Hi everyone!
I am part of a beef cattle show team :cboy: at my college, but we don't have much guidance and many of us are new to showing, which is why I have come here. I have a few questions, forgive me if this turns out long.
We have 10 angus heifers and we have been working with them for maybe 2 1/2 months now. I am not sure how old they are or how much they weigh... :???: They're calves though. Just about every day we let them out of their large pen and bring them into a smaller pen. From there we halter and tie them, comb and brush them, work on their feet with show sticks a little bit, and then walk them back to their large pen, which is down and around the corner. Recently we have been trying to walk them in circles in their large pen and work with show sticks in there once we get them in there. For all 10 of them it usually takes ~2 people ~2 hours. So I guess my first question is if anyone has any suggestions about this routine? Is there anything we should change or add to their practice routine?
They have gotten a lot better since we started working with them, but recently it seems like they have plateaued in their improvements. What can we do to make them even better? They all walk now, and sometimes they are really good! But, depending on the day of the week it seems, sometimes they get a little wild. When leading them with halters, many of them will nudge into us with their heads and push us around a bit. Sometimes they push us into the fence and don't let us get away. When they do this I try to pull their heads up but sometimes they get all twisted and I can't. Sometimes I pull them around in a little circle and then start walking in the direction I want to go again. I have tried smacking their noses and sometimes it works but sometimes they don't really care. :bang: I've heard this nuzzling and pushing is playing? Is there anything we can do to discourage this playful behavior?
We have about 5 heifers that we kind of consider the "good" behaving ones and the other 5 are sort of the "bad" behaving ones. We tie the bad 5 up first and walk them back last so they are tied up longer than the other 5. We consider them bad because they tend to be more feisty and sometimes get away from us and take off running. Is there anything we can do about the bad 5, or any reason these could tend to behave worse than the rest of them?
All 10 heifers got ringworm. :frowns: The people who take care of them are supposedly treating it, but it hasn't gotten better and it has been a few weeks. The little bald patches are spreading to different parts. Is that normal for it to take so long? Does it have to be completely cleared up with the hair grown back in order to show them? How can we help the process go a little faster?
One other question that I should probably know already, but I don't, is their feet positions. For beef cattle in a collegiate show (don't know if that makes a difference) How should their feet be placed? We have been told their feet should be square, and then we have been told the outside ones should be forward, and we have also been told the inside ones should be forward, so I think we are thoroughly confused. :help:
Phew that was a lot! Thanks in advance for your help!
I am part of a beef cattle show team :cboy: at my college, but we don't have much guidance and many of us are new to showing, which is why I have come here. I have a few questions, forgive me if this turns out long.
We have 10 angus heifers and we have been working with them for maybe 2 1/2 months now. I am not sure how old they are or how much they weigh... :???: They're calves though. Just about every day we let them out of their large pen and bring them into a smaller pen. From there we halter and tie them, comb and brush them, work on their feet with show sticks a little bit, and then walk them back to their large pen, which is down and around the corner. Recently we have been trying to walk them in circles in their large pen and work with show sticks in there once we get them in there. For all 10 of them it usually takes ~2 people ~2 hours. So I guess my first question is if anyone has any suggestions about this routine? Is there anything we should change or add to their practice routine?
They have gotten a lot better since we started working with them, but recently it seems like they have plateaued in their improvements. What can we do to make them even better? They all walk now, and sometimes they are really good! But, depending on the day of the week it seems, sometimes they get a little wild. When leading them with halters, many of them will nudge into us with their heads and push us around a bit. Sometimes they push us into the fence and don't let us get away. When they do this I try to pull their heads up but sometimes they get all twisted and I can't. Sometimes I pull them around in a little circle and then start walking in the direction I want to go again. I have tried smacking their noses and sometimes it works but sometimes they don't really care. :bang: I've heard this nuzzling and pushing is playing? Is there anything we can do to discourage this playful behavior?
We have about 5 heifers that we kind of consider the "good" behaving ones and the other 5 are sort of the "bad" behaving ones. We tie the bad 5 up first and walk them back last so they are tied up longer than the other 5. We consider them bad because they tend to be more feisty and sometimes get away from us and take off running. Is there anything we can do about the bad 5, or any reason these could tend to behave worse than the rest of them?
All 10 heifers got ringworm. :frowns: The people who take care of them are supposedly treating it, but it hasn't gotten better and it has been a few weeks. The little bald patches are spreading to different parts. Is that normal for it to take so long? Does it have to be completely cleared up with the hair grown back in order to show them? How can we help the process go a little faster?
One other question that I should probably know already, but I don't, is their feet positions. For beef cattle in a collegiate show (don't know if that makes a difference) How should their feet be placed? We have been told their feet should be square, and then we have been told the outside ones should be forward, and we have also been told the inside ones should be forward, so I think we are thoroughly confused. :help:
Phew that was a lot! Thanks in advance for your help!