A Humble Cattle Ranch

My husband Joe and I run a 300 head cattle ranch just south of Crawford, NE. Both of us were raised on a ranch, so we have known from the get-go, that ranching isn't for the faint of heart. Ranchers and farmers know all too well, that the hours are long and unpredictable and everything seems to break at the worst possible time. We pray time and time again for moisture and time and time again for endurance during long, cold nights of calving. We do our best to control outcomes, whether it be cattle performance or preventing a sickness, only to be reminded that really, we have zero control.
Cows in Snow

One Snowy Night and A Sick Calf

Standing in a fierce, cold blizzard, Joe and I are staring at a sick calf, racking our brains on how to keep her from dying. Now in the barn and 24 hours after medicating her, she was still too weak to stand and whatever we tried to do to get her to latch, nothing worked. She was fading fast, she had no strength or will to fight. Having no idea what was wrong with her, I decided we should try the UAA Animal Antidote Gel that I had brought home from work as we had nothing to lose.

From Charcoal House To Our Home On The Range

Activated charcoal has been playing a huge role in our lives this past year. Last January 2021, my mom's dog, Barney, his life was dramatically saved from ravaging Pseudomonas, which initially was triggered by a gunshot wound to his ear. It is an amazing story that you must check out here, with before and after pictures. After Barney's amazing recovery, which I witnessed with my own eyes, it eventually intrigued me to apply for the shipping position at Charcoal House, where I am today. I have learned so much more about the amazing properties of activated charcoal and I am still learning. After shipping out a number of the UAA Gels and learning what it all does, and talking to Joe about it, we decided to buy some, and see what difference if any, the activated charcoal would make.
So calving season hit and the notorious scours showed its ugly presence in our calves. Regardless of how good a rancher one claims to be, you know with certainty, that there will  ALWAYS be calves who get scours, no matter how hard you try to prevent it. In the past, we have usually given pills for this issue, whether charcoal pills or serious medications. However, being the softy that I am, I just hate seeing the calves get pills tubed into their stomachs. Would this calving season be different, with the activated charcoal, which is supposedly perfect for scours?
To be honest, Joe and I were skeptical of the UAA Gel. For starters, we were sure it would be difficult to get the calf to swallow the gel once administered.  To my happy surprise, it was SO MUCH easier than trying to give them scour pills! Sure, a little was lost from them spitting it out, but most of the calves swallowed almost all of it, and the best part of it all is: IT ACTUALLY WORKS!  Yes... yes, it is black and messy because, well it's charcoal, but that did not bother us at all, I mean, c'mon, our coveralls have blood, mud, manure and who knows what else.
Anyways, back in the barn is our dying calf and it was there that we administered our first 60 mill dose of UAA GEL down her throat, even though it seemed rather hopeless. We breathed a small prayer and called it a day.
Much to our happy surprise, the calf was noticeably better by morning, but not out of the woods yet. Joe administered another 60 mill and by that evening she was sucking on her mama and by the next day, she was leaping like a calf released from the stall! :)
So why didn't the charcoal pills work that Joe purchased at the Charcoal House, in years past? Because it was not enough for such a large animal. He was using way too little charcoal for it to be effective.  For dosages per weight, using VetDtox™ powder here, please click here and scroll down to the description tab.

Activated Charcoal Applications on the Ranch

Being a rancher is hard and at the end of each day, we are humbled by the fact that only God has the final say to our success. Obviously, ranching isn't a 9-5 job where you can just forget about it once you go home for the night, we have to be persistent, innovative, and resilient. That being said, I can witness firsthand, that Charcoal has made our lives easier, and we can handle that. In this ever-changing and uncertain world of ours, with or without Charcoal, we simply commit ourselves to our Heavenly Father and trust Him with our humble ranch.
As exhausted as we may be, we cannot help but smile as we watch the calves bucking and snorting around with each other, and reveling in the fact the weak have now become strong, it is so rewarding. After this calving season which is not yet over, I can wholeheartedly recommend using activated charcoal for one's ranch, whether it be for scours or something even more serious.
Moving forward, Joe and I now have big plans for using activated charcoal on our ranch. Once we wean the calves, our next challenge is often Coccidiosis. However, this year, with the help of VetDtox™ (Charcoal House's Activated Charcoal Brand), we hope to prevent that. This spring, we also plan to give activated charcoal to our cattle in hopes of preventing sickness and to bring an overall better performance.  Not only that, after seeing the amazing results of applying activated charcoal topically to Barney, I plan on making charcoal poultices, or just apply a homemade charcoal gel*  made with the VetDtox™, for the cows who get lump jaw. I'll keep you posted!
All that being said, we pray for endurance on this journey and thank our Good Lord, for this Super Safe and Super Natural Remedy, we have found in activated charcoal. Alexis Kriz as told to Kimberly  
* charcoal gel, as used on Barney, or try our convenient Drawing Cream that Dr. Regina at Crawford Companion Animal Clinic uses for sutured wounds and more.