Light and Genetics Most Important for Hair Growth?

I showed cattle as a kid, did the purbred thing for many years as an adult, and kids are now showing cattle in 4H.  I have always enjoyed rinsing and tying cattle in the barn everyday so we get that done but we are not afraid to skip a day occasionally and have been know to turn out on a hot afternoon if we havce something going on in the evening.  In other words we work on hair but aren't crazy about it.

I have a few observations over the years and wanted some others opinions.  We have showed a lot of angus and simmentals, generally not breeds that seem to have a lot of hair.  Last year we had a char x maine heifer that had beautiful hair, up to your elbow hair.  It didn't matter what we did or didn't do she had a lot of hair.  We also  had an angus heifer treated the same way and she could have been shown in a slick sheared show with out us getting clippers out.  Both cattle treated the same, one with tons of hair and one with none which sure seems to support the fact that genetics have a big influence.

The other thing that I think has as much influence as anything is light or lenght of day.  As days get shorter the body produces more melatonin, the body's production of melatonin is inhibited by light and permited by darkness.  More melatnonin means more hair as the body sees shorter days as a sign winter is comming.  About 20 years ago I worked at the U of NE research farm during college.  At the time there was an experiment that was taking place with some bulls and melatonin.  I don't recall the purpose of the study, certainly not hair growth, but all of these bulls had long hair in the middle of August in Nebraska.  No doubt that melatonin has an effect on hair growth.  I have often wondered if the temperature in coolers gets more credit than it should when really the control of light has more of an influence than the actual temperature.

Thoughts?

I know I have been told by a few people to keep my calves in the dark for melatonin production. Our barn isnt super dark, but the calves are shaded enough make it seem like a dark stormy day so lets hope this helps! If this tells you anything. There was a very clubby steer that moved in about march from up in the northern states, he was hairy beyond belief, but when he got down her to hot humid texas he lost all of his hair to the point of being slicked. Now in the middle of july he is being rinsed twice a day, he isnt touched by a brush, and he is still growing quite a bit of long hair from just that little bit of work..i think his genetics play a big part in that. Its strange because that steer is so hot during the day he wont eat and he still produces hair!

I agree with genetics being a main factor, but people who have coolers seem to see more hair on their calves......I'm not recommending a cooler since I don't even have one.....I rinse everyday, but our barn is completely dark when the lights are out and we have several fans behind the cattle and a fan sucking air out of the barn.......(We turned an old ferring building into a show barn and it stays pretty cool in there.)......I agree with what you said about genetics, but I have seen several hairy angus/ simmis at national shows

I think genetics is the biggest thing about growing hair. If they have the genetics they will grow hair no matter what. We have several old show heifers in the pasture that grow hair all year long and we live in south florida where it's hot and humid most of the year. We have this one Paddy O'Mally cow that grows so much hair that we have to slick her several times just so she can tolerate the heat.

Our Dr. Who heifer had 4 inches of hair in December, and she still has every bit of it!! All we have running are a couple fans, no dark barn, no misters( )) didnt get them up this year) , no cooler, just some old sullivans fans and a rinse job every once in a while.

I think some of you people are missing the point of conversation. Genetics far and above is key for some cattle to have more hair than others. HOWEVER: Cattle that aren't known for having great hair except in winter, can and will grow more than their share of hair, if the proper conditions are met. If you think the "darkness" of a barn can't make a difference with proper air circulation,you are badly mistaken.I have over fifty years of experience myself of fitting show cattle,and I can prove this therory at any time.Give the man who started this post his due,he seems to be right on in his observations.

Totally agree with TMJ on this one.  Number one influence on hair is genetics period, keeping them in the dark will grow hair, but if you don't have the genetics for good hair (Angus) you aren't going to get a fur ball, but you will have more than if you had them where they can see daylight. 
We showed for 15 years without a cooler, and we have had one for the last 3, so here are my observations on the cooler question.
1. We don't keep ours at frigid levels, we run them at 55-60 it keeps the animals comfortable and eating and that is the ideal temperature for hair growth.
2. I may get hammered for this, but you don't see many lazy, unexperienced people with coolers.  Most people with coolers have done this for many years and were already good at growing hair, they work the hair correctly and hence have a better chance of seeing good results from the cooler.

Jill said:

2. I may get hammered for this, but you don't see many lazy, unexperienced people with coolers.  Most people with coolers have done this for many years and were already good at growing hair, they work the hair correctly and hence have a better chance of seeing good results from the cooler.

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Jill,

I agree with you 100%, I was thinking the same thing before you posted this.