Welcome to the Ranch!

A 6 lb. bass swallowed Isaac's arm.

Summer would not be complete for my family unless we went fishing.  At Cross Creek Cattle Company we have several stocked ponds.  One has catfish.  The others have bass and crappie.  With so much work to do on the ranch, it is nice to carve out time to enjoy living here.

Last weekend my boys went fishing with their dad.  They did not catch many, but what they did catch was huge.  You cannot help but get excited when you hook a big bass on your line.  This one in particular put up a fight.  Catching fish is very rewarding.

Fishing is a great way to encourage father/son bonding.  I am not saying that my daughter and I do not fish because we do.  It is fun for me to see the way that my husband teaches the little ones how to fish.  He has so much patience with them.

Once Jake hooked Lane, my husband, in the forehead with a treble hook.  Actually he hooked him twice in the forehead by casting too soon before Lane was out of the way.  Lane calmly asked me to remove the hook.  When I saw that two hooks were buried in his skin, I got sick to my stomach.  I tried to move them, but they would not budge.  Lane had to remove them himself.

I will never forget how he did not yell and scream at anyone. Jake already looked sick.  He was only five at the time.  I think Lane knew that he had learned his lesson already.  Lane just asked him to not do that again.

When my step-father takes little ones fishing, he always cuts the tips of the hooks off.  The hook still catches fish, but it does not catch him.  A great tip for anyone fishing with young children.

Multiple generations like to come out here to fish.  Grandfathers and grandsons, uncles and nephews, fathers and sons enjoy the day together.  Friends are always welcome, too.

My dad has a friend who visited here two months ago.  He is an avid fisherman.  He began fishing early in the morning and fished most of the day.  He caught over 40 fish.  My dad said he has never seen anything like it.  Almost every time his friend cast out, he pulled in a fish.

We don’t always have luck.  Sometime we catch nothing, but those days are few and far between.  I tell my kids, “That is why it is called fishing and not catching.”

I find it relaxing to sit and watch your bobber float on the surface of the water.  My children prefer fishing with lures because there is always something to do.  They can reel in and cast out as much as they want.

We usually stop fishing as soon as we have enough for dinner.  The taste of fresh fish coupled with homegrown vegetables is out of this world.  There is nothing better than eating what you raise, forage, and/or catch.  Living on or visiting Cross Creek Cattle Company enables you to experience a taste of self-sufficiency.

From time to time, I like to post a grass fed beef recipe.  One of my favorite cuts of meat is ground beef.  I know that it is not the most sought after nor the most sophisticated cut, but it is probably the most versatile.

I love to make hamburger patties, spaghetti, tacos, lasagna, meatloaf, etc. with ground beef.  Have you ever made hamburger patties with store-bought ground beef and were disappointed when the finished product was half the size of the original patty?  The fat shrinks.

Grass fed beef is naturally lean.  You will notice that your ground beef, especially in patty form, does not shrink much if at all.  Therefore, you are not spending much money on fat.  You are mainly paying for beef.

But what about flavor?  Does grass fed beef then not have much flavor without so much added fat?  It is quite the contrary.  The beef has more flavor than store-bought or traditionally raised beef.  The difference is hard to describe, but noticeable on the very first bite.  Trust me, grass fed beef is delicious and full of flavor.

Today I wanted to give you a recipe for something that is not typical.  In fact it would be considered a seasonal recipe if you eat from your family garden.  However, you can almost always find summer squash in your grocery store.

Right now in Texas, we are in the midst of summer squash season.  At Cross Creek Cattle Company, we have squash coming out of our ears.  We are always looking for different ways to use it.  Boiled, steamed, grilled, fried, roasted, in casseroles, raw, etc. are all ways that we use summer squash.

The following is a delicious recipe that incorporates seasonal ingredients and of course our grass fed beef.

Stuffed Squash

6 lg. squash
1 pound of grass fed ground beef
1/2 cup of rice
1 egg
1 med. bell pepper, chopped
1 sm. onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1 can of tomato sauce or a fresh tomato chopped finely

First you must prepare the squash.  Cut off the bottoms of the squash so that they will stand up.  Cut off the crook-neck, too.  Chop up the neck except for the very end in slices and set aside.  With a vegetable peeler core the squash and clean out all the seeds.

In a bowl, mix together the raw grass fed beef, uncooked rice, egg, bell pepper, and onion.  Add salt and pepper to your liking.  Mix it well.

Fill the bottom of a large pot with about 1″ of  water.  Stuff the squash with the ground beef mixture.  Place standing up in the pot.  If you have extra meat, then make meatballs and add to the pan.  When all the squash are filled and standing in the pot, add the extra slice of squash from the neck to the pot.

Now spoon the tomato sauce on top of each stuffed squash.  This adds moisture and flavor to your dish.

Cover the pan and cook for 1 1/2 hours.  Check periodically to ensure the water level is good.  You may have to add more water throughout the cooking process.  You are cooking the dish with steam.

The beef should be cooked, the rice cooked, and the squash tender when it is done.  Serve with a fresh salad or vegetable.

For added flavor, you can stuff a bell pepper with the same grass fed beef mixture and add it to your pot.  Not only is it delicious in its own right, but its presence flavors the squash, too.

Jake and Sugar

Cross Creek Cattle Company does more things than raise healthy and delicious grass fed beef.  We also raise award-winning show animals.  In the past our heifers have placed very high in the big Texas shows like San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth.  When they competed in Beefmaster futurities, they also did great.

If you did not already know, a futurity is like a beauty pageant for cattle.  And, if you are interested in seeing all the awards our show heifers have won, then check out our Braggin’ Rights page.

Jake, my eight year old son, is enjoying his first year in 4-H.  He and my other two older children are all members of 4-Hers-on-the-Brazos, which meets in Plantersville.

Jake decided he wanted to show a heifer for the first time.  My father, Kenton Holliday, graciously offered Jake the pick of the herd.  Of course, I advised Jake to listen to PawPaw explain what qualities to look for in a choosing a show-quality calf.  Jake learned and with PawPaw’s help chose an excellent heifer.

He named her “Sugar.”  We had to separate her from the herd because a grass fed heifer will probably not stand a chance against a grain-fed heifer in the show ring.  If you have ever been to a cattle show, you know that fat cows win.  Judges like them plump and filled out all over.  We are feeding this heifer free-choice creep feed.

Because Jake decided to show a heifer a little later than most, he is having to halter break a much bigger heifer than we would normally recommend.  She weighs at least three times what Jake weighs, if not more.  He has had a difficult time, but all his hard work is beginning to pay off.

She leads well now.  He is trying to get her to set-up for the pretend judges in our round pen.  He rubs her belly, back, and neck with his show stick.  It is a long stick with a hook at the end.  Sugar really enjoys the scratching and rubbing.

The problem that Jake is working on now is getting Sugar to come to him.  Catching her is a game that I think she enjoys.  Once caught, she does well.  The other day she kicked him hard in the arm when he reached to get her halter.  He had a bruise for a week.

Jake knows that he has to work hard to get her ready for the show ring.  He is enjoying raising a show heifer.  He likes a challenge.  Luckily, he is committed to the end.  Hopefully in June, Sugar and Jake will stand proud and do well for the judges.  I know one thing, everyone hear at Cross Creek Cattle Company is rooting for the both of them.

A mama cow watching several calves.

Observing a herd of cattle is a great tool of ranchers.  You can learn a lot about the behavior of the herd and the behavior of the cows as individuals.

For example, there is always a lead cow.  A cow that is in charge.  As a rancher, your job is much easier when you figure out which animal is in charge of the herd.  Then you only have to be in charge of that cow.  The rest will follow.  We have trained our leader, Fatty, with a sing-song call.  We can be two pastures away and call, “C’mon cow, let’s go!”

Seconds later we will hear a “Moo.”  Then a minute later, we will hear a chorus of “Moos.”  Soon we will see the cows headed towards us with Fatty in the lead.

In addition to our leader, Fatty, our herd bull, Romeo, plays an important role.  His job is protector of the herd.  And, he takes it seriously.  Fortunately for us, our cattle are docile.  This is the main reason that we chose to raise Beefmasters, which are known for their good dispositions.

On cattle working day, we sort the calves from their mothers.  Then we run them in the chute to await their branding, de-horning, and in some cases castration.  Instead of grazing with the rest of the herd, Romeo stands on the other side of the pen watching his calves.

I have to be honest.  On occasion, his presence has been a little intimidating.  After all, he weighs about two thousand pounds.  He waits until the last calf has been worked.  As they are released back to the herd, he greets them with a reassuring nudge of his nose.  Only when his herd has been reunited, Romeo resumes grazing.

Another behavior that intrigues me is the way that cows baby-sit for each other.  Sometimes it is a new mother who is in charge of all the calves.  Sometimes they recruit or train an older heifer to watch the calves.  The cows have a system and they trade off responsibilities.

If you don’t believe me, simply spend some time observing cattle.  They don’t have to yours.  They don’t have to be on our ranch.  Cattle are cattle.  However, they do need to be a multi-generational herd.  In a pen of only calves, there will not be a baby-sitter.  But in the natural setting, cattle share these responsibilities.

This is what you will see.  The whole herd seems to be randomly grazing in a grassy pasture.  All the heads are down and they are steadily, but slowly eating their way through the grass.  A few cows might be full.  They have laid down together and are chewing their cud.  All the calves seem to be grazing together.  Or, they are tired of eating grass and are exercising and playing with head butts.

If you watch closely, there is one cow/older heifer in charge of these calves.  She keeps them together.  She is not grazing as steadily as the other cows.  She keeps her eyes on the calves.

Soon another cow stops grazing or stands up from her rest and walks over to a calf.  The calf runs to meet her.  They smell each other and the cow licks the calf on the forehead.  The calf goes straight to nursing.  Here comes another mama cow.  Soon all the calves are nursing.  When the calves are full, the mama cow will lick them down their necks and sometimes on their sides.  If it is a brand-new calf, she will lick the navel to clean it.

Then the mother leaves to resume grazing.  If it is her turn to baby-sit, then she stays and the prior baby-sitter is relieved of her post.  She can now graze steadily and fill her belly with confidence that her calf is being watched.

Cattle are smart creatures.  They are also interesting to study.  I have often marveled at the way they work together as a herd.  I am glad that Cross Creek Cattle Company raises cattle in the natural way.  I am not sure that these observations can be found when cattle are not raised naturally.  I personally think that it is the best way to raise cattle for the rancher’s sake and for the sake of the herd.

Lane is cauterizing the horn while Clayton hold its head and Jake stands ready with medicine.

It was a beautiful Scottish day at Cross Creek Cattle  Company.  The overcast sky and the cool day was highlighted with constant drizzle that dampened your hair, clothing, etc.  This of course made everything feel even colder.

My immediate family stood in the barn with my father discussing the day’s plans.  Sorting, de-horning, branding, vaccinating, and castrating were the items on the agenda.  We divided up the jobs and got to work.

We are all experienced cowboys having worked cattle for most of our lives.  Even my eight-year old son is competent in many areas of cattle work.  My dad is the most experienced of us all.  He worked side-by-side with his grandfather since he could walk.  Isn’t funny how cyclical life can be?  Here my dad was working alongside his grandchildren.

This particular kind of cattle work is not for the faint at heart.  You are going to see blood.  You are going to smell the scent of burning flesh.  It is one of the most unpleasant parts of living on a working ranch.

Daddy is branding. Clay is holding the vaccines waiting for his turn to work.

It is easier than in the past.  We have squeeze chutes that hold the calf still while you work on them.  You do not have to rope, tackle, and throw the calf.  We have electric branding irons and a cauterizing instrument.  We do not have to keep a fire going with metal brands sitting in the fire until they have red-hot tips.

We do give two vaccinations.  Each calf receives an 8-Way Blackleg and IBR4 vaccine.  The first prevents a fatal disease called Blackleg.  The most susceptible calves are ones thriving with great weight gain by eating nutritious grass.  A certain spore in the ground causes this disease and it is completely preventable with the vaccine.  The latter prevents the Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) disease.  It is a transmittable disease via contact.  We have never had any of our cattle with this illness, but there are other herds nearby.  Occasionally we find a stray cow in our herd from a neighbor’s pasture.  Both vaccines are ones that we deem necessary to prevent for the health of our herd.

We brand the cows we intend to keep.  Believe it or not, but there are still cattle rustlers.  People steal cattle and usually take them directly to the sale.  A brand is one sure way to prove that a cow belongs to you.  You have to register your brand with the state.  Our brand is a C with a squiggly line beneath it.  The C stands for the alliteration in the name of our ranch.  The line symbolizes the creeks that cross the ranch.

We de-horn for safety purposes.  Our cattle are docile and easy-going.  Regardless of the naturally good disposition, it is always safer to work around cows without sharp-tipped horns.  There are several ways to remove horns.  If you act when the calf is very young, you can scoop out the horns.  You can pay for a veterinarian to perform cosmetic surgery in a sense to remove the horns.  You can also remove the tips.  The horns will not continue to grow so the cow will have blunt nubs.  We chose the do the latter this time.  It is important to cauterize the bleeding because a cow can lose a lot of blood if you do not act.

It was a successful day.  We worked together as a team.  Nobody got hurt.  The cattle are doing fine.  Cross Creek Cattle Company is literally a family-owned and operated ranch.  We are teaching the next generation so that high quality cattle and grass fed beef can continue for generations to come.

Andrew DeHaven

John Wayne starred in a movie titled, “Cowboys,” in which a group of young boys become men.  They did not grow much older on the trail, but they did come of age.  By being entrusted with responsibility, each boy developed a great work ethic.  Each boy returned home a different person as the trials of life shaped them into men.

I personally think that our society is full of overgrown boys.  Men-sized boys who are more interested in self-gratification and the here and now without the vision to see into their future.  I see this problem not only with males, but with females as well.  Few seem to look long-term.  We, as a society, seem very short-sighted.

I also think that this problem permeates all areas of life.  Parents seem to wait expectantly for the time when their children finally leave home.  They are tired of having to provide for them, clean up their mistakes, etc.  I do not think that our society places enough emphasis on how important ones job as a parent is.  In fact we seem to demean anyone who makes financial sacrifices as they dedicate their lives to their family.  How many times have you heard or said yourself, “Oh, I am just a mom (dad).”

Isaac DeHaven

We are a little old-fashioned at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  And, that is just fine with us.  We purposely spend a lot of time together as a family.  Not just our immediate family, but our extended family as well.  We invest our time, talents, and energy to operate a cattle and horse ranch in the 21st century.  It is not for the money.  Ranches do not make the money they once did.  We do it for the love of it.  We love working together to accomplish something.  We love having a common purpose.  We love the work ethic it takes to run the ranch.  It surely does not run itself.

As a mom, I want my four sons and daughter to grow up with a vision.  To grow into their adult bodies, wise beyond their years.  I want them to experience life and learn from it.  I want them to know responsibility.  I want them to be prepared to be able to survive on their own.  I look forward to the day when they leave of their own accord to make their own mark on the world, as men and women in the true sense of the word.

Therefore, it is no accident that when we worked cows this morning that all of our kids were there.  Jake helped Lane sort the calves.  Clayton and I worked different gates.  Kyla watched the “babies” Isaac and Andrew in the barn where they still felt part of the action.

When I deemed it perfectly safe, I allowed the two boys to come into the round pen and stand on the catwalk adjacent to the chute.  We needed to load calves to take to the sale.  Each boy had a cow working stick like everyone else.  Isaac could barely see the calves over the protective wooden wall of the chute, but he smiled as he yelled, “Get on outta here cows!  Yah!”

His smile said everything.  He felt a part of the team.  He helped load the cows.  He cannot wait until we have to work together again.  Even Andrew, who just sat on the catwalk holding a stick, said, “Yah, cow!  Yah, cow!”  At three years and nineteen months of age, my little boys are becoming cowboys, who will one day become men.

A Family Coming Together For the Ranch

My husband, Lane, is the ranch manager for Cross Creek Cattle Company.  Last week he hurt his left leg badly.  I took him to the emergency clinic to get a x-ray.  We were pleasantly surprised when the doctor told him that his fibula was not broken.  We were very thankful too.

He did in fact bruise the bone.  His leg stays swollen.  It is extremely painful, and bearing any weight on the leg is difficult.  Subsequently, Lane has been trying to hobble around the house and the ranch trying to do his job.  The cattle cannot wait to be rotated to another pasture.  The horses want to be fed and watered.  They also require hay, which means moving them with a tractor.

The problem with this is that the clutch is on the left.  It is also hard to push, but Lane is smarter than the tractor.  He figured out how to make his hay bale deliveries in spite of his bum leg.  He simply swings his leg over and pushes in the clutch with his right foot.  It is almost like he is driving the tractor backwards.  Weird, but true.  He also found out that you must stop on a FLAT surface.

He is slowly beginning to do more and more everyday.  At first, my children and I completely picked up his slack.  Luckily we home-school so this was not a problem.  The kids took turns feeding and working with the horses.  They also check on the grass fed weanlings, making sure they have plenty of hay, and feeding them alfalfa pellets.  If you ever wondered how gentle our calves are, we send our eight-year old son in to feed them pellets of dehydrated grass.  He is never afraid even though the calves are almost as tall as he is.

We are pulling together to make sure the job gets done here on the ranch.  This is a family owned and operated ranch.  Cross Creek Cattle Company is a place that is near and dear to all of our hearts.  We do not mind doing more than usual.  It is a pleasure to have an opportunity like this to help and pick up the slack as the ranch manager heals from his injury.  It also reveals how much he does around the ranch.  With all that said, we all pray that he will fully recover soon.

On Saturday, October 11th, the Holliday family of Cross Creek Cattle Company hosted a trail ride for the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sherriff Mounted Posse.  Mr. and Mrs. Holliday as well as Lane, Kyla, and Jake DeHaven worked very hard to blaze and clean up trails.  Lane had also tried to shred all the pastures.

The amount of rainfall we have received lately made it impossible to get all the shredding done.  Every time Lane tried to shred, the water would begin rising out of the soil under the weight of the tractor tires.  The last thing we want is for our pastures to be full of ruts.  Therefore not much shredding occurred.

At one point Lane pulled a log out of a pathway only to be instructed to put it back.  It turns out that my dad, Kenton Holliday, had spent a bit of time carefully trimming off any branches.  He intended the log to stay in order to make the trail more challenging and interesting for the riders.

The day before the trail ride and meeting the weather was nice.  It was sunny and cool.  We were hoping that the weather would hold and make a perfect day for horseback riding.  I made brownies and rice krispie treats for dessert. The Hollidays purchased drinks and provided cakes.  The day of the event we went over early to help set-up.

Later we arrived at the barn to saddle up and ride the horses through the creeks to the cabin.  Our plan was to wait there for the trail ride to begin.  Just as the last saddle was being tightened up on the fourth horse, it started to rain.  Soon after, our phone rang and the trail ride had been canceled.  However, we were still having a meeting of the Posse at the cabin.

I promise you that nobody was more disappointed than the Hollidays and the DeHavens.  We had worked so hard and were really looking forward to people enjoying our ranch.  We have creeks, trails, pastures, woods, logs in the paths, and more.  It really is the perfect place to ride your horse.

About 30 people showed up for the meeting.  I felt this was a pretty good turn-out especially considering there was rain and no ride.  The Imhoff ranch donated food, which we enjoyed after the meeting.  Despite the weather, the Posse had a good get-together.  Now we are trying to find a date to re-schedule the trail ride.

Cross Creek Cattle Company is in the process of weaning 10 calves right now.  My mom surprised me by visiting the ranch.  Her house is very close to the barn where we separate the calves from the mama cows.  She got to enjoy the endless ballads that the calves sang to their mamas and the mamas sang to their calves.  Needless to say, she did not sleep very well the first night of weaning.

It has been a couple of days now and the serenade has stopped.  The mama cows have left their calves and rejoined the herd grazing in the bottom.  The calves are adjusting to their new no-dairy diet.

Weaning time is a stressful time for both the cow and her calf.  At Cross Creek Cattle Company we try to eliminate as much stress as possible.  A stout pipe fence with cattle panel welded to it separate the calves from the cows.  The cows can see, smell, and speak to one another.  The calves just cannot nurse.

The calves are enjoying eating grass, which they have done for months.  They just are not supplementing their diets with milk anymore.  To help maintain their body condition during this time of adjustment, we feed them a very small daily ration of alfalfa pellets.  Alfalfa is very high in protein grass.  We start the calves on a small ration and slowly build up their daily allowance of the dehydrated grass to prevent bloat.  Cows can bloat on alfalfa because it is so rich.

The calves also have their own mixture of kelp meal, stock salt, and diatomaceous earth.  We continue to allow them to freely partake of this mineral supplement and natural de-wormer.  It is self-limiting.  They can only take what their body needs.  Of course, we supply the calves with fresh clean water and hay.

Soon we will be able to return these calves back to the herd.  Their mothers will welcome them back as adolescents; however, they will not be allowed to nurse.  The cows’ milk supply will have dried up.  There will always be one calf in the bunch who tries to resume nursing, but it is quickly kicked away.  Calves will be calves.

Weaning time means that we decide how the calves are going to work for us.  We will determine if we have any show heifers.  We will sell some to other ranchers.  We have some that we will keep to build up our herd.  Of course, we also have our grass fed beef business.  If you are interested in ordering delicious and nutritious grass fed beef, contact me at lndehaven@aol.com or call (936)870-5792.

We all know how important fresh drinking water is.  It is equally important to cows.  Cattle can smell water from miles away.  Typically they drink twice a day.  Each time a cow generally guzzles 12 gallons of water in one sitting.  We had one pasture on the ranch that had no supply of water.  Therefore when the cows were on this particular pasture, we had to open up a neighboring pasture for their water needs.

New water trough

As this was not an ideal situation, we carefully weighed our options.  One option was to dig a tank and wait for it to fill with rain water and run-off.  Since we are in a drought, this option was not suitable.  We did not want water next year; we needed it now.  Another option was to have a water well dug.  This option is the most expensive.  Having a water well installed costs about $6,000.00 depending on how far they have to dig to hit a good water table.  In addition you have to have electricity run to the pump.  All in all this was too expensive.  The last option was to lay water line from the nearby lake and install a pump to fill a water trough on the dry pasture.  Okay, sounds great, but how does one do that?

Well, you have to think like my husband, Lane, who is the ranch manager for Cross Creek Cattle Company.  He came up with the idea and thought all the steps through before purchasing the supplies.  If you have a similar problem on your ranch, you might want to really pay attention.

First he rented a trencher and used it to dig the water line from the lake to the desired spot for the water trough.  Unfortunately for Lane, the ground was like cement and even the trencher was put to the test digging through the hardened ground.  Then he decided where the pumping station was to be and laid the pipe from it in opposite directions.  One side going to the lake and the other to the trough.

The pumping station complete with solar battery charger.

Then Lane installed the pumping end into the lake.  First, he fitted a screen on the end of the pipe so that minnows, tadpoles, debris, etc. would be sucked up into the pump.  Then he extended the pipe about 15-20′ off of the shore and down deep onto the bottom.  He did not want anyone fishing, rowing, etc. breaking the tip of the pipe.  In addition he put a cinder block around the pipe end to help protect it even more.

Now he installed the round water trough in the most level place he could find.  Lane hooked up a faucet end that he will reinforce with bigger pipe and fill between the two pipes with sand.  This not only gives the pipe more strength, but the sand also acts as insulation when the temperature drops below freezing in the winter.

Lane then hooked the pump up to the battery, which is charged by solar energy.  He turned it on and looked for any leaks that might appear from the joints of the pipes.  Fortunately, there was none.  He filled in the trenches with dirt and packed them down with the tractor.  Meanwhile the pump is steadily sucking water out of the lake and filling the trough uphill and about 200′ away.

It did take some time for the water pump to build enough pressure to actually begin pumping the water.  But once it began, the water streamed through the pipes flawlessly.  Now the cattle will have plenty of fresh water on an otherwise dry pasture.  Ingenuity at its best right here on the ranch.  The supplies for this option cost relatively little.  The pump was $65.00.  The solar charger was $40.00.  The pipe and fittings were about $45.00.  The trough was $299.00.

Not only was this option the most inexpensive; it was the most practical option as well.  Lane did a great job.  I have to tell you, I was impressed with his ability.  I guess that it is a good thing when your husband never ceases to amaze you.