Too much belly

I'm curious on people's thoughts on this. Can a show heifer have too much belly? The reason I ask is that a kid is showing a heifer of mine and him and a friend keep saying she has to much belly.

Thanks,

HCC

A picture would help, but no I don't think a heifer can have too much belly unless she has a potbelly and looks like an orphan.

What kind cattle?
A pic will help.
Brahman influence cattle show bellies, taurine cattle should not show bellies!

Cabanha Santa Isabel - BR said:

What kind cattle?
A pic will help.
Brahman influence cattle show bellies, taurine cattle should not show bellies!

Click to expand...

I think you are referring to the sheath. When we say belly we pretty much mean the entire stomach/rib area.

Yes when I say belly I'm talking spring of rib/capacity of the animal. She is a pb angus heifer out of SAV Bismarck and unfortunately I do not have a good picture of what she looked like when I had her full. But I will try to attach a picture of her from a couple weeks ago.

the more belly, rib, and heart capacity the better. I have seen some young heifers with too much fill from the navel back that makes their underlines look weird but that is the only time I've seen too much belly. your heifer looks like she'll do good!

SimFarmer said:

the more belly, rib, and heart capacity the better.

Click to expand...

why?

HiddenCreekCattle said:

Yes when I say belly I'm talking spring of rib/capacity of the animal.

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not sure i follow. 

HiddenCreekCattle said:

I'm curious on people's thoughts on this. Can a show heifer have too much belly? The reason I ask is that a kid is showing a heifer of mine and him and a friend keep saying she has to much belly.

Thanks,

HCC

Click to expand...

they all have too much belly

I want capacity in the females. I do not understand why they say she has to much. She needs room to intake enough feed to maintain her body weight while raising a calf, and or carrying a calf. By that pic she looks good.

not sure i follow the karma cut, no biggie.
most show cattle have an artificially big belly, it just is.
people think they need an artificially big belly for some reason.
i'd like to know if there is any data to back this up.
why is more belly rib heart capacity the better.
why?  is there any data.
perhaps the show ring has it all wrong.
we shouldn't be holding them back water, letting them drink and all the other tricks to fiddle with their weight and look.
at some point, it's ridiculous.

knabe said:

SimFarmer said:

the more belly, rib, and heart capacity the better.

Click to expand...

why?

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I say the more the better because in the show ring it makes them look more appealing. If you look at all champions at many shows they have ample depth and rib. Seeing as how the heifer is tied up in what looks like a wash rack, then my guess is its a show heifer which means to compete it needs to have depth.

I do agree the artificial belly, goes a bit far. I do admit there may be little hard data to back up capacity in cattle being a factor. But look at every easy keeping cow that still raises a good calf and she will have guts. So maybe this observation has carried over into the show arena, but every cow I have had that didn't have enough guts has washed out by year 4. Just my experience. We run some rough ground.

In the dairy industry wider, deeper bodied cows hung around longer, produced better, and were flat out more eye appealing. All 3 reasons for me to want to keep breeding for spring of rib and capacity.

how do you know you have too much?


holsteins are almost like corn.  can they survive ferally with a full size bull?

In my opinion, show heifer judges are looking for the show heifer that looks like she is about to drop a calf even if she is only 6 months old.  Same with the prospect steers -- they look like small fat steers, not growing steers.  Nothing based on reality.

yep i think so,,for  a show bull its good to have a trim belly but that is not a professional opinion though.

shortybreeder said:

Cabanha Santa Isabel - BR said:

What kind cattle?
A pic will help.
Brahman influence cattle show bellies, taurine cattle should not show bellies!

Click to expand...

I think you are referring to the sheath. When we say belly we pretty much mean the entire stomach/rib area.

Click to expand...

Yes, sheath. But here some guys also use belly for sheath....why? DOn't know!
Also barrel is used for belly.

Hiddencreek - your heifer looks fine.  You may need to manage how much fill she gets just to make sure she doesn't look too "gutty".  I know my good bismarck cow will fill up so much she almost looks bloated if you let her.  It makes her look narrower through her hooks to pins because her ribshape is kind of overwhelming.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Cowboy_nyk that is how she can get. She gets filled up so much she did look a little bloated. And if I would agree that it can take away from the rest of her with a big belly on her.