Welcome to the Ranch!

“Honk! Honk!” “Beep! Beep!”  Now if you live in the city, you might not understand how annoying this sound is in the early morning hours as you might be accustomed to it.  But for others who live in less populated places or even in the suburbs, the honking of a car horn is considered rude, especially when it wakes you up.

Our nearest neighbor lived three quarters of a mile from the house I grew up in as a child.  My family really enjoyed our privacy and seclusion.  Right across the front of our property was our neighbor’s pasture usually with his herd on it.  On the weekends my brother and I were allowed to sleep in more than usual.  When I say sleep in, I mean sleep until 8 o’clock.  “Sleeping in” is definitely a relative term.

Anyway, I always looked forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings.  My brother and I could not sleep any later because we had animals to take care of and chores to do.  We lived on a ranch after all.  We lived at Cross Creek Cattle Company.

It never seemed to fail that my sweet dreams were rudely disturbed by the honking of our neighbor’s pick-up truck.  And, I mean he would lay on his horn.  Now you might be thinking, “Why would anyone get up early on a Saturday morning to drive into the middle of nowhere to lay on one’s horn?’  Well even though it doesn’t make much sense, the honest truth is that he was calling his cows up so he could count them and check on his herd.

When the herd was on its way to his truck, he continued to lay on his horn.  He was not content just tooting his horn to get their attention; he honked literally until the cows came home.  For obvious reasons, I developed a distaste for his cattle rounding up technique.

Some ranchers round up their herds with four wheelers.  Some with the sound of a sack of feed.  There are probably as many techniques to calling cattle as there are ranchers.  We all have our own ways of doing things.

At Cross Creek Cattle Company, we are interested in low-stress management of our cattle herd.  We don’t want to scare the cattle by chasing them with four wheelers.  We do not feed our herd grain so the sound of the feed sack does not work.  The honking of one’s horn is not only annoying to your neighbors, but it disturbs the peace and quiet of your ranch.

The quality of your meat depends on adrenaline not being released.  The way in which you work your cows effects the tenderness of your beef.  It is not the only factor, but it is an easy one to control.  Adopting low-stress handling methods for your cattle is easy to do.

Creating a cattle call is super simple.  First, choose a phrase that is easy to remember and easy to say.  Then using inflection in your voice make it sound pleasant.  Next you train your cows to respond to it.  This is the Cross Creek cattle call.

In our multi-generational herd, it is much easier for us because the older cows teach the younger ones to come when they hear it.  Since we do so much pasture rotation in our grass fed beef program, it does not take long for a brand-new cow to catch on.  During the weaning process, my husband tries to reinforce what the mama cows have already taught their calves.  He sings our cattle call while giving the calves hay and/or alfalfa pellets.  I think the cattle call comforts these calves because it is something constant during an already stressful situation.

In the winter months, we usually leave the herd open to several pastures.  A couple of years ago, I walked to the top of a hill and did not see the cattle anywhere.  It was cold, windy, and drizzling.  The last thing I wanted to do was traipse around looking for the herd so I could account for all the animals.  I simply began singing “Come on, cows.  Let’s go.”  I stopped after saying it three times.  I heard a “Moo.”  Then another and another.  Within three minutes all the cows were staring at me.

Having a good, sing-song cattle call not only is beneficial for you as the rancher.  But it is an example of a low-stress cattle handling technique.  It certainly does not cause a cow any stress to hear it.  And, your neighbors don’t mind it a bit.

Our new barn.

Horses play a big role here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  First and foremost, we enjoy riding horses.  All of us ride even the smallest members of our family.

Isaac and Andrew, aged 3 and 2 respectively, ride in tandem saddles.  If you have not seen a tandem saddle, they are great.  The saddles are made out of a canvas material.  It is like a saddle and blanket in one.  They connect to a regular saddle and sit behind it.  It has a handle on which to hold much like a saddle horn.  You need great horses to ride in tandem as most horses will not like the feel of the second saddle.

My older children are all members of the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sheriff Mounted Posse.  They each need their own horse.  They also enjoy riding on the ranch for pleasure.  My sons, Jake and Clayton, ride with a neighbor on our ranch almost every day.  They ride for hours.

Horses also help us work our cattle.  We believe that low-stress handling directly affects the quality of our grass fed beef; therefore, we use a sing-song cattle call to move the cattle from pasture to pasture.  A horse or two following behind the herd ensures that all the calves and stragglers move into the next pasture.

Utilizing horses as part of a low-stress management program works well for us.  It is also good for the horses.  They are allowed to work for us and they enjoy it.  Our horses are not just put out to pasture.  They have a purpose on our working ranch.

A horse stall.

For months we have been planning and preparing for our new barn to be built.  The task is complete.  We have a new barn on the ranch.  Its main purpose is to facilitate the needs of our horses.  We have a stall for each of our horses.  The stalls are custom built for each horse.  As some of our horses are larger than the average horse, we enlarged their stalls to give them a more comfortable place.

Our barn has a tack room and a feed room.  It has plenty of room for square bales of hay and some equipment.  One of the most exciting aspects of our barn pertains to our grass fed business.  At this time we only sell beef by the whole, half or quarter section.  We do not have the facilities to store beef and sell it by the cut here at the ranch.

Well, now that our barn is finished, we have the room.  With the addition of some deep freezers, we will in the near future have a store in which you can purchase beef by the cut.  It is exciting!

I will announce when we are open for business, but it will be months so don’t make plans this weekend to make the drive to the ranch for steaks.

We are proud of our new barn and the direction that our grass fed business is taking.  Our horses like it too.  Hopefully our grass fed beef customers will also share in our excitement.

This weekend is fast approaching.  From everyone at Cross Creek Cattle Company, “Happy Mother’s Day!”