TWINE AND HORSE HAIR

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cowz

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farmboy said:
WONDERING HOW TO APPLY THIS STUFF...NEVER DONE IT  :)))

Welcome to the board FARMBOY!   

Applying hair or twine is more of an art than anything.  Probably the COOLEST O0 thing I have ever seen is a fitter that has a mason jar rigged up to his blower that evenly applies the twine fragments at the same time he is spraying on the glue with the other hand.

If you want to learn this, do it on a tame calf you do not intend to show.  Rotten mistakes sometimes happen when you experiment on your best calf! ::)

The idea is to give the illusion of heavy bone to your steer.  (Please do not insult your heifer by doing this!  Enough is enough!)  Most people start out by spraying a small amount of glue to the outer leg and quickly "throw" some twine on.  You build this up, let it dry, then clip to the desired length and shape, then black it.

Dont try this at home unless you have a case of Hocus Pocus or a gallon of unfit.  It takes a lot of the undress to get all the glue out.

Now, time for the sermon from the opionated old hen.  Don't make a fool out of your self by making the legs 10 inches in diameter.  This makes you and the calf look rediculous!  Go for a natural look.  Old people like me and my husband LOVE to sit in chairs at the shows, sipping a cool one, giggling at the twine jobs.  I know, hard up for entertainment.

Everyone has to try the twine torture at least once.  It is handy to have horse hair or twine in the showbox to fill in those "ooops"  spots or rubbed places on legs.
If you get practiced on pulling legs with the natural hair....you can always make a few extra dollars at the jackpots.    Practice and patience...and dont spray your glue on all at once.    Good luck Kiddo!
 

red

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Also, make sure you are allowed to use twine & fillers. A lot of shows, especially in Ohio won't let you do it anymore.
I'm like cowz though, sometimes it's fun at home just to play & pull out all the tricks. Same thing w/ painting, can hardly do it in Ohio anymore. It's fun to be able to bring out all the spray cans & go wild!!!

Red (lol)
 

cowz

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Thanks Red for that reminder.  We have one regional show that is a "No rules, anything goes" show.  As long as you keep that in mind, it is a lot of fun.  My son tried the twine thing.  It got extremely hot.  At the end of the class one back leg started to slide.  We stood 3rd in a big class.  But the congratulations were for my son who was laughing that his calf developed a "flipper".  It is important to not cry when your fitting job goes to pot. :)))
 

farmboy

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I'M PRETTY SURE THAT HORSE HAIR DOSN'T VIOLATE THE FAIR RULESITS NOT PIGMENTED IS IT???
http://scioto.osu.edu/4h/pdf/pr_livestock/f_beef.pdf
 

red

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FarmBoy, I'm pretty sure reading the rules that twineing would not be allowed. They state they don't want coloration or adhesives so to me that would include using twine or horse hair.
Grooming will be limited to 4-H members, immediate family members and 4-H club advisors
from Scioto County. Immediate family is defined as grandfather, grandmother, father, mother,
brother, sister (this includes step parents/grandparents and siblings).The Junior Fair strongly
recommends that adhesive not be used. If adhesive is used, it must be removed within two (2) hours
after the end of the show. Water may only be used on sale day. (See Special & General Market
Livestock Rules) The use of grooming aids containing pigment (including those used on the
skin, hair and hooves of the animal), and any other products not approved for use on market
animals, are prohibited. Please note that many Ashow@ or Agrooming@ products may contain
such items. Just because a product is sold or commonly used as grooming agent does not
mean it is ODA approved for use on animals.

Work w/ your animal ever day. rinish him several times a day & keep him under fans. use a rice brush or rotobrush on his legs to get the hair to stand up. work, work & then work some more. It takes time & energy to get hair to grow. But put your best effort into it & you'll see results.
I know you can't use those products at the Ohio levels, so doubt if you can at your county fair. I have some really good tips on growing hair in the summer & will get it put together for you & others. It really takes a lot of work but you'll be pleased in the end!

Red
 

cowz

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Farmboy, Red gave you some great advice.  When is your fair?  How much time do we have?  Do what Red says:  everyday, hose down that leg hair and brush it towards the head of the steer and up.

From the sounds of your rules....Dont play the twine game.  It sounds like the most you could possibly do is spray a light coat of adhesive on the "pulled up" legs...and make sure you remove it asap after the show.  Sounds like they had a problem in the past with kids not removing glue after the show.  This is painful and irritating to the animal.    For every new rule you get at shows, you have the problem person that created a need for it :'(

Let us know what your routine is and maybe we can offer you some ideas.
 

justme

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I know my opinion isn't worth a hill of beans most of the time, BUT (lol) I feel if your calf is that good, why mess with the junk????  A good calf will weed itself out if the judge is any good.  My 2 cents lol
 

Jill

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Even if it is allowed, a bad twine job looks much worse to me then if you had just fit the leg.  Unless your really good at it, I wouldn't.
 

farmboy

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cowz said:
Farmboy, Red gave you some great advice.  When is your fair?  How much time do we have?   Do what Red says:  everyday, hose down that leg hair and brush it towards the head of the steer and up.

From the sounds of your rules....Dont play the twine game.  It sounds like the most you could possibly do is spray a light coat of adhesive on the "pulled up" legs...and make sure you remove it asap after the show.  Sounds like they had a problem in the past with kids not removing glue after the show.  This is painful and irritating to the animal.    For every new rule you get at shows, you have the problem person that created a need for it :'(

Let us know what your routine is and maybe we can offer you some ideas.
FAIR IS FIRST FULL WEEK OF AUGUST. DAILY ROUTINE IS MORE OF A WEEKLY ROUTINE. I DON'T HAVE A "SHOW" CALF YET BUT THERE STILL SUCKING OUT IN THE FEILD. THOSE CALVES ARE OUT OF A PURBRED MAINE (clapping) ANYWAY THE STEER NOW IS JUST WASHED WITH MAIN AN' TAIL S & C. BRUSHED UP AND FORWARD AT 45 DEGREES OR SO. THIS WEEK I DIDN'T BLOW DRY. HE IS HAIRY ON THE BACKSIDE AND ON THE FRONT SHOULDER BUT THATS IT. I NOTICED RIGHT NOW THE HAIR FELT HEAVIER AND THE LEGS ARE STARTIN' TO GROW.

JUST GOT TURBO FAN (clapping) AND PUTTING SOME INSULATION IN A SHED. WHEN SUMMER VACATION 20 DAYS AWAY COMES, HE'S MOVIN IN AND I'LL MAKE IT AN EVERYDAY THING. WASH, BRUSH,BLOW,FANS, TURN OUT AT NIGHT,BACK IN MORNING. THINK A LITTLE HAIR ON THE TAIL HEAD WOULDN'T HURT. :)))
 

cowz

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Do you have a spring weigh in for your county fair???  How much do your calves need to weigh at fair.  You may want to consider weaning him ASAP and get him started on a good grower ration.  Most calves being fed for an August fair have been on feed and weaned since late fall.    We show at an early August fair and try to have the calves weighing at least 725 by a February weigh in.
 

farmboy

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WAIT A MINUTE, THE BIG STEER IS THE FOCUS HERE, BUT THE CALVE IN THE FEILD IS GOING TO THE FAIR AND NO , THERE IS NOT A SPRING WEIGH IN, HE'S A MARCH CALF, HE'S THE ONE I'M GONNA HIT THE FEEDER SHOWS WITH. AS FOR THE BIG STEER, THEY NEED TO WEIGH AT LEAST 1000# ON MONDAY OF FAIR. WEIGHED IN AT 642 ON DECEMBER 18. WORMED, DE-LICED, AND AND TOOK CARE OF ALL THE BUGS WITH IVERMECTIN  (cow) EATING MORE THAN A BUCKET A DAY NOW. JUST WALKED THROUGH THE FEILD AND STARTIN TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES TO THE CALVES.(GOT WITHIN 5 FEET OF A ORNRY HEIFER :) )HE DEFINENTLY HAS THE BIGGEST BONE ALREADY.MY LAST BIG STEER WEIGHED 797 IN DECEMBER AND FINISHED AT 1330.TAG INS FOR HEIFERS AND FEEDERS ARE ON THE 26th THIS MONTH.NO WORRY'S O0
 

cowz

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Sounds like you have it all handled!!!  Good luck to you this show season.  We finally got the cooler ready here.  Some years we can wait until school is out, but it has gone from blizzard to 70 degrees.    Got to save that hair!!!!  No more sleeping in until 6 AM! ;D
 

brahmergirl

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Parsons Kansas
I am sitting here reading all of your stories on this twine and hair thing and laughing my buns off!  I keep thanking myself that we have "polyester cattle".  This is our first year in the goat project so I decided since I don't use the clippers much,I had better figure out this clipping thing on the goats.  Well, they said at least a 1/8" so I clipped with a #10 blade and a guard.  got done,took a looka nd realized the hair was over 1/2" long.  Hmmm, took the guard off and clipped, kept evening up from side to side before I realized, there was nothing left to even up.  at least we have 2 weeks before our first show!  Good thing is, it will all be even since i shaved her down to the skin! ;D

She was so bad today, we had to put sunscreen on her because she was trying to burn while we had her turned out. 

all the more reason for polyester cattle.  I fire up the clippers and clip the hump, the nose whiskers and blunt the tail.  Takes me a whole hour on show day from wash, the dry, to clipping and *poof* we're done!  ;D
 
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