Growing hair on herefords

[herefordhandler16]

I have a senior yearling heifer and she has more hair during the winter than any other cow we have but during show season it seems like she sheds the whole season.
I use a curry comb and wash or rinse every day.

How do I get the dead hair off and keep new hair growing?

 

[Chris H]

You may not be able to get hair in the summer. Some people body clip them in January so they have new hair that lasts through the summer, we don't.
The most we do is put them in our bank barn with a fan going over them. We've had some grow a lot of hair in that situation, some are slick.

 

[DLD]

There are some new shedding combs out that work really well. We use the ones from Supreme Show Supply, but Sullivans has a very similar one. Slick shearing can work well, but I sure wouldn't do it this late in the game. Get a good shedding comb, and get all that dead hair out, and just keep rinsing and brushing. The cooler you can keep 'em the better, but the most important part there is at least keeping them out of direct sunlight, especially during the heat of the day.

Also, there are number of supplements that do help with hair growth and quality as well, if you want to go that route. We've never used those on heifers, but I know Shag is available in a heifer formula that is supposed to have added nutrients for fertility.

 

[SPH]

Ah, I just posted a litte on this in another thread! I used to show Herefords. A few tips, in the spring when the animal starts shedding hair just go ahead and get them in the chute and clip all the winter hair off them. I'm talking about everything but your tail hair pretty much. That eliminates the need to shed the dead winter hair and in the spring the temperatures flucuate just enough that the cooler nights will promote new hair growth.

You are doing a great job by rinsing them every day, that is what we did just make sure you rinse once the sun goes down as that will be the optimal time to cool off the animal and help promote hair growth. Also, if you have a good place in a barn to set up a couple fans, maybe even a misting system and bring them in and tie them up like they were stalled at a show and let them stay under the cool fans on a hot afternoon.

One last thing, we liked to make sure our heifers didn't get too fat in the summer because some excess fat on them will make them a little too fleshy and utimately hotter too. When you are feeding show animals it's easy to want to push them on feed sometimes when you want to see them add a few more pounds but just make sure you monitor their eating habits and weight gain so they don't get too fat.

Best of luck to you!

 

[VCC]

Do you blow dry the heifer or leave her wet? If you leave her wet that is part of the problem, once the water heats up from their body they are actually warmer wet than dry. Switch a rice root brush for the curry comb and if you do not have a blower to dry her put her in front of a fan and brush her until she is dry. Brush forwards at an upwards 45% angle from back to front. For hair they say you need to wear out a good rice root brush. She also needs to be stalled so she is out of the sun, in the stall before daylight and out after dark.

 

[herefordhandler16]

I've got a blower, I usually wash and blow her out every night, my march heifer has a lot more hair than my late bred heifer does.

 

[VCC]

To get hair at this time of year rinse a blow at least 2 times a day, 3 times if you can. You want to at least rinse with cool or cold water for no less than 15 minutes each time. Then blow them out and brush, brush, brush, with the rice root brush.