Big Dog Cattle - Show Cattle Blog

January 26, 2010

About BDC Blog

Filed under: Show Cattle — admin @ 9:00 pm

Welcome to the BDC Blog. We have put this blog together in the hopes that this can be a place that people turn to for information about cattle show results, new show cattle fitting techniques, and club calf product reviews. Here you will find a good reference for a Show Cattle Blog, Show Steer Blog, and Club Calf Blog.

We allow others in the show cattle industry to write postings here as well. To start writing please register and send us an email with your user name. We will gladly give you rights, but if it is abused we will take the rights away.

Please feel free to contact us with any comments/suggestions at info@bigdogcattle.com.

Thanks

Jamie

Premier 4000/3000 Clippers

Filed under: Reviews,Show Cattle — admin @ 3:20 pm

This product review was done on the Premier 4000 Clippers.

To start off, I have had these clippers for a while. I have a set of 4000 and a set of 3000. After ample testing I have put a hair head on my 3000 and I only use it for the head and possibly the neck. I don’t dislike the 3000, but I love the power of the 4000. In my opinion, spend a little extra money and get the 4000 series clippers. You won’t regret it!!

My clippers have been used very hard and I have gone through 2x motors on them. They have been used by my whole family, and they have not been taken care of very well. To be honest when I look at the clippers after they have “gone up in smoke” the blades are usually so tight that I can’t even move them with my hands. I would have to say they have been used by someone that doesn’t understand the proper tension that clipper blades need. Plus, the clipper blades where in terrible condition. With that said, I wouldn’t hold these 2x motors against the clippers. I did, however, get an excellent opportunity  to test the 3 year warranty that Premier gives with these clippers. Premier’s warranty is the best I have seen for a long time!! I send my 3000 set in and they replace the motor with a 4000 series motor at no cost. The total process took only a few weeks.  I would buy another set of Premier clippers just for their customer service if nothing else.

So, the real question: How do they clip?

I will talk about the 4000 series because I was not too impressed with the 3000 series. I thought the power was amazing. They can clip through anything (sometimes not a good thing). The clippers are well balanced, making them easy to use with one hand, and the design doesn’t allow your grip to become too hot to handle. These clippers only have one speed, but that is not a negative in my opinion because I am not a big fan of multiple speeds. The heads are easy to install and change (not much has changed there). Overall, I like these clippers and have no plans of changing any time soon. I would, however, like to try out the new 4000s series clippers that just came out in 2010.

For the complete specs on these clippers visit: http://www.premier1supplies.com/

If anyone has any comments/questions or if there is a product they would like a quick review on please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email at: info@bigdogcattle.com.

Thanks

Jamie

January 24, 2010

2010 NWSS Results

Filed under: Show Cattle,Show Results — admin @ 1:58 pm

Congratulations go to the following exhibitors for their outstanding results at the National Western Stock Show held in Denver, Colorado:

Junior Shows

Junior Market Beef:

Champion: Sydney Schnoor of Chowchilla, CA

Reserve Champion: Bailey Core of Pleasantville, IA

Junior Angus Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Heather Willis of Union Bridge, MD

Reserve Champion: Jake C. Cunningham of Sheridan, IN

Junior Hereford Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Karlee J Osborne of Sheridan , IL

Reserve Champion: Mitchell Tucker of North Platte, NE

Junior Charolais Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Sydney Zehnder of Stanchfield, MN

Reserve Champion: Haley Dennis of Saint Jo, TX

Junior Maine-Anjou Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Katie Braun of Northwood, IA

Reserve Champion: Bailey Core of Pleasantville, IA

Junior Shorthorn Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Nick Sullivan of Dunlap, IA

Reserve Champion: Joseph O’Sullivan of Maple Lake, MN

Junior Limousin Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Austen Etherton of Dawson, IL

Reserve Champion: Austen Etherton of Dawson, IL

Junior Red Angus Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Calli Bayer of Ringle, WI

Reserve Champion: Calli Bayer of Ringle, WI

Junior Simmental Breeding Heifers:

Champion: Kaitlyn Lee of Columbia, MO

Reserve Champion: Zachariah Henthorn of Fleming, OH

Open Shows

Angus Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Express Ranches of Yukon, OK

Reserve Champion: Jonathon Fox of Lloydminster, SK

Angus Breeding Females:

Champion: Pleasant Valley Farm of Gaithersburg, MD

Reserve Champion: Kade Patton of Frankfort, IN

Hereford Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Barber Ranch of Channing, TX

Reserve Champion: Jason Hoffman of Thedford, NE

Hereford Breeding Females:

Champion: Jason Hoffman of Thedford, NE

Reserve Champion: Kyle Perez of Nara Visa, NM

Charolais Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Dory Gerrard of Innisfail, AB

Reserve Champion: Alan Leifeste of Cameron , TX

Charolais Breeding Females:

Champion: Haley Dennis of Saint Jo, TX

Reserve Champion: David Dickerson of Paradise, KS

Maine-Anjou Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Mike L Hartman of Tecumseh, NE

Reserve Champion: Mike L Hartman of Tecumseh, NE

Maine-Anjou Breeding Females:

Champion: Cole Clanton of Bucyrus, KS

Reserve Champion: Barry Nowatzke of Michigan City, IN

Shorthorn Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Ron Busse of Edson, KS

Reserve Champion: none

Shorthorn Breeding Females:

Champion: Joseph O’Sullivan of Maple Lake, MN

Reserve Champion: Nick Sullivan of Dunlap, IA

Limousin Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Kyle Smith of Java Village, NY

Reserve Champion: Express Ranches of Yukon, OK

Limousin Breeding Females:

Champion: John Pence of Platteville, CO

Reserve Champion: Express Ranches of Yukon, OK

Red Angus Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Howard Schneider of Ardrossan, AB

Reserve Champion: Clint & Angela Morasch of Bassano , AB

Red Angus Breeding Females:

Champion: Jason Scheetz of Frederick, OK

Reserve Champion: Amanda Von Forell of Wheatland, WY

Simmental Breeding Bulls:

Champion: Gary Rairdan of Del Bonita, AB

Reserve Champion: Keystone Cattle Services of Lebanon, PA

Simmental Breeding Females:

Champion: Koty Elizabeth Allen of Emerald, WI

Reserve Champion: Macy Griswold of Stillwater, OK

Open Prospect Shows

Open Prospect Steers:

Champion: Lauren May of Mineral Point, WI

Reserve Champion: JPV Farms – Vickland Show Cattle of Longmont, CO

Open Prospect Heifers:

Champion: M Lazy Heart Ranch, LLC of Torrington, WY

Reserve Champion: Cody Henderson of Alliance, NE

Open Prospect Pen of Five Steers:

Champion: Curtis Wolff of Madison, NE

Reserve Champion: Jerry Sidwell of Gill, CO

Open Prospect Pen of Three Steers:

Champion: Greg Tonkin of Mineral Point, WI

Reserve Champion: Curtis Wolff of Madison, NE

Open Prospect Pen of Five Heifers:

Champion: Curtis Carrousel Farms of Monroe, WI

Reserve Champion: Carrousel Farms of Monroe, WI

Open Prospect Pen of Three Heifers:

Champion: Greg Jerry Sidwell of Gill, CO

Reserve Champion: Jon Behmer of Hoskins, NE

January 22, 2010

Growing Hair on a Budget

Filed under: Cattle Fitting,Show Cattle — Tags: — admin @ 10:41 am

I am a slow learner. It has taken me 7 years to learn what I am about to reveal now.

Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Some of us have to try to make showing cattle fit into our limited budget. This posting will hopefully explain some much needed ways in which you can grow hair on cattle without breaking the bank.

Some people will tell you the only way to effectively grow hair on a calf is by buying an expensive freezer. This is not true. A freezer is very helpful, but can do more damage than good if not used properly. Basically, growing hair is lots of hard work. If you try to cut corners, it will not come out the way you want. Here are the basic steps to growing hair:

1) Growing hair starts with the calf’s genetics. If the calf is genetically void of hair then growing hair will be an up-hill battle.  Be aware of what season it is (calves will have more hair when it is cold). Look in places that calves typically don’t have much hair (i.e. inside the ears, around the tail, on the legs, etc). If the calf already is growing good hair then your job will be much easier.

2) The next step is to feed your calf right. A straight corn diet will probably burn most of the hair right off. Use a club calf ration.  Take a look at some of the top brands and try to mimic what they are doing. My favorite is Profile show calf feeds. It is amazing what a good food ration will do to help grow hair.

3) Sunlight, heat, and dust are not friendly to hair. In order to grow optimal hair you must decrease these three elements as much as possible. It is good to wash or thoroughly rinse your calf early in the morning before it gets too hot. Then tie the calf into a cool barn of some sort. We took a section of our barn and covered all the windows and placed two swamp coolers on either end. It is important to make sure your calf gets plenty of exercise after you let him out in the evening.

4) Growing good hair requires stimulation. Some people will shave their calves 3-6 months before they are going to show them. This does two things: it allows the hair to grow back better than the original hair, and it stimulates that hair to grow. This method is not practiced by lots of showmen because they are continually showing their animals. The two best methods are brushing and blowing your calf. After we have taken our calves out of the cool barn we put them in chutes and go to work on them. We will use rice root brushes for the body. Make sure to always brush the hair forward. We also use rice root roto brushes for the legs. The brushes attach to a drill and allow you to get aggressive on the legs. Make sure to brush this hair upwards and be very careful around the tail or it can wrap around the drill and cause major issues if you are not careful. Lastly, we will take blowers to the calves. We blow the hair the same direction as we brushed it. Make sure to start at the neck and work back to the rear. Don’t be lazy. The more this is done, the better the hair will become. This process also allows you to train the hair to grow in the direction you want. Believe me, you can have all the hair in the world, but if it is not properly trained you might as well shave it off.

5) With all the stimulation and work that is being done to the calves hair, it is likely that the hair will need conditioning. We will put a little bit of Revive in the hair before we turn them out at night.

6) The last part and probably the hardest is repetition. It is hard work, but this process needs to be done every day until the time comes you don’t want/care about the hair.

Hopefully, this information has been helpful. Let me know if there are any questions, comments, or other suggested material. Contact me at info@bigdogcattle.com