Is it possible

[vs_cattle]

Hi,
Got a 5 Mth Old Heifer, Halter broke already well work in progress she is doin real good for being worked for two days and also just got weaned off today she leads about 5-10 steps Is it possible to get her looking good within two weeks? I just found out yesterfay about the California Charolais Field day and was told I should go cuz you learn alot during a field day. She dont look to bad wight wise not skinny or nating just dont know how good she is gonna look I got until the 26 Of May to get her looking good thats the day of the show. Im gonna be workin her little bit of hair every day after school and weekends so thats 16 day until show Im puting her on show grain / alfalfa should I put her on oats hay too?
Thanks
for any comments
PS at field days is it more a learing show or is it still a real competitive show sorry on the spelling

 

[cattleluvr18]

sounds like your doin purty good for only two days. a lesson from experience, be strict with her! i bet you can get her lookin fine in two weeks. a bath and trim does wonders. about her feed, oat hay gets them fat. alfalfa does too, but i like oat better. a field day sounds like a learnin experience to me. whatever you do, have fun with it!

 

[vs_cattle]

I hope I can Thanks for the incuragement

 

[cattleluvr18]

I hope I can Thanks for the incuragement

anytime

 

[aplusmnt]

Hi,
Got a 5 Mth Old Heifer, Halter broke already well work in progress she is doin real good for being worked for two days and also just got weaned off today she leads about 5-10 steps Is it possible to get her looking good within two weeks? I just found out yesterfay about the California Charolais Field day and was told I should go cuz you learn alot during a field day. She dont look to bad wight wise not skinny or nating just dont know how good she is gonna look I got until the 26 Of May to get her looking good thats the day of the show. Im gonna be workin her little bit of hair every day after school and weekends so thats 16 day until show Im puting her on show grain / alfalfa should I put her on oats hay too?
Thanks
for any comments
PS at field days is it more a learing show or is it still a real competitive show sorry on the spelling

I would think it would be pushing things to be competitive. But if she is gentle and show-able and not to green looking. Take her for the experiance if nothing else. Her and you both will benefit from the show.

Ps. weaning her and showing her all in a couple weeks might just be to much stress on her though. A lot will depend on just how good she is handling all the changes happening.

 

[Colorado2008]

Hi,
Got a 5 Mth Old Heifer, Halter broke already well work in progress she is doin real good for being worked for two days and also just got weaned off today she leads about 5-10 steps Is it possible to get her looking good within two weeks? I just found out yesterfay about the California Charolais Field day and was told I should go cuz you learn alot during a field day. She dont look to bad wight wise not skinny or nating just dont know how good she is gonna look I got until the 26 Of May to get her looking good thats the day of the show. Im gonna be workin her little bit of hair every day after school and weekends so thats 16 day until show Im puting her on show grain / alfalfa should I put her on oats hay too?
Thanks
for any comments
PS at field days is it more a learing show or is it still a real competitive show sorry on the spelling

It sounds like you are off to a good start. One thing that I would recommend is to pull her off the alfalfa and switch to a good quaily (long stemmed perferably) grass hay. The reason being is alfalfa tends to give them a big gut. It would be okay to give her some the day of the field day but I think that you would be a lot better off in the future with just grass hay. Also the alfalfa and grain mixed together can cause bloat very easily. But hey, sound like your doing great with leading! Keep up the work, it will pay off!!:banana:

 

[vs_cattle]

Thanks
I just want to go and not look to funny Im not going to win im going for the learning wining will come later just wanted to know if field days are more learning then anything cuz if its more learning I have more leway if she dont look her best but so far so good with her being gentle can rub her all over except the neck line to the brisket area every where else A Ok Head, Legs, Belly, Tail, Hooves, Back, Ribs, Any Where I think its more an insticnt that she knows animals in the wild can kill her type thing

 

[vs_cattle]

I also got a clipper/fitter comming out the 22nd to clipp her and show me a little more before the show What do fitters usaly charge he is commin down 2.5 hrs and is charging 60 for the hole 9 yards everthing clipping/fitting/short lesson on cattle fitting so I think thats good
Thanks
Isaac

 

[aplusmnt]

I also got a clipper/fitter comming out the 22nd to clipp her and show me a little more before the show What do fitters usaly charge he is commin down 2.5 hrs and is charging 60 for the hole 9 yards everthing clipping/fitting/short lesson on cattle fitting so I think thats good
Thanks
Isaac

Sounds like a very reasonable price to me!

 

[cattleluvr18]

I also got a clipper/fitter comming out the 22nd to clipp her and show me a little more before the show What do fitters usaly charge he is commin down 2.5 hrs and is charging 60 for the hole 9 yards everthing clipping/fitting/short lesson on cattle fitting so I think thats good
Thanks
Isaac

definetly worth it. keep us posted.

 

[vs_cattle]

Well today first real bath and did good for a first timer also first real time of grooming and spraying with conditionar so she really was skidish at first she also was mad at me she attempt to kick many times I guess she was letting me know she dident like me combing her towards her flank area and rear so I got to work on that

 

[Moocow11]

ok this is going to sound mean and i am sure alot of people wont like but hey it works. ok each time she kicks at you go and take a step back and kick her right behind her front leg. do every single time and she will never kick again. and just go and to the show stick and just scratch her flank and she will get tired of kicing and then just go and hang all ove rher and get to now her "soft spot". soft spot- every calf has one somewhere and just stratch and they will just sit there and let you pet them,

 

[vs_cattle]

Im open for anything but I wont just yet kick her back cuz that will set me back with her and my relationship but I cant promise if she kicks me 2-3 times if I show her how it fills JK!
but ya I will scrach her and let her kick it out Thanks for the tip

 

[Moocow11]

no i didnt mean to strating kicking her this early but like latter int he game if she is still kicking then start kicking her. also as for the soft spot one year we bought a calf and he would go nuts in the ring this was when i was a 6th grader and we called the guy and he told us to stracth it with the show stick right above the butthole

 

[Colorado2008]

Moocow I disagree. In the years that I have been showing cattle, kicking them back does nothing. It makes you feel better but you are destroying the 'trust.' If she is kicking right now, its probably just because she is not used to being messed with and having her legs touched. She will probably get over it in time. If you are real concerned with getting down there and brushing her legs, start out with a broom and brush her legs with that until she gets used to it. Getting rough and tough with the calves just makes them rough and tough back.

 

[Moocow11]

we have showed since my great grand dad started showing when he was 10. i have been showing since i was 7 and even before that helping with all the animals. we have a total of 19 show calves, 26 show pigs, and 12 sheep. i am pretty sure it works.

 

[Keren]

Rough and tough works for some calves . . . but for others it doesn't. You have to judge for yourself which category your calf falls into.

I haven't done the kicking back method, but we do have a pretty nifty wash rack which just so happens to have a vertical bar at the rear. So with some that kick like nuts, I have just stood at the right angle so that they kick the bar and not me. It has worked for a couple of cases.

But I agree that it seems this heifer is just kicking because she hasn't got used to everything yet. Give her time.

 

[TheBullLady]

I agree with most of the other posters.. I would NOT kick her back at this point. You're right about the trust issue.. she's no doubt kicking because she's not used to you handling her. As you gain her trust and she realizes she likes the attention, I bet she'll quit. Kicking her back is not going to help you earn her trust.

 

[Moocow11]

no i didnt mean to strating kicking her this early but like latter int he game if she is still kicking then start kicking her. also as for the soft spot one year we bought a calf and he would go nuts in the ring this was when i was a 6th grader and we called the guy and he told us to stracth it with the show stick right above the butthole

 

[hangna]

Isaac,
To get her ready to show you'll want to train her to keep her head up. Cattle need to be comfortable with this so that when you lead and set her up in the show ring, she won't fight you. A animal that "cooperates" when you're showing gives the judge a chance to get a really good look.
Once she is broke to tie (without fighting or pulling back) start tying her with her head "up" when you're rinsing, brushing and blowing her. It's also a good time to scratch her belly and start teaching her to move her feet around when touched with the show stick.
Don't leave her alone until she's used to it, but stand her after you're done working with her, while you're cleaning her stall, etc. No more than 30 minutes a day to get started.
How high you tie her head will depend on where it looks the best on her. Take a look at some of the Champion photos in the breed magazines and tie her head so it's at the same angle. Stand back and take a look at her. Is her back flat at this angle? If not, made an adjustment. She'll learn pretty soon that when she's in this "pose" it's time to stand still, not look around, rub on you, etc - After she's trained, she wiill automatically move her head to the correct postion when you stop and set her up in the show ring.
Good luck