shearing off winter hair

[herefordhandler16]

I have Hereford calves and I am wanting to shear off their dead hair this year. I have an old set of clippers that work (I think). But I only have one blade. Does the blade really matter? Should I clip them straight up or straight down? Any advice is welcome!

 

[3waycross]

I have Hereford calves and I am wanting to shear off their dead hair this year. I have an old set of clippers that work (I think). But I only have one blade. Does the blade really matter? Should I clip them straight up or straight down? Any advice is welcome!

Leave em alone! It will fall out on it's own in a couple of weeks.

 

[Nesikep]

It's certainly a time consuming task (there's a lot of square feet on them!) to do a halfarsed job. I clip some of my 'pets', and they fight over who gets to be clipped first.. they're a little skittish about the rattling machine at first, but they understand really quickly how good it feels.. I do it primarily for louse control.. when they go rubbing on stuff they'll get the lice off since there's no hair to hold on to anymore.

I clip with a blade that leaves about 3/8" of hair, but when I only had 1 blade it did about 3/16", and they're *really* bald when it's that short.. I go against the lay of the hair. I do it purely as a functional thing, not for show at all.

 

[branguscowgirl]

3way is right. Don't do it!
To answer your question, blades do matter. If they a dull, they pull on the hair. I body shave the Brangus that I show. (They show slick.) But there is no reason to shave others. They have hair for a reason.
Nesi, with all due respect. Shaving will not get rid of lice. There are several types of lice. Some do not need hair at all. They attach to bare skin.

 

[SPH]

We used to clip off all the dead hair around this time when we showed. Between the cooler weather and rains you'll get a really nice coat of new hair growth back if you just get rid of the dead stuff now. I think we just clipped from top to bottom, it is a time consuming task but had good results with it.

 

[Nesikep]

The lice we have around here do attach to the skin of course, but when the cattle rub and there's less hair, they can't hold on as well... It's been working for me is all I'm saying...

Yes, sharp blades are essential!

 

[retro]

We used to clip off all the dead hair around this time when we showed. Between the cooler weather and rains you'll get a really nice coat of new hair growth back if you just get rid of the dead stuff now. I think we just clipped from top to bottom, it is a time consuming task but had good results with it.

We sheared off the winter hair also but only on the show heifers .what SPH said is pretty much right . But we didn't show any smurffs so I don't know about their hair growth or what your intentions are and where you are located and what your grooming practices are so I'am not going to comment . other than don't do it unless you are wanting to train new hair for the show ring . Just know Herf hair can be a pain in the @.. to work with and clip

 

[shortybreeder]

I have been to several clinics in the last year and they suggested shaving everything except for the legs. Body hair grows back quickly if you are rinsing daily, hair on the head gets clipped anyways so might as well trim that down while you're at it. Tails I think get left alone, but don't touch the legs because leg hair is the slowest and most difficult hair to grow. I would at least shave their main body because you need to be rinsing daily and it's much easier to cool them down when they don't have the dead hair acting as insulation. For people who don't want to clip their calves, go over them with a hair shedding comb to get the dead hair out once a day for a week or two. Either way it'll be about the same amount of time, but with the comb you can save some healthy hair and the new spring growth doesn't get shaved down.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Herefordhandler are you going to be showing these calves?

 

[shortybreeder]

Herefordhandler are you going to be showing these calves?

well this is the show board.......

 

[branguscowgirl]

Herefordhandler are you going to be showing these calves?

well this is the show board.......

Yes, I know. But that does not mean the OP is showing them. Could be just asking......The question about the blade, and not knowing about his/her clippers working or not, made me think that it might be just in general.

 

[SPH]

We used to clip off all the dead hair around this time when we showed. Between the cooler weather and rains you'll get a really nice coat of new hair growth back if you just get rid of the dead stuff now. I think we just clipped from top to bottom, it is a time consuming task but had good results with it.

We sheared off the winter hair also but only on the show heifers .what SPH said is pretty much right . But we didn't show any smurffs so I don't know about their hair growth or what your intentions are and where you are located and what your grooming practices are so I'am not going to comment . other than don't do it unless you are wanting to train new hair for the show ring . Just know Herf hair can be a pain in the @.. to work with and clip

Hereford hair usually is really easy to work with if you do things right. We'd clip the dead hair off right around now then when it started to get warmer rinse them down at sunset. Usually would have all kinds of hair to work with and when it comes to fitting cattle the more hair you can work with the better. The crossbreds we had the black calves always were hard to grow hair because the summer heat would make them too hot. Unless you put them under fans during the day it was hard to keep a thick coat of hair on the Angus influenced calves while our Herefords could take some heat and only need to be under the fans in the mid afternoon during the peak high temps.