Just for fun (cattle related)

2,1,3,4. By the way very nice heifers!!  (clapping)

3-2-1-4

2,1, 3, 4

I'll chime in on some points from Jusintime


I could not agree more with your point #1.  Small jaws, and pencil necks do not equate to a bovine that can forage well in my opinion either.  they are usually good a sucking corn out of a bucket.  Those narrow headed ones can easily hit the bottom of the bucket and still look at you with their eyes.  Sure don't need those at my house either.

Rib shape and chest floor is proportionate to the head/neck as it carries down from the jaw, to between the front legs, back to the navel.  It would be my opinion that if they start narrow at the eyes, they will be that way all the way down their front line and back to their udder.  However, those critters (seem) to put fat on nicely in the lower third of their body instead of from hooks to pins (tail head fatness).  I believe to purebred shorthorn breeders at large, these animals have been appealing to the eyes due to their propensity to have the "freaky front" that modern judges rave about.  That looks really "cool" in the ring, but once those animals start their career as a brood cow, they become extremely shallow in rib shape or "hound gutted".  I too believe that rib shape is a direct indicator of efficiency in the workplace (pasture).  think of a round bellied guy like me eating salad next to sarah jessica parker.  She is narrow nosed, tight jawed, and freaky fronted.  I guaratee you I could out eat her at the breakfast bar at Shoney's, and actually put on some weight while doing it.  Therefore more efficient. 


We don't creep feed at our place due to a couple of issues.  1.  we get too busy in the summer to keep them filled, and 2. I like to see what the calve's mother can do in regard to milk.  Most of our cows have good milk epds, but in the last 5 years i have been culling heifer calf replacements that were thin as they came off grass.  mom might have the same body score as the rest of the cows in a pasture, but if she is keeping on weight, and not giving it to her offspring (milking well), then I am betting that her offspring will do the same thing.  I believe that a cow should not dry up and blow away in the summer during lactation, but should not stave her calf either.  creep feeding will hide this deficiency and you get stuck keeping replacements that don't milk in my humble opinion. 


I believe we all have seen this group of heifers slightly different.  I look at them as potential show calves, and picked them on that criteria. and unfortunately, that is different that looking at replacement heifers due to the need of the seller to meet the buyers demand (pretty, fluffy, has some cover on them early).  When folks come to our house, they are not blown away by our calves if they have looked at other places that specialize in selling club calves.  But they are always astounded at our bred heifers on grass and can't believe that a yearling heifer can be in really good shape on grass and mineral. 

I know that Stumpy and Stacey will do a great job selling these animals and am sure that there will be a lot of folks lining up to buy.  My daughter might be one of them.  Have looked at their cow herd and will be surprised if these girls turn out to be bad performers in the pasture (you ever see what the grass conditions in west central kansas is like you would understand).  Jeffey, thanks for the exercize in  the judging contest.


One more thing, don't get growly when your animal gets beat in the ring.  there are 3 pages of comments on 4 heifers and all are different.  Most of these board folks have judged shows, so you now understand that most of us see things a little different, especially when you have 4 nice animals to evalutate.  Next time make the class easier to pick.  I am sure the official breaks on the class are not more than 2 points.

My order is 3124 3 just has an easy keeping look to her
Number 1 would probably make the best show heifer though 

1,3,2,4  Ill put it like this I would like to see 1&3 moving around in that pasture to really now. If 1 had 2's hair im thinking u guys would all just fall in love. lol  4 that's just a good spot for her at this time in the line up. 2 sits 3rd because she looks like the more single sided blade out of the top 3. cowpower wise. Ithink 2 will sell fast to the guy with 3 kids and they r already fighting about hows showing her.  IN MY OPIONION

I saw in an earlier response about fertility relating to the angle of the tailhead being at 90 degrees.  Is this because when it doesn't drop straight and sits more forward you will eventually get the urine pooling in the vagina?  When I was at Purdue we basically had to make a cow a new urethra that came out lower because she was pooling urine and wouldn't breed.  I questioned why you would want to fix the problem and then reproduce it and got no answer.  Oh well!

inthebarnagain said:

I saw in an earlier response about fertility relating to the angle of the tailhead being at 90 degrees.  Is this because when it doesn't drop straight and sits more forward you will eventually get the urine pooling in the vagina?  When I was at Purdue we basically had to make a cow a new urethra that came out lower because she was pooling urine and wouldn't breed.  I questioned why you would want to fix the problem and then reproduce it and got no answer.  Oh well!

Click to expand...

That is one of the reasons, yes. If you have ever noticed a female who has a tail that attaches too far forward, that almost always, her vagina will also be titled at a similar angle. This does lead to contamination issues. I also think that this also leads to some pelvic issues, in which there can be more of a chance of calving problems. I think that the pelvis is also tilted and it makes it difficult for this cow to calve a normal sized calf. I am also not 100% sure about this next comment , but I also think that many females that have this tail and tilted pelvis, also have a better chance of having small poorly formed vulva's. IMO, this is becoming much more common to see this now than in the past.

1 - length
3 - smooth muscle, ample boned
2 - little early maturing, may be a bit clubby
4 - short bodied

JMHO - I do think they all are sure pretty good - that 1 heifer just has cow wrote all over her

I really like the heifers you have. I am not a judge by no means but this want i really like 4321 the 4th and 3rd one i would take anyday!

1 3 4 2 I liked the beat on 1- the bass on 3- could dance to 4-and im a sucker for a sow etc. O0

2-3-1-4
Two sorts to the top quite easily for me as appearing to posses the most 'brood-cow potential'.  Correct in her angles, long ENOUGH, deep, refined and correct.  If i were to change her, give her just a touch more back set to her knees and extend her spine just a hair.  The next three females contrast in style could go anyway, depending on what you wanted to do with them.  To keep it short, 3 appears to be a higher volume, softer sided female with more of that 'showy' look and laid in nicer at the angle to her shoulder.  I'll grant that when set into motion 1 will probably stride out with greater ease and more readily fill her tracks and is indeed longer spined, but she remains third as she appears shorter fronted and 'plainer' in her appearance.  Still, i prefered her over 4 in a concluding pair as she is the female with more cow power.  She is a longer spined, deeper bodied female who is more correct in her angles whom I predict to have more longevity in the herd.  Although I appreciate her show ring style and appearance, four left at the bottom as she is a shorter spined, tighter ribbed female who is straight in her shoulder and knee.
Overall, nice set of females (clapping)

So... did anyone ever find out what the breeding was on these heifers?

3-4-1-2
That's a nice group of heifers!  ;D