Honest opinion

This is Charlie, my step daughter's first show calf. I apologize for the picture isn't the best. Just snapped a quick in between rain showers. Hope to get some more alittle better this evening after work if it isn't pouring down rain. Since this is her first time ever showing and we aren't sure if she's gonna stick with it we didn't want to spend a bunch of money and she only do it one year. Just want her to have fun and make memories. So charlie was a calf we pulled out of the pasture back around March/April and we guess him to have been born sometime late October/November, December a the latest sometime. Let me know what ya think.

Get Charlie really tame and spend time on the basics of livestock handling with your step daughter.

Have you been feeding him? He looks hungry.

He's an attractive calf, but lacks muscle or the power you'd really want in a show calf.

I agree with Olson-sorry hes just too frail to show-beginner or not. He obviously needs wormed-and brought up on some feed,but he doesnt even look like a beef animal to me O0

I agree with those guys... where are you from? in most locations you can buy a " county fair steer" for a couple hundred over market... right now that is probably 1200 bucks.. if you will disclose where you live we can probably come up with names for you of guys who could help... it costs no more to get a decent one ready... this calf is really behind and really looks "frail"

It hasn't been long that we got him castrated. It's been in the upper 90° weather here in Georgia and dry. It's been hot so he hasn't wanted to clean up his feed in the evenings good. Gonna put him on scaled this evening. Been dumping a 50lbs bag of 12% sweet feed, along with 4lbs of cooked corn, 1lbs of calf manna and 2 cups corn oil between him and two other feeder steers.w Eve also been giving probiotics boluses since we've been pushing hard with feed. As soon as we get him across the scales and know what he weighs will configure a weight of feed to start feeding morning and night. He's halter broke and she loves him and is excited about showing.... so I really don't care if she wins I want her to have fun and I want her heart in it and if she decides she loves showing Cattle then her dad and I have decided to invest in a show steer... but right now we want her to love the work that goes into it. But I do appreciate the comment do keep them coming. We were late on getting the calves worked this last winterso/early spring they took a pretty big hit with the cold.... but charlie has been wormed regularly since March.

Here's a pic from back around the end of March ...about the 2 week of working with him.

If he is quite and she likes working with him he is the perfect first year project.  If she enjoys going down to the barn and catching him, brushing, scratching and loving on him, and starts to show a real interest in being involved in this industry you have accomplished your goals for a first year project.  I don't care if he looks like a billy goat and stands last in his class, if she had fun, wants to do it again and learned something, mission accomplished.  We need to get more young people involved in this industry and showing is just one more way of doing that.  I don't care if kids ever compete at a State or National level at least they have educated themselves a little bit about agriculture and can be a life long advocate of our industry.

Having a positive first year experience is so crucial in getting kids to come back and do it again.  And the more years they are involved the more they will learn, not just about cattle and agriculture, but hard work, determination, winning, losing and a whole host of other life lessons and friendships.

I don't think he is that bad.  I've seen a hell of a lot worse at county fairs.  Keep pushing the feed to him and you will be fine.  But most importantly enjoy the project.

Great advice from HGC and I agree 100%.  Having a good experience and learning life lessons are worth more than that banner or buckle.  Your stepdaughter should focus on learning all she needs to know about showmanship as that is where she could excel this year, especially if they do a novice or beginner division.  As long as she is having a good time - that's what it's about.

Regarding the calf - he needs to be on a good show feed.  Talk to your local coop or someone else with feeding knowledge in your area.  You can't feed him like a feedlot calf.  Keep worming him regularly and get the pounds on him.  I would also add Stabilized Rice Bran to help finish him nicely.  When is your show? 

I agree with HGC as well.

Year one rules are simple. 

Extremely gentle calf.  Who knows if the child will enjoy it or not.  Either way, nobody gets hurt. 

The kid helps.  Now is the time to find out.  The steer is cheap, and you aren't going to get bruised up financially no matter what.  If the kid doesn't want to do it, no problem.  Find out for market price rather than 5 times the market.

Use the year one calf to teach the right way to do things.  You won't put hair on that calf no matter how good you are.  It is not in his blood to grow hair.  However, that doesn't mean you can't try.

You asked for opinions.  That steer looks perfect to me.  You never bought him to win a show.  He is perfect.

  I agree whole heartedly with the last three posters. Have a blast with it all!!

That's exactly what we are going for HGC. We want her to want to come back we won't be showing until October. And he is from commercial herd that has a lot of brangus influence so we know hair isn't what we are gonna get. But as I have stated and a few others we aren't looking to win but to teach and learn in a comfort zone. As for the first show will be October at the Perry Fair. 

The best answer I could possibly give has already been given a couple of times.

If that little girl is excited about it, is willing to learn, and wants to help out....... Then he's absolutely perfect. I've seen it happen so many times where Momma and Daddy go out and drop $5k (or more) on a first year steer. Before you know it, the kids have lost interest and the parents end up with a big fat goose egg in their bank account. Showing cattle and being being able to do it competitively are two different things and it takes two different kinds of people.

Get him fat, shine him up, and let her have fun.

Thank you for that WT that's what we are looking to do. Me memories and fun and the want to do it....not made to do it. I've seen lots of kid lime you said where the parents spend tons of money and they force the kid to do it and the kid hates it. We want to grow the future of the cattle business not run it away.

I'm 50% in the middle of the road on this one. When I started at the age of 10-my parents KNEW NOTHING about cattle. I did it all myself-but I was a big fat kid that needed the work. Then I went up against the professional farmers who had "bought the farm manager a sportscoat" to get the better hiefers-and basically were worse than little league parents deriding me and my animals.Even so-I started winning my first year-because my hiefer WAS SOUND-and not overfed. And I went from there-on my own-and it stayed with me all my life. The only time my father interjected was when a 6 foot 4 loudmouth whos cattle won everything tryed to have me dis-qualified because my hiefer was going to give him a fair run: even though the little girl showing them didnt know the cattle-nor did she have a hand in anything-RE 40 year old pro against a 12 year old.I do think that the comments above are all VALID-but the raw material needs to be there in the animal JMO-maybe in your area it is. But standing in middle of a class as a young kid with a steer-and hearing the judge mention subtly that in professional hands this steer would place much higher-and will probably hang as good a cracass as any in the class-was like winning the super bowl. Just a basic good calf-not $5000 etc. Because if your child takes to this-they will obviously want to be on some sort of a level with thier peers: and exhibit growing skills. O0

I am for using the first year as a learning experience.  Unless you've got somebody showing you the ropes, it's nothing but a learning experience.  No one in our family had ever shown cattle until my brother and I started 53 years ago.  We didn't know a thing.  I won a class at the county fair with an Angus steer dad bought for $125.  No kidding.  I still have the sales ticket for my first show heifer.  Ted Aegerter, Jeff's dad, bought her for us for less that $200.  She got 4th in a class of at least a dozen at the county fair.  We splurged and spent $575 for  a heifer from Roger Appelgate a few years later.  She was 6th out of 6 at the Iowa State Fair.  We could have gotten discouraged, but considering this will be our 49th consecutive year showing there, we either tried to learn or aren't very bright.  I've run the course of trying to be very competitive to just enjoying the moment.  I've spent much time helping people get started with many, many projects.  Some have really taken off, some haven't.  Some have gone far beyond what I care to with showing cattle, some quit after a few years.  The joy is in the journey.  Enjoy what you're doing.  Learn from it.  Pay attention.  Somebody is out there that will offer real advice.  Somebody will take a real interest in what you're doing if you are sincere and make a genuine effort.  Nothing says you have to start out on top.  The least of what your daughter should remember 50 years from now is whether she got first or last.   

You said the girl loves Charlie. That makes them a team and I can tell you are not going to teach a kid to dump her friend just because he's not going to win. She can help him do his best.  As I read the story, she wants to take Charlie to the fair and getting him ready is the project. They are on a journey and its their journey. Going with another calf would not be the same. Just be honest with her with the information that it would be a miracle if Charlie gets a ribbon. That way if bratty kids pick on him she will understand that Charlie could care less what they think and he is having a great time being there with her.
My opinion on Charlie- he's lucky.

librarian said:

You said the girl loves Charlie. That makes them a team and I can tell you are not going to teach a kid to dump her friend just because he's not going to win. She can help him do his best.  As I read the story, she wants to take Charlie to the fair and getting him ready is the project. They are on a journey and its their journey. Going with another calf would not be the same. Just be honest with her with the information that it would be a miracle if Charlie gets a ribbon. That way if bratty kids pick on him she will understand that Charlie could care less what they think and he is having a great time being there with her.
My opinion on Charlie- he's lucky.

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Excellent Post.  Charlie is the luckiest calf out of his herd!  Wonder what his litter mates are doing right now?

If its her first project the basics mean more than having a 10K calf. We intentionally bought a green calf this past season and he has steadily excelled and placed higher and higher in class. We started out behind stood in bottom third by December he was middle and this past March in was in the top third. Give this boy time. You would be amazed what feed, supplements, hard work and time will do for a calf. Post a picture in 90 days.

Thanks you guys here's a pic of her and Charlie. We have been practicing over the weekend

Since charlie has been on a regular worming schedule and to go more in-depth with what we are feeding I'd like for everyone to give us help and advice on what we could feed him to help him gain weight. I don't want harsh criticism, I want helpful criticism. I understand charlie isn't a $5000 steer nor will he be one ever in his life but I'd like to tell you what we are feeding him and what we could change to maybe help push him to gain better and/or get the most bang for our buck. Right now we are dumping a 12% sweet feed that is pelleted and has alot of cracked corn in it, plus I'm cooking 6lbs of cooked whole corn, 2 pounds of calf manna, and corn oil mixed in and that's twice a day. I've been doing a dose of probiotics boluses once a week. We have two other steers in there with him cause we have two people buying them o put in the freezer. I've watched them eat to make sure no one is being the hog of the feed they all eat together well without fighting and pushing one another.t think we should split them up and see if we can't push him to eat more? Or.....??