Frost bitten ears

[3HFarms]

That roan heifer we bought looks like she is going to be great in the show ring minus one thing - her ears were frost bitten as a calf so only like the first half of the ear is there (its kinda cute but ya know) I am curious as to whether or not it will effect her placings? It def wont hurt her in the breeding aspect so its not a huge deal just curiuos

 

[3HFarms]

Oh I will also get some pics tomorrow

 

[shortyjock89]

We showed one with frostbitten ears this last year and it never seemed to slow her down, got reserve champion (to another of our heifers) at one county fair, won her class at the other county fair we went to, and won her class at state fair.  We actually have another one this year with frostbitten ears but she's the best calf I've ever had so it's ok with me!

 

[KCK]

I had some success with a heifer with frost bitten ears. The only thing I could complain about was her reflexes. I think it caused her to be more jumpy. Not that she was bad by any means, but she would act goofy from time to time. I often wonder if it was b/c she could see more around her than typical cattle with bigger ears?

 

[shortyjock89]

Our heifer last year wasn't jumpy, but it's funny you should mention that because this years was pretty jumpy for the first month or so that we had her in, even after she was completely broke.  My biggest complaint with the frozen ears is we couldn't keep a halter on last year's calf...but I think she could have gotten out of the halter if she had elephant ears...she was a real trickster.

 

[Cattledog]

I've shown a couple of calves that have had their ears nipped and I think the only thing that it does is annoy the heck out of the owner!  I got along fine with a little less ear.  Another thing that annoys me is a split eared heifer.  Had my first one last year, luckily it wasn't on the show side.  Even had a couple judges use it as a descriptor for her.  She probably did as well in the ring as anything we have ever shown!

 

[RSC]

Interesting topic as I have been wondering how it would effect the heifer we purchased from Freddy!  You cant see the ears real well as she is shaggy!  Hoping we can keep these ears fuzzy next summer! 

Tony

 

[3HFarms]

Here are some pics of her and I threw in some pics of the other heifer just for kicks -  any comments on them are welcome! We had to throw them out in the kinda gross pasture to clean so i took pics. They havent been on feed for more than a week I think and the hair is very haha not cute right now

 

[3HFarms]

Interesting topic as I have been wondering how it would effect the heifer we purchased from Freddy!  You cant see the ears real well as she is shaggy!  Hoping we can keep these ears fuzzy next summer! 

Tony

I love this heifer

 

[braunvieh]

I don't think it will matter and I do think sometimes it makes it easier for judges to describe the cattle to the crowd. I have also seen bob tailed cattle being shown and to me that may be more noticeable but also didn't seem to affect their placing.  I do know bob eared cattle take a huge hit in our area at the sale barn.

 

[CM Cattle]

I don't think it will effect much. I got beat by a calf without a tail last year.