Originally I was told we would be branding thirty five calves. We rounded up over a hundred cattle from the grassland driving in four wheelers. Once we got them all into a coral, we had to separate the calves from their mothers. This was done on foot in about six to eight inches of mud and shit. The process puts a lot of stress on the animals judging by their behavior. Calves hiding behind cows, running frantically, and so on. After about thirty minutes, we were able to get them all into two separate pens. At this point the calves were all trying to either crawl under the fence or charge through bent wire in the fence to get back to their mothers. The cows were all "calling?" for their young and sniffing through the fence to find their own. We had to get between 15-20 cows in a smaller pen so we could get 4-5 in a chute where they could get vaccinations and sprayed for flies. Meanwhile, any of the other cows that were not in the pen or the chute were behind me. I was working the fence line to keep the panicked calves from escaping and the angry mothers from running through me. Once the cows were finished they were let out back into the pasture and would come back to the outside of the gate to try and find their calf through the fence.
We arrived around one o'clock. At this point it is probably around three or four and we hadn't even touched the calves, which there were 62 of, not 35. We had to separate them to get about ten to go into a smaller pen, from which we could get them into the chute. I was unaware until riding on the back of a four wheeler that we would be "neutering" the bull calves. What he meant to say was castrating. I'd heard about how this was done, when we picked up the horses from another neighbor early in the week. He told us a story of his grandson's friend vomiting everywhere after watching a lamb castration. I knew the procedure, but.... Okay, be aware I'm not going to spare any details so if you can't stomach this you should scroll down till you see a picture of something or whatever.
A chute is just a narrow passageway, but this one, for the calves, goes into a metal chute which can flip on it's side so you have the calves' side exposed for whatever you need to do. We had five things to do to each calf. Vaccinate, two different injections, ear tag, brand, and castrate if it was a bull calf. The calf is forced into the chute, where it put his head through the other side and is then somewhat restrained by clamps of the machine. From that point, the gates compress the calf and turn to put the calf at an angle. With it's neck and head sticking out, I had to give two injections into the neck, all while the panicked calf is thrashing around. The top gate compressing the animal has two latches that lift. If it's a bull, the second latch is lifted and the third person involved grabs the calf's outside leg and holds it while the fourth person castrates the bull. The third person is the one who gets shit on when the animal freaks out (yes, that happens). The fourth person, with a bucket of...sterilizing liquid? then grabs a pocket knife, slits the scrotum, reaches in and pulls out the testicle and cuts whatever cord is dangling from it, then proceeds to do the same for the other side. Tucking the leg back in and closing this latch, the third person opens the first latch and brands the cattle. This is when the smell of burning flesh and smoke take over, along with the horrid bleating noise of cries to mom. As soon as they stop thrashing enough, the second person pierces their ear and puts in the tag. After this, the chute is tilted back upright and the front of the chute is opened up so the animal can run out. It's the worst thing I could possibly imagine for these animals. BUT aside from the day they go to slaughter, this is the only time in their life they will be handled at all by humans. And today, we averaged a bull calf at a minute and forty seconds to do all those things. From the time it enters the chute to when it's let out. Now I'm sure those are the worst and longest minutes of it's life, but it's all consolidated and I'd argue it's worse then slaughter because that's a quick shot to the head, it's not drawn out pain. You can't feel shit when you're dead. Anyways, the image I saw over and over again was calves, aged 2-3 months in an angled chute, with eyes bulging, showing so much white you'd think they were having a seizure, thrashing their heads and kicking their legs, while their removed testicles are tossed into a bucket. The end result, as the calves are released to find their anxious mothers waiting outside the gate, I stare at the empty chute where the bottom is caked in mud and shit, smears of blood smudge the head stall, and a half dried out testicle sticks to the side. I couldn't make this stuff up. I asked for an experience and I got one.
Despite the graphic scene I've just 'branded' into your mind, these cattle will now spend the next year out in the pasture, miles from being bothered by anyone, eating fresh green grass. A far better life than being force fed corn and cow parts in a factory somewhere. Not to mention this whole process I've just told you about doesn't have a whole lot to do with food consumption, so you can argue with me all day about eating cows and all the shit they have to go through, but this process goes for all the cattle, not just ones that would be used for beef, but also dairy, and breeding. That said, as a supporter of eating meat, anyone who drinks milk or eats beef should have to see this shit...if you can stomach it.
If you were scrolling, you can come back and read now. We worked with the cattle from a little after one to a quarter to seven at which point we had finished and went in for...steak dinner. It was good, but very fatty, so I skimmed a lot of it which made me feel rude. I discovered there are fifteen people in the one hundred square miles of the township and had a nice chat over dinner with the family who owned the cattle. That day will probably be one of my most memorable here, given how vivid it was. It's a shitty process and knowing that I was involved in the worst day of an animals life makes me feel a bit shitty, but giving vaccinations I was doing the most....well to do activity of the whole thing. We are supposed to brand later in the week as well, with another neighbor, but this will be on horses instead of four wheelers. Not that keen on it, but I came here to help, so that's what I'll do. Whatever it takes.
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