Pairing Out Cattle on a Wyoming Ranch

In early spring, when the cold wind still blows and the grass has not started to green up, some ranches hold a sorting process they call: "Pairing out". Not all ranches take this extra step in their herd management. Out of three ranches in Wyoming that we worked on, this was the only one that did it this way. 

What is 'pairing out' on a ranch?

During winter, bred cows are kept in the pastures near the ranch headquarters, where they can be fed easily during storms, and where they can calve near the barns. When calving is done, they are taken out to summer pastures. This process begins with gathering all mama cows and their babies into a pen, then sorting them out pair by pair, making sure each cow has her own calf. The calf's sex and the cow's tag numbers are checked against the cowboys' records, and the pair is sent out to the pasture. 

My oldest daughter rode out with her Dad this morning, and helped gather the cows and their babies into the pen, also known as a 'trap'. Then they separated the heifer calves and their mama's into one pasture, while the bull calves and their mama's went to different pasture.

Meanwhile, I was back at the house, making lunch for everyone. With my right-hand helper gone, I called on my son to help me entertain the baby, wash dishes and vacuum. He decided that next time they work cattle, he wants to go with dad! 🙂

What I cooked for the ranch crew

I made beef enchiladas, rice, and re-fried beans,  with butterscotch pie for dessert. There were only four guys, so it wasn't much effort to make a bit extra. It was still fun, though! I just love cooking huge pans of food for grateful people.  I have cooked for church events, family reunions, and many, many guests. But who I like to cook for the most, is hungry ranchers and cowboys. They eat anything I make and make me feel like a cooking queen. The only food I dare not serve is fowl. They tell me "we don't eat foul food!" Har har. 

After lunch, I drove out to the pasture where they were working on the second bunch of cattle, and quickly snapped some photos. It was a beautiful day! And by beautiful - I mean beautiful for March in Wyoming. Very windy and about 40 degrees, but the sun was shining. 

Some of you noticed the highway in the background of these photos. Yes, this ranch owns land on both sides of the interstate. Most ranches in this country were laid out long before the highways were plotted. Years ago when roads were still gravel, ranchers took advantage of the situation and built corrals and pens near a road to facilitate easier access to trucks and other vehicles. Many of these corrals are still in use today, although sometimes the nearby road has been changed into an interstate and can no longer be accessed directly, as in this case.

So, looking at pictures, it seems like the Wild West is being overtaken by commerce. The traditional western lifestyle does have challenges, no doubt about it. But having a ranch pasture cutting half by an interstate is not a major problem. This ranch is still 30 minutes (by interstate) from the nearest town, and probably 10 miles to the nearest neighbor. Miles and miles of open prairie untouched by paved roads except the interstate which every rancher enjoys for the easier trucking. 

Back to pairing out. 

Some ranches skip this step, choosing instead to keep records of cow/calf pairs as they calve or at the spring branding. Like any business, ranches have different ways of doing things and most of them have a very good reason for doing it their way. Often, specific practices come into play from a bad experience in the past, or a specific ranch setup, etc. I find it fascinating to learn how and why they do what they do.