# Mustering in Australia



## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

This didn't really fit into any of the other categories so here we are!

I have a heap of photos I wanted to put up here so this will be my thread to show some photos and tell you guys what I'm doing.

I'm currently working for mustering season on a cattle station in the Pilbara in Western Australia. The station runs mostly shorthorn and Brahman cattle and is slowly moving over to drought masters. We muster during winter because it's dry and not too hot! Everything comes in, all the ****ty cattle and the fat steers and fat dry cows get sold, calves get marked, weaners get marked and weaned, and we buy in some new heifers and bulls. 

We have finished al the outside musters of all the lesser quality cattle now and are having a little it of a break and just doing the inside paddocks with the nice, cooperative cattle!

Today we mustered a paddock on a mix of droughtmasters and shorthorns and a LOT of calves. We spent a few hours walking along on foot with the calves because they don't move too well off the buggies or horses. 

Anyway into the photos! A lot of random ones here.

First some of me actually out mustering.





































Riding the workhorses in the arena. 



















One of the mustering buggies - these get a real beating, including knocking over scrub bulls and rogue cows to be shot!










The landscape 










Me in the purple and a friend being silly at the vet school










Some of the adorable calves










That will do for now, more to come!


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

That looks great!

How did you get involved in something like that?


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## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

Woop woop here we go! Please keep posting pics! Theyre awesome :_


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Awesome pics!!! Keep 'em coming


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## PhelanVelvel (Jan 6, 2012)

Rogue cows to be shot? By shot do you mean tranquilised, or...? I guess I just don't understand, sorry. D: Aren't you rounding them up? So why would you shoot them? o_o I know a scrub bull is feral/wild, but what is meant by rogue cow in this context if you're shooting them? Sorry, I don't know anything about this sort of thing.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Thank you for the pictures. I'll gladly look at more......


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## DimSum (Mar 28, 2012)

Awesome shots! More please!!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Basically if a cow keeps breaking out of the mob and having a go t the horses or motorbike, and it looks like we won't get her to the yards then the boss knocks her over and shoots her. If he leaves them they are just more wild next year and they take more with them each year. We found one rogue cow this year who got away a few years in a row and she was charging the chopper and nearly tipped a horse over running into it! Same with scrub bulls except they are worse to let go as they multiply!!

My good deed is done for the day, found a little calf that got left behind yesterday so I caught him and tied him up and brought him up to the yards. Another one nearby had already been taken by dingoes.
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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

But he wasn't very appreciative, and peed on my jacket as a thankyou lol. 









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## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

Love the pics!


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Wow, that would be so interesting! Subbing for more pictures.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

We would also rid a bull or extremely tough cow from the herd.

There is a difference between getting a cow hot and she gets on the fight, a wild cow that might need a little attention while handling and a flat out ignorant/mean cow or bull. The latter has to be culled. It is a danger to the horses and cowboys. These types usually have calves with the same temperament. Just like horses you don't want to breed undesireable characteristics into cattle, especially when holding heifers back.

Shooting them and eating on the ranch/station is a lot easier than hauling them to the auction. I imagine in AU it may be hundreds of miles to a sale. Eventually they all get their heads cut off anyhow, it is a matter of when. Hamburgers got to come from somewhere!


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Awesome pictures! Keep 'em coming


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Lauren, I love the pictures!! That just looks like too darn much fun . Keep the pix and information coming, I'm always interested in learning how other folks handle their cattle.

Phelan, like others said, a mean natured cow/bull is one of the most dangerous creatures a person on a ranch could ever handle. They are big and strong and very seldom have any problem at all with straight up running your horse over which could easily cripple/kill a good horse. And, the longer they are left, the worse they get. Cattle like that pose an even bigger threat to the humans that end up working around them afoot trying to sort them or load them into trailers. I've had horses get knocked down by cattle and I know a horse can take a hit from a 1000 pound cow a lot better than my frail little body can.

There is just no safe way to handle cattle like that so the only option is to destroy them before either horse or human gets hurt bad.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Neat! Shorthorns are among my favorites, too.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

Awesome pictures! What an experience!

Forgive me though, what does 'mustering' _mean_?


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Exactly. These are cattle that haven't seen people from anywhere from a year to their whole like in the case of cleanskin mickeys and cows, and try just have no respect for the horses bikes or buggies. We don't automatically get the gun out, if they break from the herd the buggy runs them round a bit and brings them back. We brought in a bunch of cleanskin mickeys and cows on each of the outside musters that we're relatively well behaved. 

We do our own killers here too but we generally pick a pretty nice young steer. Yumm. 

Paradise, mustering is basically gathering all the cattle in one paddock or area and walking them to a set of yards to be processed and sold or put into different paddocks. Here in Australia it is done with horses, motorbikes, mustering buggies and helicopters or planes. Mustering season is the six or so months over the dry season, or winter.
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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Another photo out mustering. 










A beautiful Pilbara sunrise. 









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## PhelanVelvel (Jan 6, 2012)

wild_spot said:


> Basically if a cow keeps breaking out of the mob and having a go t the horses or motorbike, and it looks like we won't get her to the yards then the boss knocks her over and shoots her. If he leaves them they are just more wild next year and they take more with them each year. We found one rogue cow this year who got away a few years in a row and she was charging the chopper and nearly tipped a horse over running into it! Same with scrub bulls except they are worse to let go as they multiply!!
> 
> My good deed is done for the day, found a little calf that got left behind yesterday so I caught him and tied him up and brought him up to the yards. Another one nearby had already been taken by dingoes.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Ohhh, I understand. That's too bad, but I understand why it's done. D: I was going to ask if they end up getting used for meat, the ones that are shot, but I guess that's inevitable even if they're not used by humans, I bet the carnivores appreciate it. XD Glad you rescued the calf. :3

Whoa, beautiful photos! Those two in your last post are exquisite!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

We picked up a poddy calf today. He was born in the yards Wednesday night, and after trucking them to their new paddock yesterday, we went back to pack up the portable yards and found him all alone. Poor little fella. I'll have pictures to lost of him soon 
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## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

Aww its always sad with the Poddy calves :/ But they are so so cute :3


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Ok, so we found a other little bull calf in the paddock we mustered, so we now have two poddy's 

Any name suggestions? Both boys. 









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## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

T-Bone  Nah thats cruel lol!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

PintoTess said:


> T-Bone  Nah thats cruel lol!


As a kid, all our poddies were food related names. Chop, Mince, Steak, Stew etc. Mostly lambs, but a few calves in there too lol.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Here's my names -- Earl and Henrry. They're darlings.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I have no name suggestions, but I am wondering what you do with those calves. I am assuming that you probably couldn't match them back up with their momma's. Does someone take them and bottle feed them or are they used as veal?

We always ended up with bottle calves when I was a kid, the only one I can remember the name of was Sampson.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Yep mommaswft them. Maiden heifers so not much chance of them comin back. Normally the boss puts them
Down but be said he is sick of having to do it, and his wife and daughter and I said we were willing to raise them. So they will be bottle calves and when bigger will go out with the horses. 

I already named another calf T-Bone ha ha so it's taken!
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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Mommas left*
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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Poor guys. Hmm, Mike and Ike (candy, but still a food LOL)? Riff and Raff? Babe and Blue (my brother used to have a pair of trained driving oxen with those names)?


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

Bert and Ernie lol


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Chiilaa said:


> As a kid, all our poddies were food related names. Chop, Mince, Steak, Stew etc. Mostly lambs, but a few calves in there too lol.


We had angus when I was growing up, dad would randomly point to one and tell my sister and I their name was T-bone, hamburger, steak, etc so we understood they were for eating and not pets.

Poddy is as interesting as us calling ours bummers. Wonder where the names come from for orphaned calves?


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

I had a pig named bacon ham and chops hhaha


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

They have been christened shorty and mick  I made a little rope halter last nigh so we can teach them to lead, omg it is the cutest thing!
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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Awwww!!! Cuteness!!!


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

They are awfully precious. Since they are a matched set, I don't suppose they can be turned into a team of oxen when they grow up???


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Some more photos uploaded! Mostly landscapes, we climbed the ridge behind our quarters.




























This is one of the iron ore trains that run every hour or so in front of the homestead. They are so long I couldn't fit the whole train in one frame, and I've been told there is an estimated 2 million dollars profit made on each and every trainload of ore.



















Being artsy with my camera. 



















You can see the staff quarters behind me in this photo. 










This is the staff quarters, and some of the horse paddocks to the right. 










This is further right than the last photo, showing more horse paddocks, the yards and arena, then the workshop and various sheds. The main homestead is further right again.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Very pretty. Looks similar to the country I live in.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Thank you! Being on this forum is like getting an internet version of National Geographic. Please send more.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Gorgeous pictures!


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