Possible Steer?

[mmiv]

I'm curious about others opinion about this calf's potential to be a nice steer

If your wondering his mother is a commercial Brangus with heavy Angus influencing and small ear and his father is my frighteningly large longhorn bull

 

[thunder downunder]

Let's see a rear shot and top too.

Love the Longhorn daddy!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Great color - will be an eyecatcher.
Plenty deep enough, even in the flank. If he is carrying any muscling, he should work.

 

[chippie]

What are you considering him for? County Fair or Major show?

He does not appear to have enough Brangus characteristics to be classified American. He looks like he has the longhorn rear - kind of light. His coloring may hurt him too.

It would be nice to see a front & rear views, and profile with him looking straight ahead.

ETA: I saw on your profile that you show horses. You know how the judges like a halter horse with a nice trim neck, throat latch and ties in high into the shoulder? Well, a show steer should too. They like a clean neck.

This steer was reserve grand at our fair a couple of years ago.

and this one was grand

 

[mmiv]

It depends I have tags for both he'll be my first steer and I'm not looking to win and if it turns out bad he'll still taste good in the our freezer :lol2: and I'll definitely get more pics either this afternoon or next weekend when we pen cattle.

 

[chippie]

What county do you live in? Will you be showing FFA or 4H?
If this is your first time to show cattle, the county level is a good starting place.

Good luck.

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

He's not worth the time and money to feed out. Take him to the sale barn and use that money to help buy another steer or just get rid of the longhorn bull and hope for better luck next year.

 

[thunder downunder]

He's not worth the time and money to feed out. Take him to the sale barn and use that money to help buy another steer or just get rid of the longhorn bull and hope for better luck next year.

The steer is perfectly fine to feed and learn with. Jeez, it's not all about winning.

 

[chippie]

I live in Texas and my children have raised and shown market steers. Feeding and raising a show steer is expensive.
It doesn't cost any more to feed a good steer than a mediocre one.

Granted it is not all about winning. But it helps if you have a good animal to work with. I know, we've been there.

It also helps a child's self esteem if they are showing something that is decent quality. It isn't fun being at the end of the class at all of the progress shows and then the fair. Especially for a beginner.

 

[3waycross]

I live in Texas and my children have raised and shown market steers. Feeding and raising a show steer is expensive.
It doesn't cost any more to feed a good steer than a mediocre one.

Granted it is not all about winning. But it helps if you have a good animal to work with. I know, we've been there.

It also helps a child's self esteem if they are showing something that is decent quality. It isn't fun being at the end of the class at all of the progress shows and then the fair. Especially for a beginner.

Having just seen two little lard a$$ (very expensive) show steers in a dark barn being blown with fans 24/7 I guess the question is what the heck does THAT have to do with raising cattle for consumption. Last time I looked that was what we are supposed to be doing.

Let the kid show the steer he raised and take his lumps. At least he won't grow up thinking that he has to BUY success. If it's not good enuf then try to raise a better one through AI or buying better quality cattle.

Not by buying something that only a PIMP could love, and pretending it has anything to do with real world cattle.

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

I just can't stand seeing a kid come into a show with a poor animal and then after the shows over they are wondering why they're animal didn't to good because everyone along the way was too worried about hurt feelings to truthfully disect the calf for them. As for it costing the same either way, is your calculator broken? $11.00 a bag show feed plus electricity to run a fan and lights in a barn is twice as much as pasture and some all purpose sweet feed.

 

[chippie]

Well, I can honestly say that one of our daughters raised homegrown steers and one that came out of the neighbors pasture. Yes, they were under a fan in a stall in an open barn, and occasionally turned out at night. And yes they were fed a good quality feed. They were fed like a market animal and worked with.

Did she win Grand? no.
Was she in the top 6? no.

She did make the freezer sale with one. The others were in the bottom half of the class because they didn't fit in. They were Belgian Blue crosses (black & white). Not exactly stellar steers, but they dressed out well.

The out of the ordinary animal has to be so exceptional that it goes to the top. If it isn't, it goes to the bottom.

You all can gripe and complain when someone says that an animal is not competitive with the same old spiel that winning isn't everything. That learning is the reason. Well if you are going to show, you should appreciate it when someone tells you that the animal is not up to snuff rather than give you the "pretty steer" fluffy posts.

If you want to learn about raising a market animal, how to feed and grow one out. You can do that without showing it as a halter animal. There are shows with carcass contests. They aren't beauty contests like the steer and heifer shows, but are geared towards the cattleman's perspective. The real market.

Or you can raise it, learn how to feed it to it's potential, take it to the sale when it is finished and see if you came out ahead.

BUT... if you want to show, you might as well start with animal that is more suitable to purpose.


A show steer and a steer being raised for the freezer are two different worlds. Some people enjoy fitting and showing. There's nothing wrong with that. It teaches responsibility too. There are other life skills learned while fitting and showing animals. If you don't like it fine. But don't criticize others who do.

Personally, I think showing cattle is about as exciting as watching paint dry. It's very boring to me.

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

Agreed, except for the paint drying part. :lol:

 

[mmiv]

thanks for all of ya'lls opinions and thank all of ya'll who support longhorns and homegrown cattle and i don't mind losing and being at the bottom of my class god knows I've done enough of it :lol2: My mom is letting me show a home grown steer this year and if I can do ok (aka not make a total fool of myself) with this one then she'll spend the ridiculous amount of money on a fuzzy black ball of meat just for the slight possibility of getting a ribbon(or end up with a limping fuzzy black ball of meat)

and if anybody wants to laugh we we going to band him today but the guy who cleans our barn threw them away haha suprise! lucky bull!
but anyway i brought him back to the house today and here's the best of the pics( the bugger wouldn't let me get any top pics but I got plenty of butt shots and you really see how great the muscling is when hes running away :lol: )

BTW I'm only showing cattle for the fun of it lets face it I'm not seeing a butt load of people making money do you?

 

[mmiv]

And its Harris County so there are two Fairs to show at

 

[thunder downunder]

mmiv, go for it. He's not a top steer, he's not going to win you any championships, but have some fun with him and just go with it.
Make sure you feed him right. And at the end, I'm sure he'll be tastier than any of those fuzzy hairballs pumped full of various sh!t. He's certainly got eye appeal! The steer (bull! lol) does have some good natural muscle expression there which you can improve with the right groceries.
You don't sound too worried about being at the top, and if you feed him right, you may just get a ribbon.

 

[chippie]

There is nothing wrong with raising your own show stock. Choose a couple of your best cows and breed them AI to a good bull. You can breed to a bull that you could not afford to buy for less than it costs to keep a bull. We breed all of our cattle AI and have raised some competitive good commercial heifers that are doing well for cattlemen who purchased them at our fair.

It is rewarding to raise your own.

Good luck with him.

FYI: The market animals are not fed nor injected with "stuff". The fairs and major shows have residue avoidance programs. The animals are tested and if any illegal substances or substances not approved for the species are found, the exhibitor is disqualified and in many cases banned from future shows.

 

[mmiv]

mmiv, go for it. He's not a top steer, he's not going to win you any championships, but have some fun with him and just go with it.
Make sure you feed him right. And at the end, I'm sure he'll be tastier than any of those fuzzy hairballs pumped full of various be nice. He's certainly got eye appeal! The steer (bull! lol) does have some good natural muscle expression there which you can improve with the right groceries.
You don't sound too worried about being at the top, and if you feed him right, you may just get a ribbon.

There is nothing wrong with raising your own show stock. Choose a couple of your best cows and breed them AI to a good bull. You can breed to a bull that you could not afford to buy for less than it costs to keep a bull. We breed all of our cattle AI and have raised some competitive good commercial heifers that are doing well for cattlemen who purchased them at our fair.

It is rewarding to raise your own.

Good luck with him.

Thanks
and we were going to AI a ridiculously wide Maine(long story on that one we know she used to registered*face palm* never buy cows from your grandfather :roll: ) but the time frame isn't right I'm already a junior so its kind of pointless thats why I like breeding rabbits you see your effort very fast lol and if showing him goes so bad that he comes back home or doesn't make it to the show i can verify his half brother tasted REALLY REALLY GOOD and so can he
ps my mother named him elvis XD