You asked us to be very critical so here it is, and please dont get offended by what I am going to say.
The first hereford heifer looks to be a framey girl, but my biggest criticism of her is that she shows little to no natural muscling. I know we are talking about a heifer not a steer or bull, and that some people get carried away with too much muscle on heifers, but I expect my females to show some natural muscle expression, generally they will show it by 5 to 6 mths old, and you can always tell natural muscle expression in animals, even if they have done it a bit tough and havent been on feed. Looking at this heifer she has no butt, and no eye muscle. Heifers like this also tend to be hard doers - they lack that easy fleshing ability and that means that she will need more feed than others to keep up to the desired body condition score. This has problems later on, when she is a reproducing cow she is gonna take more feed to maintain her own body, grow a calf and lactate at the same time. Often times those hard doers are the ones that struggle to breed back in time with the rest of the herd, and have an extended inter calving period. One other thing that concerns me about this heifer is her hind leg structure - it may be just the way she's standing but in the side view she appears to be slightly weak in the pastern, and the hind view she appears slightly cow hocked. Note that I say slightly - and it is certainly not to the extent that I would cull her
The good things about this heifer - she's big, framey and growthy. She's plenty feminine, with a nice neck and well laid in shoulder. She's got a pretty good pelvis - nice length from hip to pin and a slight angle down from hip to pin - makes for easier calving. She's a nice long heifer but she could benefit from a bit more depth and spring of rib.
The simm x (I'm guessing hford?) carries more of that natural muscling than the hford heifer - you can see that both in the side and rear views, and thats good. She doesnt go overboard with it and still retains her femininity. I guess two things stand out for me with this heifer: firstly the rear leg structure - I am worried that this heifer appears to be post legged. This is a fault that affects longevity - over time her hock joints will be subject to more pressure than if they were correctly angulated, and with carrying her weight and the weight of the bull when he mounts her, she will break down earlier than a cow with sound hind legs. The other thing I'd really like to improve on this heifer is her capacity - she appears to be a smaller heifer than the other, and thats okay but I'd like to see more depth of barrel, more spring of rib, less restriction through the heart girth.
Having said all that, these heifers are a fine way to start off. They are certainly not going to be show winners, but I've seen people start off with much poorer quality. They look like they need to be put onto a good feed - grain and hay - they are very green at the moment. Also just another tip, their halters are a bit big for them, the noseband is too far down the nose. Best way to describe it is where the top of the nose band is now, is where the bottom should be, particularly the simmx heifer.
I am assuming here you are intending to breed on with these heifers and start your own herd, they are a good base to start with. Keep in mind there are three key areas when you are judging cattle - show or home. Firstly and foremostly - structural soundness - things like correct angulation of the legs and the topline. This is just so so important and needs to be on the top of your list. Secondly, reproductive ability - in heifers we are talking here about femininity, long necks, well laid in shoulders, large pelvic capacity, length from hip to pin, width between hips and width between pins, slight angle from hip to pin, good vulva development, good udder development with lots of skin folds. In cows we can start looking at udder structure and sappy calves, as well as the aforementioned things. In bulls you can look for masculinity, good shoulders, good pelvis, scrotal circumference, even scrotum, tight sheath. The third area to look at is carcase attributes - that easy fleshing ability, natural muscling, thickness over the top line, wide stance at the back, good butt, moderate fat cover, soft rolling skin and soft hair.
As for the steer - he is reasonable. Although the pictures make it awfully difficult to tell, he seems to show quite a bit of thickness and muscling, and he's got really good bone. I'd like to lay my hands on him to see whats under all that hair, and assess how much finish (fat) he has, because that view of the front looks like he may be laying down some fat in the brisket - if so, he might be getting a little wastey.
Keep us updated with new photos, and let us know how you go showing them! Good luck
and have fun :banana:
