Club calf. Added new one, Plus one more

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3waycross

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One of mine that I am thinking about selling to the little girl I posted Sat with her winning steer.

I would like some opinions from you folks here who I am sure know more than me about this stuff.

Not quite 5 months old. 1/2 RA and the rest is mixed, but obviously a little Char, maybe 1/8th

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Based off of the calf she just won with, (not knocking the calf, he just does not have the behind we need to compete in our area) I would say he should well. I am concerned with the way his top line meets the shoulders but that could be just the way he is standing on the profile shot. He looks like he has enough width, length, rib and depth to feed out well, he also looks like he has good wheels and should be able to move, when he is fed out.
The more I look at him the more I think he will make a good fat steer.
 
VCC":1sdspjgq said:
Based off of the calf she just won with, (not knocking the calf, he just does not have the behind we need to compete in our area) I would say he should well. I am concerned with the way his top line meets the shoulders but that could be just the way he is standing on the profile shot. He looks like he has enough width, length, rib and depth to feed out well, he also looks like he has good wheels and should be able to move, when he is fed out.
The more I look at him the more I think he will make a good fat steer.

I too am concerned about the shoulders.

He has a lot more butt than the blk steer from this year.

The topline is definately not as good the last steer was perfect on top.
 
Man the part of the country you live in is beautiful. This steer may be just a bit to rough in his make up. He is structurally sound, has a lot of meat and mass to him. I'd like to see a smoother made front, more level top and more depth to his muscle as far as showing him. I'd go back and look a bit deeper in the herd. Was that yellowish red calf that you posted on the breeds board a bull/steer? if so I would want to take another look at it.
 
in the pictures he looks like he couldnt move off of his back wheels very well. Which means he is not structurally sound, which means he will NOT win around here. He looks too straight for my standards
 
Thats the first thing the judge looks at!!!! i dont know about over there in roo-land but over here, he watches them walk in, if they dont fill there tracks or walk stiff they are thrown out of contention for class winner or Champion. If in fact this steer cant travel(not saying that he cant), dont waste your time and money. Incorrect structure in a steer = a calf at the bottom of the class.
 
What Keren means is over here in 'roo-land' if he can walk without issues, he's ok on structure. Judges here recognise that a steer is a steer for a good reason. Something is wrong structurally which makes him unsuitable to be a bull. the #1 thing a judge looks for here is muscling and fat cover. Strong shoulders? Doesn't matter, he's not a breeder. Tail head is a little high? doesn't matter he's going to meat. If you go to a feedlot you realise they take on a similar stance. As long as it has capacity and can walk, they'll take it. But in a ring capacity means nothing either because the animal is being killed in the next few days. I think the fundamental difference in showing steers here is that our steer judging is a real world competition compared to the club calf circuit you have there.

Having said that, over here your steer would do quite well because he shows that capacity and ability to muscle out well, after a few months of feeding he'd be looking shmick, but in the club calf game he doesn't look hairy enough and probably isn't quite as correct as you'd want him to be. Hair > structure > Meat apparently
 
i realize thats what judges look for in oklahoma i see it all the time still blows my mind. Your jus gona eat the thing. i think everything should be able to walk, and i would only use that reason if i couldnt choose between the two top animals. i think a heifer should be able to move thats what there going to be doin... Im sure it will be a good calf . you seemed to do really well with your other one good luck
 
Avalon":am8h0tt8 said:
Man the part of the country you live in is beautiful. This steer may be just a bit to rough in his make up. He is structurally sound, has a lot of meat and mass to him. I'd like to see a smoother made front, more level top and more depth to his muscle as far as showing him. I'd go back and look a bit deeper in the herd. Was that yellowish red calf that you posted on the breeds board a bull/steer? if so I would want to take another look at it.

That yellow calf was my Registered Gelbvieh hiefer. She might just get shown some day also. But not in Colorado.
 
All this talk about structure and the ability to "travel" is quite hilarious seen in the light of the structural soundness of the clubcalf sires.
 
I assumed he meant a calf for a county fair; this calf would not make a club calf. I also think you will see the clubby bulls becoming sounder as the judges are penalizing unsoundness again. The reason so many of the clubby bulls are unsound was breeding for single traits, the big @ss, the huge top, and these traits brought problems with them. The Clubby bulls are becoming more balanced and this should in turn help in producing better calves.

You still want to pick a good sound calf to start with, why is this so hilarious? Just because the bull is not sound at 10 years does not mean his terminal calf will be unsound at 18 months, and club calf bulls where selected to produce terminal calves, the fact that people tried to turn terminal heifers into cows is a whole other story.

I often wonder if these bulls would not have been better off out in a pasture chasing cows than they were standing in a stall with very little exercise, I know I feel better and have less aches and pains when I have been active.
 
KNERSIE":3a4p0twg said:
All this talk about structure and the ability to "travel" is quite hilarious seen in the light of the structural soundness of the clubcalf sires.

You and ausie cowgirl make good points. However, a problem has developed in the US showrings. (MONEY).
Some of these kids get upwards of 150,000 us dollars for their steers at major steer shows such as Ft. Worth. At the very top it has turned into who you know and how much did it cost to get there. Academics will say one thing then do another when judging. I'm going to estimate that at at least 50% of the judges over here have no idea what proper finish feels like. They get the job because big money clamours for it. It's a dirty business but it is also a cottage industry for even those who sell steers to the first jock that comes on their place and makes an offer.
As far as soundness, They may not care in the showring but if I do not think they are sound, not only will they be casturated but they will never make it into the hands of a kid to show. Our local show does expect them to be properly finished for their age with proper muscling. Soundness and pretty should only put the over the top.
See there are a bunch of average steers around. If they want to be above they need every good feature they can get. The US cattle market is so enormous that there is room for a bit of everything. Not saying its perfect animal science (it's just showing). In a lot of regards its like DOC states. "It's a beauty contest to see who can fit the best". I hope that explains a bit about why we do what we do.
 
I'm not a fan of the white calf, but you have to look at what your goals are. Would he have a chance to make market and bring in a pretty penny? If that be the case then give him a go, you never know he might just do better than everyone thinks.
I don't like how he slopes off the rear. Tail set is fine, but I also do not like the way he breaks in the shoulders.

also, being white he will be a pain in the butt to keep clean. My personal opinion........I don't think he would be worth the extra hard work. I would get an easer and cheaper feeding calf.
hope this helped :)
 
A structurally unsound calf cannot move around the feedlot. They are in pain and would rather lay down than get up and eat. Therefore they don't gain.
 
aussie_cowgirl":274uf3my said:
Also snider how would you like it if i referred to the US as 'yank-land'. Please be a little more considerate.

We're from the south darlin'. You can gladly refer to us as rebel-land though.
 
Cowboy 2.0":1mzhcw50 said:
A structurally unsound calf cannot move around the feedlot. They are in pain and would rather lay down than get up and eat. Therefore they don't gain.

I've worked on a feedlot cowboy. What I meant was if he's a little post legged, sickle hocked, cow hocked, roach, dip back what ever it doesn't matter if he walks around ok. If he physically can't move then that obviously is a problem. They only gotta live to 18mths. If they can walk onto the truck to go to the abs then they walk good enough. If feedlots were strict on structure they'd have no animals to fatten because the reality is a steer is a steer for a reason. And a heifer sent to the feedlot is there for a reason also.

North south doesn't matter to me. All I want is some common respect. It seems lately on this board to ask for some respect is asking too much.
 

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