Cow auction set-up day

The house I'm sitting in right now typing this post from is over 130 years old.  It's reasonable to assume that for about 130 years there has been a dairy cow living on this farm.  

For years and years and years, it would have been the family's only source for milk, cream or butter.  Later on, it became part of the business of the farm.  Raise cows, milk them and earn money by selling the milk.

But, the time came when my dad and uncle decided enough was enough.  Their bodies were tired of the rigors of daily chores and the responsibility of cows that needed to be milked twice a day (and many, many more stresses that I don't understand).  It was time to sell the cows.  So, last Sunday we worked for hours with the auction crew to help set up a tent, set up panels to create walkways, pens, gates, etc. for all 220 animals to be sold.

Roughly half the cows lived over at my uncle's house.  Here's the cycle of life for cows at this farm - the smallest calves and cows that are milked lived at our place.  All the heifers and steers and the bull, lived over at my uncle's place.  So, all the rowdy adolescent-type heifers and steers had to be moved over here.

The boys had a hay day on Sunday.  The weather was beyond perfect.  Warm, warm sunshine just a little bit of breeze.  It was a perfect day to be outside.

Rylee got one last visit with the cows.  She has always loved to see the cows when she comes out to the farm.

The tent was set up with chutes leading to a ring for the cows to be auctioned in.  There were gates that opened and closed and the boys ran through the maze of panels like there was no tomorrow.  They even pretended to auction each other off.  I think Levi sold for $20.01.

The kids had fun playing in the tent!

The cows, small brains and all, had a lot of adjusting to do in a short amount of time.  Their usual places to walk and feed were disrupted.  Their normal milking times were off by quite a few hours so they were sure to have full bags of milk at auction time.  It was certainly strange to hear the milker on at 9pm on a Sunday night.  But, at the end of the day on Sunday the farm was poised and ready for  sale day.