The best cow-working crew I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with is a trio that includes my two daughters Helen and Sybil, ages 20 and 19 as of this writing. Each possesses specific characteristics that blend to make the group outstanding. Helen is studying Animal Science at Kansas State University and has brought home a wealth of nutrition and management information to improve our herd and feeding. Sybil is also at K-State studying engineering and has a phenomenal memory for herd history.

Helen learned weanling foals need supplemental lysine. Before lysine, our foals looked like they were barely surviving their first winter. Now they become big, strapping, healthy yearlings ready to take on the world. She also led us toward better research regarding DDGs (dried distillers grains) in cattle rations. As a result, we’ve dropped the DDGs and improved performance. Additionally, she is the chief photographer who designs our yearly sale catalog and maintains our website.

Sybil can identify any of our cows from a quarter mile. I used to do that at her age. My dad ran crossbred cattle in various colors and patterns. But we raise purebred Red Angus cattle. They are all red, all over! At age twelve, she attended a meeting with me. Bored, she began writing rows and rows of numbers on her notepad. I whispered, “What are you doing?” She replied, “Writing down our cows’ EPDs and registration numbers.” Afterward, I looked up some of her doodles and found she had done so accurately. She had memorized the 4-digit ID of each cow, the 7-digit registration number, and about twenty EPDs for birthweight, weaning weight, yearling weight, ribeye area, calving ease direct, stayability, etc. During the hour lecture, she jotted data for more than forty head.

In the pasture, both are accomplished horsewomen. At chuteside, both can push cattle into the alley and chute, handle the headgate, run syringes and bookkeeping, collect samples, and preg-check. They work quickly, quietly, and efficiently without cussing and losing tempers. Though our boys help out when needed, it’s just, well, quieter with the All Girl Crew.

Here’s a cheer to anyone who, like us, is spending Thanksgiving Day eating themselves into a stupor in addition to sorting cows, moving weanlings, feeding everything from chickens and cats to herd sires and horses, and enjoying the comradeship of family. Happy Thanksgiving!