What can you tell me about Maine cattle?

[ShortieShowGirl]

Im thinking bout getting a maine steer to show next year and was wondering more about them... can someone tell me a little bit about them and their personality and performance?  Are they a good choice for an inexperienced showman? also what about their hair, is it easy to work do they get lots of it? Just wanting to learn more
pics of different maine steers would be nice too to see what they are like

 

[Freerider]

Maine steers are typically very thick in the hip and loin, the thickest off any breed I've had experience with. They lack depth of rib, and often have too much frame, but a maine cross steer is ideal in my opinion.

This is a guideline of crosses that I like to see in my steers.

Maine: Thickness, length, front-ends
Angus: Depth of rib
Simmi: power, movement

In the end many breeds can offer great show steers, its best to just each individual animal, not the breeds.


As for disposition, the Maines are by far the calmest breed I've ever dealt with overall. Of course there's more to disposition then just the breed though, owner's have more to do with it in my opinion.

 

[JTM]

Agree with free rider. A Maine cross is a good choice. Good disposition and thick.

 

[Bradenh]

Im thinking bout getting a maine steer to show next year and was wondering more about them... can someone tell me a little bit about them and their personality and performance?  Are they a good choice for an inexperienced showman? also what about their hair, is it easy to work do they get lots of it? Just wanting to learn more
pics of different maine steers would be nice too to see what they are like

they are just like most cattle, attitude is based on how you are twords them, performance is going to depend on how you feed him, and hair is depending on how you work with it. if you dont feed him right or work his hair breed is unimportant, generally speaking. i know some breeds have polar opposites on numbers and stats but most are pretty compatible and the showman is the variable