I'm Back....finally!

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cowz

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Jan 10, 2007
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Hi Gang!

I am back among the living!  I returned from my long trip a few days ago.  I am suffering from jet lag, but had a wonderful time! 

Scotland and the Royal Highland Show was wonderful!  I can now fully understand why Justintime makes a semi annual trek!

Wandered also through England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.  WOW!

You need to see how these people (AND SOCIALISTS) live to truly appreciate what we have in the US.  And food and everything is sooo cheap here compared to across the pond!

I just loved the Scottish, English and Belgian people.....well, the rest, lets just say they are not fond of American tourists.  They will take you for all your are worth, but they are not so warm and fuzzy!

Yes, they show in kilts!  I will post a few pictures a day!    Great to be back!    cowz
 

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RSC

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cowz said:
Hi Gang!

I am back among the living!   I returned from my long trip a few days ago.  I am suffering from jet lag, but had a wonderful time! 

Scotland and the Royal Highland Show was wonderful!   I can now fully understand why Justintime makes a semi annual trek!

Wandered also through England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.   WOW!

You need to see how these people (AND SOCIALISTS) live to truly appreciate what we have in the US.   And food and everything is sooo cheap here compared to across the pond!

I just loved the Scottish, English and Belgian people.....well, the rest, lets just say they are not fond of American tourists.  They will take you for all your are worth, but they are not so warm and fuzzy!

Yes, they show in kilts!  I will post a few pictures a day!    Great to be back!    cowz
  Welcome back!  Look forward to the pics!  Would like to check it out accross the pond some day!

Tony
 

justintime

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Welcome back cowz... them $16 hamburgers are interesting aren't they? I am always amazed at the cost of food over there, and how no one complains about food costs. They treat their ag producers like royalty. It is a nice change to see agriculture get some appreciation, but they do go a bit overboard over there, and the government involvement is beyond ridiculous. Looking forward to the pics and some stories.
 

jason

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Welcome Back.

I have been over there once, but it was when I was in 5th grade.  I would love to travel back over now that I can appreciate it more.

I want to try knocking the golf ball around on oldest courses in the world.
 

frostback

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So glad you made it back. What kind of clip job is on the cow? Cant wait for more photos but for us dial up users please dont put too many in one thread.
 

justintime

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Beef shows in Britain are more brush and go, there is no blowers, no clippers, no glues, very little other show supplies. I kept thinking Sullivan's would have a windfall if the set up a store over there. Showing cattle is a big deal over there, but they do it completely differently. Another difference is there are no trucks and trailers...none. There are no 1/2 to 1 ton duallys over there. There are what I small trucks like the S10 Chevy, but not even many of them.
 

chiangus

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justintime said:
Beef shows in Britain are more brush and go, there is no blowers, no clippers, no glues, very little other show supplies. I kept thinking Sullivan's would have a windfall if the set up a store over there. Showing cattle is a big deal over there, but they do it completely differently. Another difference is there are no trucks and trailers...none. There are no 1/2 to 1 ton duallys over there. There are what I small trucks like the S10 Chevy, but not even many of them.

how do they move cattle?
 

cowz

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justintime said:
Welcome back cowz... them $16 hamburgers are interesting aren't they? I am always amazed at the cost of food over there, and how no one complains about food costs. They treat their ag producers like royalty. It is a nice change to see agriculture get some appreciation, but they do go a bit overboard over there, and the government involvement is beyond ridiculous. Looking forward to the pics and some stories.
Justintime, Here is my favorite story:  I was sitting along the big ring watching the "Parade of Champions" which happens every afternoon, and enjoying myself thoroughly.  An older gentlemen sat down beside me and we began a long and facinating conversation.  To all of us Yanks, the minute you open your mouth with an American accent...they ask where you are from...haha.

Anyhow, we talked about farming in Scotland and here.  He raises Angus and Highland Ponies.  We talked about the great Scottish migration to the "Colonies".  I told him the furthest we could trace our Scottish roots was to an orphanage in the early 1800's before immigrating to the US.  He asked what my surname was and I told him what my maiden name was.    Guess what ...... It was his name too.!!!!  We really laughed and he said...HELLO Cousin!

Any how...yes...I paid 9 Pounds (roughly $16.00) for a Galloway Burger, which I really did not care for.  Remember, these folks grow hardly any corn and feedlots do NOT exist.  It was kind of like a meatloaf concoction with onions and carrots and probably oatmeal added in and then grilled.  The bun was homemade and fabulous.  We kept telling the kids on the trip ......IT"S NOT BAD, IT's JUST DIFFERENT!

 

knabe

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chiangus said:
how do they move cattle?

not sure if they use the same rig, but with horses, they have these van type thing that looks like a UPS truck/van all in one.  they didn't have trailers.  lots of small narrow roads, so big rigs didn't seem common.
 

justintime

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Most cattle are hauled in trucks that are called " Lorries". ( not sure if that is how they spell it or not but that is how it sounds). Basically, they are like a heavier built van , built right onto the truck chassis. And you are right, the major highways are normal width and some are 4 lane, but in the countryside all are very narrow, most are only wide enough for one vehicle. The drive like maniacs and i wondered if I would ever see home again. May times, we would come around a bend in the road and see a car coming right at us. Everyone hits the binders and one backs up until they find a place where they can back off the side of the road a little. I never did decide how they know who backs up. Considering that they love their booze and there is a distillery in many little towns, i have no idea how they have not killed off half the population.
 

cowz

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A Lorrie is quite interesting.  For the exclusive horsey types, imaging a nice motor home with a cargo ramp in the back.  Drive up front, living quarters in the middle, horse hauling in the rear.

I did not see one goose neck trailer.  Very few pickups, only saw a few......but of the toyota tundra variety.  Any trailer is a bumper pull.  I did see many cattle and horses in a 2 or 4 horse bumper pull trailer pulled by a range rover type vehicle.    We even saw a load of strawberries being delivered to a market by a BMW!

Seeing a semi truck on their highways is not near as common as here.  I think most large loads go by rail. 

These cattle producers seem to also sell their cattle in smaller groups, not by the semi load like we like to do.
 

chiangus

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thanks, couldn't live without my duramax, but I guess if there is no room over there
 

cowz

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justintime said:
Welcome back cowz... them $16 hamburgers are interesting aren't they? I am always amazed at the cost of food over there, and how no one complains about food costs. They treat their ag producers like royalty. It is a nice change to see agriculture get some appreciation, but they do go a bit overboard over there, and the government involvement is beyond ridiculous. Looking forward to the pics and some stories.

To their defense, I did have a pretty good steak in a steak house in Glasgow.      Not to be a traitor to the beef industry, but if I lived in the UK, I would eat fish and chips every day!   I am addicted!

I had an Argentinan Steak in Cologne, Germany that was really bad.   So enjoy that corn fed beef, we really do not know how good we have it kids!

I have to also agree with your comment on how great they treat and commend their farmers, even vegetable farmers.  A real effort is made to keep them in business.   Agriculture operators are even helped with the costs of maintaining their fences.  Ag property owners pay no estate taxes so that they can actually keep the operation in the family.   (ARE YOU LISTENING, OBAMA?)

On the negative side, the government really strong arms them badly.  Our tour guide was telling how half of her ewes aborted this spring after she was FORCED to vaccinate them with new Bluetongue vaccine that had not been well tested.

Ok, pictures:  here is quite possibly the BIGGEST charolais cow I have ever seen!  (I am 5'6" tall, I am on the level with her back feet!)

Also this is a pic of the Champion Angus bull.
 

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cowz

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You can see by the last picture that they do not use any glue.  No blowers.  They just take a horse curry and some dressing (Like old time "sweet georgia brown" or a glycerin bar) and rough the hair into swirls.  My take is that it makes them look more massive.....?    They still wash with big jars of Orvis.  It really was a trip down memory lane as far as fitting goes.  I can still remember when I was a little girl, my brothers made a real art form out of making perfect waves on their steer's hair.

Anyhow, I will post a variety of pictures since you have asked!

Here is a flock of Texel sheep.  These are some stout sheep. 
 

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cowz

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I have to spend a minute picking on Limousin cattle.  Most showmen there have a power washer with their tack.  Now, no offense to any Limmy folks, but if my limmy acquaintances used a power washer on their bulls, they would come absolutely unglued.  ;D

Attached here is the Limousin "Hospitality Room".  What was totally fascinating was the free "Tea Rooms"!  Now here, any business or cattle association will have a nice booth with a coffee pot and give away brochures, rulers, pens, etc.  At the Highland Show, all of the breed assns, cattlemen's groups, newspapers, equipment dealers have a hospitality tent.  These are NICE, with linen tableclothes, china, glassware, waitresses, the whole nine yards.  You sit down, have tea and biscuits, wine, beer, etc.  Now I am spoiled.

Here is a big double muscled Limousin bull.    And the official Limousin beer garden.
 

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cowz

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Ok Shorthorn Gang.....as promised:

I thought the shorty cattle were the most like our own cattle of all the breeds.  Great place to shop for an out cross.  The only bloodline that was redundant that I noticed was out of a K-Kim cow.
 

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OH Breeder

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Nice photos and great stories. Thank you for sharing photos.

Let me ask you this. one thing I noticed about some of there cows is the tend to slope off their hips. Or they tilt back. Why is that? Alot of them are not level. Is this a really dumb question?
 

shortyjock89

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It's a calving ease thing.  A little slope from hooks to pins makes it easier for the cow to calve. I had an Australian Shorthorn Breeder tell me that a few years ago. 
 

justintime

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Take a look at the breeds that seem to have few calving issues. They all have females in which the pin bones are situated lower than the hook bones.Take a look at the Brahman breeds and those breeds that have Brahman in their make-up. Most of them could calve an elephant. You do not hear about hard calving sires or much about calving problems in these breeds because their pin bones are situated lower than most other breeds.  High pin bones in any animal is not a good thing when it comes to calving. This does not mean that the animals have to slope off from hooks to pins as much as one would think.

The cows I saw in Britain were similar to ones here, in my opinion, when it comes to hip structure. There are some cattle here that do not have enough hip in them, as there is over there. If you really want to learn a few lessons on basic structure, ride around with an Aussie for a few days. They pick out things in animals that cattlemen here never think about.
 
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