving grounds with the tractor, there are two options for getting them up to the calf shed, inside the cab of the tractor or in the front end loader.  If the calf is small enough, Jim lifts them up into the tractor's cab.  Luckily, they're young enough that Jim can keep them lying down and still drive.  If they're too big to lift into the cab of the tractor or too active, then Jim comes and gets me. We catch the calf and load it into the front end loader.  Jim climbs in to hold the calf, I raise the front end loader and tip the bucket so that it is like a cradle for Jim and the calf.  We drive out of the calving grounds and up the road to the house and calf shed in a procession with Fritz, our border collie, leading the way because he seems to act as if he is in charge of every calf we bring up to the shed.  

The calf shed is actually a shed constructed in the 1940's that has been used for as a chicken house, 4-H pig house and storage.  Currently, it is storage with one end where there are large windows and access to power sectioned off for the purpose of sheltering the bucket calves.  Fresh hay is scattered thickly on the floor and a heat lamp is hung in one corner.  We leave the calf alone.

Checking and warming the new nipple with water.

We gather the equipment, check the nipple, and do the math to figure out the exact ration of colostrum powder to water to make an individual serving for the calf.  In the meantime, the calf is hopefully getting hungry.  It helps if the calf is hungry before we start the next step; teaching the calf how to accept the nipple of the bucket and suck on it.  When a calf nurses naturally, it's standing, stretched out and curves its neck up and under the nipple.  We try to put the calf in the same position to teach it to nurse from the bucket.  Other issues that the calf would have with the bucket is that the nipple isn't as soft or pliable as it's mothers, the bucket doesn't give like it's mother's udder, and I doubt that the milk tastes the same.

Mixing the colostrum with the right temperature of water.

When we teach the calf to nurse from the bucket, we stand the calf in a corner, Jim standing astraddle of it.  I hold the bucket in front and gently press the nipple to the calve's lips.  Jim opens the her mouth and I place the nipple on top of the tongue, hoping the calf will wrap its tongue around the nipple. Usually, Jim has to close the calve's mouth around the nipple and with his hand gently causes the calf to squeeze the nipple forcing milk into the calve's throat.  If the calf resists this, Jim puts a finger inside the mouth pressing on the nipple causing it to squirt the milk into the calves mouth. The calf tries to back away but can't because we have it in a corner.  After a few pumps, the calf has to swallow.  If the calf doesn't swallow, I remove the nipple from the its mouth, Jim raises the calve's head and I gently stroke the outside of its throat which causes the calf to swallow.  Most of the time, after the first few tries, the calf gets the idea and begins to suck on the nipple itself.  Today's calf took only one try before she figured out how to get milk from the bucket.  We'll have to put her in a corner every time we feed her, usually less than four times, until she starts coming to the blue bucket.  From this point on, she will follow the blue bucket anywhere.

After we get her trained to use the bucket, we will find her a different home.  We have three options.  The first option is to take the calf to the grandchildren on the front range.  At the ages of 7 and 8, they are old enough to do most of the care taking but will still need help with teaching her to lead and stand.  They may decide to join the 4-H as Cloverbuds.  Another option is to do what we did two years ago and find kid in 4-H here in Routt County who would like to raise the calf for a bucket calf project.  Pee Wee the Wonder Calf is a story I wrote about our bucket calf of two years ago.  The third option is to call our friend Nancy.  She has cows which are half beef cows and half milk cows.  These cows produce enough milk to grow two or three calves each.  She has worked with them and has trained them to easily take orphan calves as their own.  She buys twin calves or other orphaned calves for her cows now and sells them in the fall.

The twin calf which is still with its mother is doing very well, bouncing around but still staying close to his mother's side.  He has received his number, 5.  Another calf was born this afternoon and as the sun sets is up and going strong also.  He is number 6.  The twin that we have brought up to the calf shed will not receive a herd number.  If the grandkids take her, she will get a herd number if they decide to sell her with our calves next fall; if they decide to sell her on their own she won't have a herd number.   If someone in 4-H wants her for a project, we'll pay all of her expenses and give the one who cared for her all summer a percentage of her sale price so she'll get a herd number if she sells with our herd.  If our friend Nancy takes her, she will get a herd number for Nancy's herd.  We'll keep you informed.

The calf has learned to suck on her own but is still learning to stay attached to the bucket.

Some books about this subject you might be interested in are:

Fiction books

Little Joe by Sandra Neil Wallace ( for third grade or higher)  The story of a nine year old boy who raises a bucket calf for the fair.

Sugar Lump the Orphan Calf  by Lynn Sheffield Simmons (for upper fifth grade or higher)  This is a story of a 12 year old girl raising a bucket calf.  This has a teacher's guide and discussion questions and activities at

http://www.argylebooks.com/SLtOCBS.htm

Nonfiction books

Wow, It’s a Cow by Judy and Jay Harris (toddler to preschool)

 

Cows and Their Calves by Margaret Hall ( early elementary)

Cattle: Cows, Bulls and Calves on the farm by Lorijo Metz (elementary)

Fun and Silly Books

Only a Cow   Lucy, the cow is looking for a more exciting life (preschool and early elementary) 

Amazing Cows by Sandra Boynton   poems, stories, cartoons, games revolving around cows (fun for all ages.  Most school children are familiar with Sandra Boynton books)

 

Calves 2,3,4 -- The coming of Spring

Beginning in March, the color of the mountains in the evening change from blue to pink.  This photo is taken last year by our neighbor Julie Green from her livingroom window looking across our meadow.

For most of the state, March marks the beginning of spring.   For those of us nestled close to the continental divide at 7,000 feet or higher, March means the beginning of  "mud season".  A time when you keep a pair of shoes in the car for wearing in town and you have your mud boots to wade from the house to the car and the car to the house. You wear your pant legs rolled up to your knees or tucked into the tops of your tall boots and no matter how careful you are, the back of your legs have mud on them from climbing into and out of the car or truck.  It's easy to tell who lives out in the county, they're car is the color of Routt County clay.  If we're lucky, mud season will last only until the end of April; if it's a wet year, mud season will last through the rainy days of late May and early June.

March is also the beginning of the windy time here at the ranch.  Wind always comes before the many warm and cold fronts which pass through here and during the last part of March there are many fronts both with and without moisture.  This wind can come at any time of the day or night, is usually strong, but is over in a matter of hours.   These winds are not a danger to the cows or calves except to very young calves that are still getting acclimated to the world outside of the womb.  To help protect the newborn calves, Jim clears a calving ground by removing all but about 6 inches of snow.  The site for the calving ground is carefully chosen.  There is a bluff and a group of trees at the west end of the meadow.  Because our weather normally follows the river from the west, this bluff and trees serve to divert and slow the wind.  The calving grounds are laid out at the foot of the bluff and just east of the trees.  In addition, the snow is piled in such a way as to form a high windbreak along the west side.  It is here that the cattle take refuge during the March storms.

Calf Two was born on March 16 around noon.  Calf Two, like Calf One, is an all black heifer.  The only way to tell the two apart is by their blue eartags.  She was born on a warm sunny day and able to get dry and feed before the sun set.   In the very early hours of the morning the wind started up.  It was followed by a wet spring storm.  By the time we awoke, there was a foot of new wet snow and it was still snowing heavily.  Calves are amazing.  After they are  two or three days old they are resilient and impervious to our type of  bad weather.  It is during the first 24 hours that the calves develop their immunity and strength.  It takes a couple more days of their mother's rich milk for them to develop some body fat to help them maintain their body temperature in bad weather.    We were worried about Calf Two.

The first business of the day was to check on the cows to see 1) whether the wind had blown the feed trail shut, 2) if any more calves had been born and 3) to see how our two calves were doing.  The wind had stopped before the snow started to fall so the feed trails had a foot of new snow but weren’t blown shut.  Luckily, no calves had decided to be born in the bad weather and both calves seemed to be doing okay.  Calf One was bouncing around, racing here and there.  Calf Two was what we call a little droopy, curled up next to her mother for warmth, wet but not shivering. Of course, she wasn't even a day old.  We would monitor Calf Two all day.  Determining when to bring a calf to the house is balancing act.  Step in too early and the calf doesn’t have the opportunity to develop its immune system; step in too late and the calf has a long recovery time or doesn’t recover at all. We feel that allowing nature to take its course, up to a certain point, results in stronger cattle which are suited to this climate.  By feeding time at 3 PM, Calf Two had become stronger and was up and moving around.  The cattle first fed and then another 800 pound bale of hay was taken to spread making dry bedding for the calves and cows. Calves Three and Four made their appearance with no calving problems on this, the first day of spring.  Both are all black; one bull and one heifer.  In the blog, Kansas Cattle Ranch, there is a wonderful photo essay on the birth of a calf which was posted on March 4, 2011.

For us, March means exchanging one shovel for another.  We no longer need the light weight scoop shovels  to shovel roofs.  It is amazing how something as small and light as a snowflake can accumulate enough to cause rafters to buckle, roofs to leak and buildings to collapse.  We change to narrower pointed irrigation shovels to dig drainage trenches along the lane and across the yard.  This allows the melting snow to drain away so the farmstead road and parking area will dry.  In a few more days, we will shovel snow away from the house so the basement won’t flood. 

Shoveling snow from the roof is vital during the winter.

Trenching is important to dry out the farm yard.

Spring comes from the lower altitude of the West.   It slowly creeps closer from downriver and arrives in a way which is uniquely its own.  On this the first day of spring, the snow is over 3 ½ feet deep on the flat ground of the calving grounds and just the tips of the sagebrush are beginning to appear on the west facing hilltop across from the house.  The county roads now show their edges, the paved ones are dry and the dirt ones muddy.  There are a few spots bare of snow on the steep south facing slopes.  Thirteen miles west on Highway 40 around the town of Hayden the snow level on the flats is about a foot.  The edges of the lawns in town are showing and most of the county roads in and around Hayden are muddy only in the low areas.  The south facing slopes are bare and the sagebrush stands completely above the snow.  Seventeen miles west beyond Hayden is Craig.  The only snow in the yards of Craig are piles remaining from shoveling the roofs and the snow depth on the flats outside of town is only three or four inches.  The dirt roads close to Craig are dry and dusty and more than just the south facing slopes that are bare.

 The animals are slowly making their way back into the high country. Around Craig, the elk and deer can be seen even in the middle of  the day biding their time along the roadsides or mingling with the herds of cattle and horses or nibbling on the lawns in town.  They are waiting for the snow levels to fall in the higher country and for the grasses to green and the nutrition to rise into the plants.  Thousands of Canadian geese are floating on the fields of water caused by the snow melting so rapidly.  Around Hayden, there are just a few Canadian geese standing on the few bare spots in the meadows waiting for the snow to melt off to form the large pools of water.  The elk and deer haven’t moved into the area but the first of the Sandhill cranes can be seen. 

 Here at the ranch, the only wildlife are the coyotes that move easily across the snow crust and the skunks that have discovered where we feed the barn cats.  Three Canadian geese pairs have returned to the meadow, spending their time on the newly cleared calving ground waiting for pools of water to form.   It is usually the last day of winter, March 19^th, when our sandhill cranes return but this year it will be later because their nesting area is still under  deep snow. 

The depth of snow outside the bedroom window on the first day of spring.

The oldtimers say that beginning on the first day of spring, the snow level will fall an inch a day.  Within three weeks, our snow level will fall to a foot.  It will take another two weeks for the snow to be completely gone from the meadow and by May, the snow will be gone from the valley floor; but winter will still be in the high country.  Happy Spring! 

May brings spring to our fields but winter is less than 10 miles away.

Step One - Calving - Calf One

Calf One enjoying the warm sunshine, age 1 day.

From my pasture to your plate.  Ranches like ours are the first step in providing nutrient rich protein and other by-products for society.  The ranch fits into a category called cow/calf.  Most cattle are born on family owned cow/calf ranches. This means that we make sure that our cows have everything they need; adequate amounts of good food and clean water, space, appropriate shelter, health care, protection from predators and a stress free life.  In return, each cow presents us with a healthy calf.  The calves spend the hot summer months in the cool high country with their mothers grazing on some of the most nutritious grass in the world, drinking from cool mountain springs, converting grass, which humans can not use as a food source, into meat. In the fall, we separate the cows and calves and sell the calves usually to a rancher who is a backgrounder or stocker.  To see all of the steps click Pasture to Plate.  Today, we'll talk about the first step, calving.

Some vocabulary you will need to know:  Cattle or Bovine are the animal species, cows are the adult females who have given birth to at least two calves, calves are the young cattle under a year of age, bulls are adult male cattle which are used for breeding or the male calves, heifers are the female young calves who either haven't had any calves or have had only two calves, steers are the young male cattle who have been neutered so they can't breed and yearlings which are all cattle which are between the age of one and two.  Many times even ranchers will use the term "cows" incorrectly, using the term cows to refer to his entire herd including cows, bulls, calves, and yearlings.

Calving season varies from ranch to ranch. Planning for this spring's calves began last June when we had to decide when to put the bulls in with the cows.    Each rancher must look at many variables when determining when they will have calving season.  The first thing the rancher must consider is where they live and the weather.  We have friends on the Colorado/New Mexico border whose calving season is from November through the middle of January because their winter is much drier and warmer.  While calves are strong and able to get up, walk, and drink within 20 minutes to an hour; wet, windy, and below zero weather can hinder the calf's recovery from being born.  For us, the last two weeks in March usually is when the good weather begins and it only gets better in the month of April and beyond.   The second thing they must consider is when they want to sell their calves.  We know a  rancher in Wyoming whose calving season is in September and October so that his calves will be ready to market in late March or early April.  We look at past years for the rise and fall of prices, the amount of moisture which will determine how much grass will grow, and how fast the calves will gain weight until they are just the right size.  For us, we plan to begin our calving season on March 19 and sell them when they are a little over six months old in October.  The calves which were born at approximately 75 pounds will average 600 pounds by that time.

This is the book we use for keeping records.  Most ranchers use a book similar to this one.

There is a lot to be done in preparation for calving. The first thing is to prepare the book.  It's a book that can be carried in the pocket or tractor to keep the records on the calving grounds.  The second thing that must be done is to prepare the calving ground.  The area needs to be on the high ground where as the snow melts it will run off and give the cow a dry place to give birth and a dry place for the calf to learn to stand.  They sometimes fall and we don't want them to fall in pooled water and drown or get so wet that their body temperature gets low.  Jim scrapes the snow off of the area and uses the snow to build windbreaks to provide additional protection for the cows and calves. This area is different that where we have been feeding because we want a clean area for calving.

The powdered colostrum, needles, and syringe.

While Jim is preparing the calving grounds, I am shopping for our emergency kit.  We try to be prepared in case something goes wrong and the cow dies while birthing or refuses her calf.  From the vet, we buy needles, vitamin A and D, syringes, and powdered colostrum. The only cattle that get medication show signs of illness and most years none of our calves have needed Vitamin A and D or other medication.   The mother cow naturally has colostrum in her milk which gives her calf extra nutrients that the calf needs in the first 24 hours of being born and helps the calf build immunity. The powdered colostrum is like powdered milk and can be mixed with warm water.  In addition, calves are born with a waxy substance in their digestive system which much must be expelled in order for the calf's digestive system to function properly.  The colostrum helps the calf expel this substance.

I check my pantry to make sure that I have powdered milk, corn syrup, evaporated milk, vegetable oil and eggs.  This is in case we run out of powdered colostrum at a time when we can't get any and have to make our own.  If I don't have all these things, I make a trip to the grocery store.  I also make sure that I have lots of clean old towels, rags and at least one good working hair dryer.  These are in case a calf gets too cold and too wet and begins to lose it's body heat.  We bring the calf to the house, dry it off using the towels and rags, finish warming it up with the hair dryer, give it some warm colostrum or milk depending on its age, get it warmed up and then return it to its mother.  Sometimes the calf spends the entire night in the house and is returned the next morning.  We do have one rule, however, no cows on the carpet so the calf is kept in the laundry room with a baby gate. The dog, Fritz, tries to help by licking the calf off and the house cats lay by the gate seemingly making sure the calf stays in its room.

The ear tags, notice the layers of color, and tool used to carve the numbers in the top layer.

Ear tags must be prepared.  These tags are numbered in numerical order beginning with 1.  They are made of three layers of material; blue on the back and front and white in the middle.  Using a special tool, I grind away the first blue layer which leaves the white layer showing through. The tags, the book, pencil and the ear tagger ( a tool which allows us to put the tag in a calves ear like someone puts in a pierced earring) are all carried on the tractor.  When a calf is born, it receives its tag; in the book its tag number, its' mother's number, her description, a description of the calf and whether it is a heifer or a bull is recorded.  This number is a herd number.  It is used by us to tell which cow goes with which calf, keep the health records for each individual calf, determine if we have every calf when we gather and recognize our cattle from a distance or on horseback.

Completed tags and the buttons which hold the tags in the ear.

The beginning of calving season marks the end those lazy days of winter when we only had to plow snow, remove ice from water holes and tanks, shovel the roof.  After calving season begins and the daylight hours are longer.  The work includes feeding, removing ice, snowplowing as needed, ditching to let water run off and the cows must be checked often for signs of birthing problems or getting down and not being able to get up.  What appears as hard pack, as the weather warms up, gets soft.  When the 1000 pound cow tries to get up, she needs hard ground to get her feet under her as she rocks to get momentum to stand.  If the snow pack or ground is too soft, she falls back.  After awhile, she gets tired and just lays back and quits trying.  The weight of her internal organs is so much that they can compress the lungs and she dies.

On March 10, we had our first calf.  She came from a cow which we had purchased to replace a cow that we had sold.  Her previous owners had used ultrasound (radio wave imaging) to determine a number of things including when she was to have her calf.  He was right about the date and we were ready. Calf number One, an all black heifer, was born right on time.  We have only 76 more cows to calve.  We'll keep you updated.

Calf One watching and learning to eat hay.  She will start to pick at the hay by the end of the second day.

Feeding Cattle, Then and Now

The bulls enjoying their small bales of hay. 

On a ranch some things change and yet some things stay the same.  What has stayed the same is that ranchers in snow country must feed their cattle everyday no matter what day of the week or what the weather; no matter what is planned for the day; Christmas, birthdays, other holidays, emergencies, weddings, funerals, or anything else. At the Stanko Ranch we plan to feed the cattle for a minimum of 180 days.  What has changed is how the hay is stored and the equipment used. These changes have made feeding easier, more efficient, and more comfortable.

In the early days  horsepower was actually measured by the number of horses it took to accomplish the job.  Feeding cattle in the winter using horses took all day.  One did not just go out and hitch a team to the feed sled and go; there was a lot of prep work to be done first.  After the team was caught and grained, they were put into their harnesses and hooked together.  The rancher then walked behind them and drove (this means get them to move with use of the reins)  them everywhere they would be pulling a feed sled. After the trail has been sufficiently packed, the team was then hooked to the feed sled.  The team then took the sled along the packed trail until it was packed even more to allow the sled to slide easily through the snow.  It was then that the sled was loaded with hay and driven along the packed trail while the hay was pitched off the sled to the herd.  A well trained team would allow the rancher to secure the reins to the sled and feed because the team responded to voice commands.  Matt Belton still uses horses.  Click on his name if you'd like to see photos of he and his family using their horses to feed and what he has to say.

In this photo from 1943, Pete Stanko is packing the trail past the barn.  Note, he is walking behind the team and there is wooden scraper attached to help pack the trail more quickly.

In the Yampa Valley at the very first of the 1900's, cattle were herded to areas where it did not snow so deeply and the cattle could forage for food; areas in the Burns area or over into Moffat County.  After ranchers keeping their cattle in the area, hay was stacked loose in piles which looked like loaves of bread.  After the development of  affordable balers, hay was put up in rectangular bales which had predetermined weights and hay became more efficient to handle.   Now there are balers which bale in various size round bales which look like soup cans or large square bales which weigh up to a ton each.The advantage of this new technology is easier storage, less handling which saves time, and it is easier to calculate how much hay is actually being fed.


Equipment used to feed the cattle has changed also. Ranchers in the Yampa Valley use everything from the horses and sleds to 4 wheel drive tractors and grinders which grind up the round bales and lay it out in a measured amount across the top of the clean snow to a combination of old and new; which ever fits their location, traditions, preferences, and finances.  Feeding in snow country does have the advantage of allowing the cattle to feed on the clean snow which helps with a lot of complications such as dust. 

The tractor loaded for one trip to the feed yard.

At the Stanko Ranch, we have gone from loose hay to hay in small bales to large round bales.  We currently feed small bales to the horses and the bulls.  There aren't enough of them to require large round bales.  We use the large round bales to feed the cows.  Currently we  use a 4-wheel-drive tractor with a front end loader to move snow and a spike attachment to carry a bale to the field and a spinner in the back.  When we get ready to feed with the spinner we have to cut and pull the strings off the round bale which hold it together.

 The spinner on the back has a long spike.  We back up to the bale and drive the spike into the center of the bale.  The 3 smaller spikes around the outside dig into the bale and help hold it onto the plate while the spinner is unwinding the hay.

This how the spinner fits into the bale.

There are teeth on the back plate which fit between the links of the chain.  When the spinner is  turned on the chains pull the plate around and makes the hay uncoil from the round bale.

We build snow mounds in the field.  The bale carried to the feed yard on the front spike is laid against the mound.  We then are able to back into the bale with the spinner and push into the bale until it is securely pressed against the spinner plate.  Being able to load the second bale on the spinner in the feed yard save the travel time and fuel of two trips to the stackyard.

Views from the feed yard here at the ranch.

Welcome to the Stanko Ranch

Welcome to the Stanko Ranch.  We are delighted to share our lifestyle and history with you.  

Ranches across the country and the state of Colorado have the same purpose:  to take care of their land and water, their animals and their family while producing food and other by-products for the nation.  Because the climate and topography (natural and man made features) vary from ranch to ranch, how each ranch does things varies also but with the same outcome: healthy land and water and well cared for livestock.

Our ranch’s location has a lot to do with how and why we do things here at the Stanko Ranch.  We are located in Northwest Colorado, about 35 miles from Wyoming, 135 miles from Utah and 5 to 6 miles west of the Steamboat Springs Ski Area. The county we live in is called Routt County and the town where we get our mail is Steamboat Springs.

  Colorado’s western slope is mostly the Colorado Plateau which runs from the Utah-Colorado Border to the foot of the mountain ranges which form the Rocky Mountain.  The Colorado Plateau changes the further east and higher in altitude you travel.  If you travel on US Highway 40 from Utah to Steamboat Springs, the landscape goes from high desert, scrub oak and sagebrush hills, along the Yampa River of the Yampa Valley, until you come to Mt. Werner (called Storm Peak by the old-timers), you follow the same path as the weather which affects our ranch and Steamboat Springs.  Our ranch is at an elevation of 6,700 feet but the elevation at the top of Mt. Werner is about 10,600 feet.  This sudden rise in altitude causes the clouds, as the old timers put it, “to get snagged on Storm Peak and stay there until they drop their snow or rain and get light enough to go over the top”.   This means that we get lots of snow and other forms of moisture.  Records show that snow has fallen at some point in history on just about every day of the year, including the Fourth of July. When ranching in snow means that we have to do things differently than our friends who ranch where there is not as much snow.

 

 In the winter, snow pretty much dictates how ranchers in this area spend their time.  This year, the Steamboat Ski Area has received more than 400 inches of snow but that is on Mt. Werner where the ski runs are.  The amount of snow will increase because March is one of the snowiest months of the year.  Here at the ranch, we've only gotten about between 250 and 300 inches of snow. This does not mean that if you go out to measure the snow depth you will measure that many inches. The amount of snow is measured by measuring the snow each time it falls and keeping a running total.  The snow is compressed as it sits on the ground by the weight of the snow on top of it. Even with the snow compressed, it is too deep to move through so it must be packed down, shoveled, or plowed out of the way.

This is what my friend's house in town looks like.  Because she has such a small lot, there is no where to put the snow.  The walk way up to her house is only about 18" wide. If we get too much more snow, my friend will have to pay to have someone come with a front end loader and dump truck to hall the snow away.  The tools that my friend uses is a snow blower until the snowbanks get so high that it can't blow the snow over the sides and a shovel. 

This is what it looks like here at the ranch.  When the first snows hit in the fall, we make sure that the snow is plowed way down over the side and far back to allow us places to put the snow as the year goes along.  We have packed and moved snow out of the way and must do the same for the half mile feed trail to our cattle.  If we don't keep them really wide at the start, then we would have to load the snow in trucks and haul it away so that we could get through to the cattle.  We use a tractor with a front end loader but some of our friends have really big snowblowers which attach to the front or back of their tractors. 

This our snow removal equipment besides a shovel.  This is a four wheel drive New Holland Tractor.  The attachment on the front is called a front end loader and that it what we use to pack and scoop the snow.  It's hard to tell how high the snowbanks are but the back wheels are over five feet tall.

 

 Mt. Werner is the location of more than just a ski area.  Up on the mountain is the Storm Peak Lab, a research and educational facility for the atmospheric sciences.  Among the things they study and teach about is meteorology (the study of weather).  Every year, the United States Meteorological Society (many of the TV weather people belong to this organization) holds its conference in Steamboat Springs in January so they can visit Storm Peak Lab.  At other times of the year they have special classes for 5th and 6th grade students.  To learn more about Storm Peak Lab go to Storm Peak Lab.