What do you think of my 09 show cattle?

[Cowboy 2.0]

hmm...

We went to 4-H beef show at the iowa state fair and 1 out of the 2 divisions we watched i picked the one that one the division.

i also got a couple classes.

Well it's pretty obvious you didn't use those skills on selecting your own cattle.

well sorry for not wanting to spend the money on a cooler....

My calves are realistic. Oh, and aren't we forgeting that 2 out of the 3 "badly selected" calves got reserve champion or champion???????

Out of 2?

I didn't always have a cooler. I took home plenty of banners with a fan and a wash rack. I would rather see someone with 1 good calf than 3 fair calves at best.

[VCC]

Iowa-Angus you asked for opinions, now that you got them don't be defensive. I would have to agree with the others, the heifer looks leggy, narrow made, and on the hard doing side (in your picture you posted of her, where your in the ring showing, look at the heifer by the door, she looks deeper sided, longer bodied and wider based, that is what you want to look for when selecting a heifer)
The steer is an OK steer, he lacks balance, and He is big in the shouldered and light in the rear
His top line is rough, should be smoother
He also looks a little tight in the flank and heart girth.
I would guess from the pictures that he needs a couple hundred more pounds on him to be finished.
Was this your first steer project? If so great job, now next year look for a steer that is stronger in those areas where this years wasn't. Take those baldy cows and breed them to a continental and you will see some more muscle, depth and width.
We all get a little barn blind. It is a learning process, study the animals that win, listen to what the judge says about them and make your selection on your next project based off of your new knowledge.

Good luck with your next project

[Iowa-angus]

Iowa-Angus you asked for opinions, now that you got them don't be defensive. I would have to agree with the others, the heifer looks leggy, narrow made, and on the hard doing side (in your picture you posted of her, where your in the ring showing, look at the heifer by the door, she looks deeper sided, longer bodied and wider based, that is what you want to look for when selecting a heifer)
The steer is an OK steer, he lacks balance, and He is big in the shouldered and light in the rear
His top line is rough, should be smother
He also looks a little tight in the flank and heart girth.
I would guess from the pictures that he needs a couple hundred more pounds on him to be finished.
Was this your first steer project? If so great job, now next year look for a steer that is stronger in those areas where this years wasn't. Take those baldy cows and breed them to a continental and you will see some more muscle, depth and width.
We all get a little barn blind. It is a learning process, study the animals that win, listen to what the judge says about them and make your selection on your next project based off of your new knowledge.

Good luck with your next project

i generally like the post and the way the info was given, it was very informative and gave me constructive criticism.

The reason i am being defensive is because they i select and my calves are plain out being insulted. I would not have gotten defensive if it would have been said in a little more of a respectful wording.

Thanks for the info and criticism in this post VCC!!!

[chippie]

Iowa-angus,
Cowboy2.0 tends to be a bit blunt. The quality of cattle shown in county fairs varies all across the Nation. Cowboy2.0 lives in Texas (I do too). The county fairs in Texas are very competitive and have a different quality of stock. That may be why he is so negative.

These are links to a manuals about Beef Conformation and Judging. They are in pdf format and you can download and save them to your computer to print out. They are good and will help you develop an eye for conformation.

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2289beef.pdf

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/MP-398.pdf

We all like our own animals, if we didn't we wouldn't own them. However a good cowman looks at his stock objectively as if they are not his. Once you learn what your animals' good points and short comings are, you will learn how to see what is there and how to select good stock.

I know that your parents are proud of your hard work and dedication. That is what counts. The ribbons are just the icing on the cake.

[Iowa-angus]

i agree with most of everything in your post chippie.

[Iowa-angus]

bump! Why don't we maybe get a few more reply's????

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

Where is the muscle at and what are hurtfords? Is that like a hereford that got hurt or something?

[connor]

no offence, especially if ur a junior, but I'm Scotland based UK here, and these are seriously BAD cattle beasts. Nor Angus or Hereford cattle (pure or halfbred) here are as plain and mucle lacking as these.

They look as though the need a SERIOUS feed, get them wormed, washed, exercised, - build them up into their frame, - don't show cattle that are not in form. Get tail heads clipped up and get rid of that brown fluff from ur steer - with Angus cattle here it's a sign of ill-thrive & the low bellied, broken backed look is not pretty - fattening him up then trying to reduce feed load nearer time of show might help bring his belly higher. - Really work on them and get them looking well, there are plenty examples in your country, and on this site at times of well brought out cattles, READY for a show.

Hope this helps, good luck for next year, would be nice for you to find some cattle with more shape & structural correctness for 2010.

[chippie]

Did you read the literature about judging beef cattle that I posted?

How do your cattle compare to the ideal?

Here is some more info:
http://www.thejudgingconnection.com/education.php

Mississippi 4-H Livestock Judging Manual
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2289.htm

Kansas 4-H Livestock Judging Guide
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/4H_Y2/S92.pdf

[showing71]

no offence, especially if ur a junior, but I'm Scotland based UK here, and these are seriously BAD cattle beasts. Nor Angus or Hereford cattle (pure or halfbred) here are as plain and mucle lacking as these.

They look as though the need a SERIOUS feed, get them wormed, washed, exercised, - build them up into their frame, - don't show cattle that are not in form. Get tail heads clipped up and get rid of that brown fluff from ur steer - with Angus cattle here it's a sign of ill-thrive & the low bellied, broken backed look is not pretty - fattening him up then trying to reduce feed load nearer time of show might help bring his belly higher. - Really work on them and get them looking well, there are plenty examples in your country, and on this site at times of well brought out cattles, READY for a show.

Hope this helps, good luck for next year, would be nice for you to find some cattle with more shape & structural correctness for 2010.

I'll add to this, why not go to some shows in your area? Walk around, watch how others are fitting up their cattle, etc. Watch the show, listen to the judge's comments, get a good look at the winners (maybe even take a camera and get a few pictures?), and then when choosing your cattle for next year, base your decisions on what you saw at the shows.
You could even go to a couple sales and watch the cattle there, see what kind of animals are bringing top dollar. That would give you a good idea of what to look for.

[Iowa-angus]

no offence, especially if ur a junior, but I'm Scotland based UK here, and these are seriously BAD cattle beasts. Nor Angus or Hereford cattle (pure or halfbred) here are as plain and mucle lacking as these.

They look as though the need a SERIOUS feed, get them wormed, washed, exercised, - build them up into their frame, - don't show cattle that are not in form. Get tail heads clipped up and get rid of that brown fluff from ur steer - with Angus cattle here it's a sign of ill-thrive & the low bellied, broken backed look is not pretty - fattening him up then trying to reduce feed load nearer time of show might help bring his belly higher. - Really work on them and get them looking well, there are plenty examples in your country, and on this site at times of well brought out cattles, READY for a show.

Hope this helps, good luck for next year, would be nice for you to find some cattle with more shape & structural correctness for 2010.

1. Again, if my calves are "BAD", why did they place good?

They have all been wormed.

And they are not halfbreds, the bulls are all purebred angus and the cows are around 3 quarters angus.

Otherwise, not bad commentary. I will think about all of that.

Did you read the literature about judging beef cattle that I posted?

How do your cattle compare to the ideal?

Here is some more info:
http://www.thejudgingconnection.com/education.php

Mississippi 4-H Livestock Judging Manual
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2289.htm

Kansas 4-H Livestock Judging Guide
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/4H_Y2/S92.pdf

Yes, i read it, and i did find it helpful.

no offence, especially if ur a junior, but I'm Scotland based UK here, and these are seriously BAD cattle beasts. Nor Angus or Hereford cattle (pure or halfbred) here are as plain and mucle lacking as these.

They look as though the need a SERIOUS feed, get them wormed, washed, exercised, - build them up into their frame, - don't show cattle that are not in form. Get tail heads clipped up and get rid of that brown fluff from ur steer - with Angus cattle here it's a sign of ill-thrive & the low bellied, broken backed look is not pretty - fattening him up then trying to reduce feed load nearer time of show might help bring his belly higher. - Really work on them and get them looking well, there are plenty examples in your country, and on this site at times of well brought out cattles, READY for a show.

Hope this helps, good luck for next year, would be nice for you to find some cattle with more shape & structural correctness for 2010.

I'll add to this, why not go to some shows in your area? Walk around, watch how others are fitting up their cattle, etc. Watch the show, listen to the judge's comments, get a good look at the winners (maybe even take a camera and get a few pictures?), and then when choosing your cattle for next year, base your decisions on what you saw at the shows.
You could even go to a couple sales and watch the cattle there, see what kind of animals are bringing top dollar. That would give you a good idea of what to look for.

The closest thing we did to that was go to the state fair and watch a couple hours of the 4-H market beef show. That would be a good idea, though......

[milkmaid]

The calf that won the class may not be the best calf, and the calf that lost may not be the worst. Judge's opinion determines the placing. Don't know what your show is like as far as quality, but frequently small town shows tend to have lower quality animals... I was the photographer for my county fair this year and I saw a lot of poorly finished animals.

I'm not going to comment on conformation, but I will comment on body condition. Heifer and steer both need(ed) more feed to be finished. Bottle calf needs more feed to be healthy. I don't know what you're feeding him but you need to stop and re-evaluate whatever it is, because he's scrawny, stunted, underweight, and the only reason he hasn't got a potbelly too is because he's stunted. I can raise dairy bottle calves that look better and you said he's full beef.

Don't go getting your hackles up - you've asked for opinions and you've gotten them. Accept them and use the information to do better next year. Good luck.

[Iowa-angus]

Heifer and steer both need(ed) more feed to be finished. Bottle calf needs more feed to be healthy. I don't know what you're feeding him but you need to stop and re-evaluate whatever it is, because he's scrawny, stunted, underweight, and the only reason he hasn't got a potbelly too is because he's stunted. I can raise dairy bottle calves that look better and you said he's full beef.

1. The heifer was breeding stock, so i would say she looks like a 'real' cow. At the fair my dad and me both agreed that he needed more finnish, and thats why we think he got reserve instead of champ.

2. RIGHT after the fair we fed him 2% of his body weight a day. He is starting to fill the gaps and spaces now. I think a contributing factor of why they look like that is because we had all 3 on a small pasture with good grass. They were happy, so we didn't do much about it.

This year with the bottle calf (which next year will be market beef) after weigh in we plan to keep him on a VERY small patch of grass IF ANY after winter and we will start using that showmaster feed instead of our corn-soybean meal mixture. We also plan to implant him every 90 days.

[Cowboy 2.0]

Watch yourself on the implants. You can mess a calf up real fast with implants

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

Heifer and steer both need(ed) more feed to be finished. Bottle calf needs more feed to be healthy. I don't know what you're feeding him but you need to stop and re-evaluate whatever it is, because he's scrawny, stunted, underweight, and the only reason he hasn't got a potbelly too is because he's stunted. I can raise dairy bottle calves that look better and you said he's full beef.

1. The heifer was breeding stock, so i would say she looks like a 'real' cow. At the fair my dad and me both agreed that he needed more finnish, and thats why we think he got reserve instead of champ.

2. RIGHT after the fair we fed him 2% of his body weight a day. He is starting to fill the gaps and spaces now. I think a contributing factor of why they look like that is because we had all 3 on a small pasture with good grass. They were happy, so we didn't do much about it.

This year with the bottle calf (which next year will be market beef) after weigh in we plan to keep him on a VERY small patch of grass IF ANY after winter and we will start using that showmaster feed instead of our corn-soybean meal mixture. We also plan to implant him every 90 days.

I hate to say it and no offense kid but if you think those are "real" cows you have alot to learn son. ALOT!