Steer Planet - Show Steers and Club Calves Forum

Good jpb OHB -- hope you told him better in real time!

If you were a judge at a major show -- terminal -- as you run your hands over the steer to feel for condition, it is very easy to take the tips of your fingers and run down the out side of the round and thurl -- every couple inches you'd feel a little bump -- like a small scab possibly. Dead give away -- if I were judging that pen, any steer with that feel would be tanked -- and I wouldn't even give a reason. I am that dead set against it.

Terry

The people that do thinkgs like this just sicken me.  Glad that you tried to press charges against them.  Maybe next time they will think twice about doing it at your fair.  I have heard of some larger outfits doing this and other things for shows and it makes me not want to ever do any kind of business with them.

Remember kids, just say no!!!!  in the end it doens't just hurt the cattle. 

If I ever catch somebody airing one of my steers that I raised and sold, they had better be a damn fast runner -- and I Mean FAST.

If there are any one out there that thinks this is not cruelty -- I will demonstrate on that person what it feels like tohave your hide peeled off alive. There are alot of people (?? used in context) doing this  -- I hope they can sleep well at night, most likely doesn't bother them one darn bit. It's all about the money -- how stupid -- there you have it.

You young folks on here had better do more home work than you get from behind the barns -- it just is not right - that's all there is to it!

It is not illegal to be ignorant of procedural ethics -- HOWEVER -- it IS illegal AND imoral to do this once you know the least little bit about cattle. Now that you know, this subject aught to squeezed out of your brain cells and left at that. FFAshower - this is the bottom line, now you know, I hope you will use the info to do what is right and not go down this path!

END OF STORY

Terry

AMEN, and what I haven't seen mentioned is the fact that you can kill one real quick by hitting a blood vessel and air embolus to the heart or brain and presto, dead calf.  You can always tell when someone has done something fishy to a calf by the intense heat that you can feel in the hide, plus one that has recently been aired will crackle like bubble wrap, something I will loudly point out if I feel in one, all the time acting like I have no idea how it got there.  It is amazing how fast the color can drain out of a person's face when that is mentioned. 

First let me start off by saying that I have never aired a calf.  Nor have I been been in the corner of someone that was showing an aired calf.  However, I will venture to say that it happens a lot more than people think.  Can you tell when you look at the carcass?  You bet you can.  Does anyone ever get disqaulified?  Nope.  No one wants any controversy.  No show manager wants their champions to be tainted.  It's the same reason the champion steer at Ft Worth goes to the zoo after the show.  The people that run a show aren't looking to kick out a calf after it wins.  They only do it as a last resort.  Eg.  Positive drug test or animal identity isssues.

In a lot of circles airing a calf is spoke about like feet trimming or dehorning.  Just something that you do.   Do I think it is right?  No.  Would I ever do it? No.  Am I going to protest when one wins that I have reason to believe has been aired?  No.  Protesting a calf would probably be worse for you than it would be for the person showing it.  You would burn a lot of bridges with a lot of people depending on whose calf it was.  I'll just keep minding my own business and trying to help family and friends do well and have fun.  

   I shouldn't probably say this, but honestly, I would like to see it done. I guess just out of curiosity. I've had PPL here that critic calves with,"he has everything, but the pump". Please don't crucify me.

Quote from: farwest on March 02, 2009, 01:42:54 PM

Speaking of inhumane I think the ADG requirement for state and county shows should be eliminated.

Why?  Is pulling 160lbs off a 850lb calf inhumane? No one would ever do that right?

Too many or most of our county extension agents who have input on the rules and requirements of county and state shows still think this is a kids beef finance project where he goes out and pulls the old commercial black baldy out of the hills and does some serious record keeping on adg, feed conversion, and costs for profit or loss.  They don't realize or don't want to realize the project or business this really is and it's effects on cattle to try to beat these requirements

I've heard of once the calf has been aired (you guys are forgetting about oil too) you take a rolling pin and smooth out the lumps.  Failure to do this causes one side to be bigger than the other, so I've seen.