Well.....here's the Show Results

[milkmaid]

Show results from our county 4H fair:

In brief - L O N G day. :lol: Dairy show was at 9:30am, Beef at 10:30am, which was really tight. Had to have both animals ready to go by 9am.

Remember Three-Eleven, the Holstein nurse cow, lame, etc etc that some of you folks told me should grow wheels back in January/February? She went and took Grand Champion in Fitting and Showing, Reserve Champion in Quality.

Then Conan, my red angus beef steer finished at 1387lbs with a daily average gain of 3.45lbs. We took Reserve in Fitting and Showing, and....Grand Champion in Quality. Out of 16 or 18 very nice steers. I'm still in shock. When I unloaded him at the fairgrounds last night and looked the steers over I wasn't sure we had half a chance, but the judge really liked him. Pretty much just named him Grand right off and then placed the rest of the class. Guess that 25-28lbs of grain/day and exercise of a mile a day was what he needed. I offer my sincerest thanks to those who offered feeding advice - couldn't have done it without your help. It was my first year and I really didn't (and maybe still don't) know that much about finishing a steer.

I'll have to get some pictures up, just give me a few days to recover after the fair. I'm exhausted right now - can't hardly see the computer screen.

Market sale is tomorrow. :frowns: I've kinda gotten attached to Conan; he's just a pet - I was walking him down the road the other day and my neighbor drove by and says, "That is one heck of an ugly dog!" LOL! This is gonna be hard. :frowns: Can I cry now?

 

[Wewild]

Congrats on your hard work. I suppose your going to cry without our say.

Take care.

 

[msscamp]

Congratulations! That's wonderful! Selling Conan is going to be hard, but it will be ok.

P.S. Yes, you may cry now.

 

[fit2btied]

Congratulations! This business needs more people like you to help shape its future!

 

[Orerancher]

Well Done, Congratulations!

 

[la4angus]

Congragulations milkmaid. You've done a bang up job. We need more young people like you. From your post I can tell that you have done all the work without outside help. That's how you learn.
Not an rgv4 type of deal.
Keep up the good work and go ahead and cry now.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Milkmaid,
Keep up the Good work. I know there's got to be a bunch of people proud of you. I believe you're really going somewhere! ;-)

 

[Medic24]

Show results from our county 4H fair:

In brief - L O N G day. :lol: Dairy show was at 9:30am, Beef at 10:30am, which was really tight. Had to have both animals ready to go by 9am.

Remember Three-Eleven, the Holstein nurse cow, lame, etc etc that some of you folks told me should grow wheels back in January/February? She went and took Grand Champion in Fitting and Showing, Reserve Champion in Quality.

Then Conan, my red angus beef steer finished at 1387lbs with a daily average gain of 3.45lbs. We took Reserve in Fitting and Showing, and....Grand Champion in Quality. Out of 16 or 18 very nice steers. I'm still in shock. When I unloaded him at the fairgrounds last night and looked the steers over I wasn't sure we had half a chance, but the judge really liked him. Pretty much just named him Grand right off and then placed the rest of the class. Guess that 25-28lbs of grain/day and exercise of a mile a day was what he needed. I offer my sincerest thanks to those who offered feeding advice - couldn't have done it without your help. It was my first year and I really didn't (and maybe still don't) know that much about finishing a steer.

I'll have to get some pictures up, just give me a few days to recover after the fair. I'm exhausted right now - can't hardly see the computer screen.

Market sale is tomorrow. :frowns: I've kinda gotten attached to Conan; he's just a pet - I was walking him down the road the other day and my neighbor drove by and says, "That is one heck of an ugly dog!" LOL! This is gonna be hard. :frowns: Can I cry now?

 

[Medic24]

Well the above sure didnt come out right... darn my puter skills and lack there of!

Well now.... are we proud of you or what? We sure are!... you know you went as our ambassador from this forum right? And you sure showed em how it should be done.. I am so very happy for you!

If I only had a son your age....I would sure try to do a cupid thang...............cus you got the spunk and the talent! ;-)

Sale day will be hard.... But the good part of it is.....the premiums you get for the kind of cattle you have! Cha-Ching! 8) Good luck with your sales as well.

You are our cattle Forum darling, keep making us proud!

Now folks,,, aint this something........here is a young lady that is out there working her tail off for something that is worth while and wholesome......and succeeding!
Not out partying and getting stoned or into any trouble......I know your family is proud. We are! :cboy:

 

[Muratic]

Sale day will be hard.... But the good part of it is.....the premiums you get for the kind of cattle you have! Cha-Ching! 8) Good luck with your sales as well.

First of all milkmaid, CONGRATS!!!! Sure hope your folks are as proud as we are!

Secondly, a few tears in the sale ring while you give that gentle steer a hug will make all them buyers dig deeper into their pockets. Show them how much you love Conan!!

Good luck at the sale.

 

[L Weir]

Congratulations on both steer and cow. I wish my daughter had the same enthusiasm as you do with showing a steer.
Remember to write to your steer buyer so they come back next year.

 

[la4angus]

I wish my daughter had the same enthusiasm as you do with showing a steer.

Very few teenagers in these days have the same enthusiasm as milkmaid does in showing a steer or other animals, or fitting and feeding them either.
She is certainly to be commended.

 

[jt]

very good milkmaid! congrats on a job well done.. ;-)

jt

 

[Medic24]

Muratic definately has the right idea... lots of tears, some real huggin on your animal, then a shy glance with a slight smile toward the buyers ...... lets em know you love it, hate to see it go, but the smile tells em your ready now...........cha-ching!

by the way...... can I borrow some money?

 

[milkmaid]

Oh I'm miserable now After all the animals were sold the pens were to be stripped and cleaned - I couldn't do it. Couldn't even start. My 4H leader came over, put her arm around me, and I cried. Couldn't help myself and I'm not a bit ashamed of crying in front of anyone, under these circumstances. She told me to say my goodbyes, head home, and she'd clean it. She's wonderful.

And you folks are wonderful too. Thanks so much for all your kind words, makes my day, as usual. But I probably don't deserve all the praise thrown my way - I ain't that special! :lol: Sure I do my best and I do it all myself (won't even let my folks help), but in my area of the country I generally feel pretty average. There's a lot of hard-workin' kids here.

Pictures now - my folks took a thousand and one pictures and here's a chosen few. I tried to make 'em small enough you folks on dial-up wouldn't have problems; hopefully they're still large enough to see!

The Grand Champion Steer himself.

In the ring, quality class, that's us on the end (far left, can't hardly see Conan).

Bathing him early before the show.

Putting the final touches on his legs and coat before going into the ring.

And Conan with his ribbons.

Sale went all right. We have a large county, lots of animals, but small selection of buyers with enough money for a 4H animal. Average price for steers was $1.83/lb, range $1.25 to $2.30. We were on the high end being Grand Champion. A person's last name matters a lot at these small-town sales. Made a fair bit at the sale; not sure exactly what as some individuals donated some $$$ to be split among all the 4H kids. My boss came out and bid Conan up. He'd told me several weeks ago he'd bid up to a $1.50, but then Conan took Grand Champion and bidding started at a dollar-fifty. He bid up to $1.95 before cutting out...he's the best, for a million and one reasons, one being that I know he doesn't have the money for a 4H steer in the first place.

I didn't do this project for the money. Some of the kids do it because they want a little extra $$$ (or more than just "a little"!), some of 'em their parents make them do the project. College money, I guess. I've just wanted to do a steer project for so long, and this was the first year I could afford it. Yeah, I'll cry now, but I have had fun this year and learned a lot. Give me time, and the hurt won't ever go away completely, but at least I won't break down thinking about him. Might even do a steer project again next year.

All 4Hers have to write thank-you notes before they'll be paid, and all buyers have to pay before any of the money is distributed to the 4Hers. My buyer is going to have to wait a few days as right now there's no way I can write a thank-you note like this one. Thank-you's for trophies and awards, yes, for my buddy, no. :frowns:

 

[Jake]

now I"m just late as usual, but I"ll say that I'm proud of you and the work you've done to get these cattle of yours in shape, that's a great job you did with your steer and your definately a deserving person for the awards and rewards that you got out of this experience, I myself have never gotten to show a calf, probably never will. So in reading your questions and having other people help you along they and you gave me a little bit of what I've dreamed of since I went to my first fair.

GREAT JOB!!!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Milkmaid - you do us all proud. I grew up in the city, moved to the country & our daughter grew up in 4-H. She started with steers & got VERY attached to each one. It was always soooo hard to load them in the possom-bellie trailer right at the sale. After a few years of steers, she bought a 1/2 blood Simm heifer AND a steer, so she devoted her "loving" to the heifer & tried not to get so attached to the steer.
They require soooo much of your time & effort & can't help touching on your pride for the results of your long effort.

Many people ask for info, but don't always follow thru with what is recommended - especially when it requires something so time consuming - like walking a calf a few miles a day.
As everyone else has said - good job - congratulations. Hats off to "our" girl.

 

[cowspider]

Milkmaid, you "are" special to us on this post. you have the work ethic we like to see in young folks. not alot of youngin's with it these days. GOOD ON YA. a soft heart is a good thing.
your tears come from your heart. :cboy: :heart:

 

[sidney411]

Congrats!!! I've never shown any animals but I'm sure it's hard to have to sale them. You have done a great job! Are you going to show again next year?

 

[L Weir]

All 4Hers have to write thank-you notes before they'll be paid, and all buyers have to pay before any of the money is distributed to the 4Hers. My buyer is going to have to wait a few days as right now there's no way I can write a thank-you note like this one. Thank-you's for trophies and awards, yes, for my buddy, no.


My daughter has to turn a thank you note as well before she gets her check. You should feel lucky. Here usually a black steer most always wins.