The best Breed for a young showman

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Finley Club Calves

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Aug 10, 2012
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41
Hi, I was wondering what you think are the best breeds for a younger showman to show (Most docile). My younger sister showed goats when she was 8. she showed pigs this year and hated both the pigs and goats. She wants to show steers and I was wondering what breed of cattle we should look for? She is smaller for her age and really timid.
Thanks,
FCC
 

Bad Moon 709

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Dec 14, 2011
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HEREFORDS all the way! No other decision needs to be made! On a serious note they are very docile and usually easy feeders. Good Luck!
 

DL

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Jan 29, 2007
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Finley Club Calves said:
Hi, I was wondering what you think are the best breeds for a younger showman to show (Most docile). My younger sister showed goats when she was 8. she showed pigs this year and hated both the pigs and goats. She wants to show steers and I was wondering what breed of cattle we should look for? She is smaller for her age and really timid.
Thanks,
FCC

IMHO you should not pick a breed but a specific calf - find the most docile calm calf you can for her..there are loops and docile calves in every breed .. often the best calves for first timers are orphans and or bottle babies who have no flight zone and are respectful of humans ...check around  .
 

Freerider

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Nov 11, 2010
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Fullblood Maine Anjou or a Special Delivery heifer, they're crazy relaxed, almost boring.

Can't go wrong with a hereford either.

 

RidinHeifer

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Jan 5, 2011
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261
Size and tame appropriate before worrying about a certain breed!  Maybe a high end bottle calf for her first one to make sure she is going to really do it before you drop money on a higher end tame show calf
 

frostback

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Feb 7, 2007
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Colorado
There will be good and bad in all breeds. So look for a quiet calf. If you can go and look at the place the calf was raised also. Walk through the cows and they will tell you a lot of how they are handle and raised. Still not a guarantee that  a specific calf will be quiet but a help in my books. See if you can find a place that has young kids too, then the calf will be used to little people.  Look for a shorter cannon bone and the calf will be short or smaller framed too.
 

herfluvr

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Jul 3, 2010
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First yer we told our cousin to find us the quietest sweeted heifer he could.  Didn't have to be a top of the line jsut something that wouldn't hurt him and give him confidence.  It was a simmi heifer that only would walk for him and last time I saw her she would still run to me for a scratch. 
Partial to herfs but agree it's the animal not the breed that matters and getting it broke, broke, broke
 

Mueller Show Cattle

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Glenrock, Wyoming
DL said:
IMHO you should not pick a breed but a specific calf - find the most docile calm calf you can for her..there are loops and docile calves in every breed .. often the best calves for first timers are orphans and or bottle babies who have no flight zone and are respectful of humans ...check around  .[/color]
Agree with DL all the way. Don't look for a specific breed. Find a bum calf that you can bottle feed and that calf will be like a puppy dog in no time. If it is too late to find any bum calves, try and find a bottle fed calf like DL said. The calf will then be use to people and will help your sister build up courage to work with the calf as the calf will be easy to work with. For her 1st calf, Bum (bottle fed) calf all the way.
 

vc

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Yes shorthorn, because there has never been a wild one?
DL hit it on the nailhead, find a good gentle calf and keep working with it so it stays that way.
My youngest boy was on the smaller size when he was young, each of our boys started with commercial Angus calves, we would walk through the pen of about 80 calves and pick out a few to run up in the smaller pens to look closer at them. We walked through them for 2 days and found several we liked, but just before they were going to run those few into the holding pen we found Fred, Fred had been eating at the bunks as we had gone throughthe cattle for 2 days, As we walked up to Fred he backed his head out of the bunk looked at us and then went right back to eating, Fred went home with us. An 80 pound boy and a 1350 pound steer that followed him like a dog on the leash, Breed did not matter the Animal and its attitude did.
 

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leanbeef

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Tennessee
It's true there are gentle cattle and unruly ones in every breed, but generally speaking, Herefords ARE different from most other breeds of cattle...generally speaking. And yes...I meant to say "generally speaking" twice to stress that point. I appreciate good cattle of any breed, and I don't particularly enjoy cattle that are tough to handle or be around, regardless of breed! I've been around Simmental all my life, and I think they are easier to handle than a lot of breeds, particularly other continental breeds. I agree that you should put more emphasis on the individual than on breed, but if you want to narrow your search, Herefords are a good place to start. I also like to start young kids on fall born calves for summer shows...if you're set on showing a steer, get him young and break him early, and work with him regularly so he respects being handled. If you can take on a heifer, wait til next spring & look for a fall calf.
 

AAOK

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Jan 30, 2007
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Rogers, Ar
DL said:
Finley Club Calves said:
Hi, I was wondering what you think are the best breeds for a younger showman to show (Most docile). My younger sister showed goats when she was 8. she showed pigs this year and hated both the pigs and goats. She wants to show steers and I was wondering what breed of cattle we should look for? She is smaller for her age and really timid.
Thanks,
FCC

IMHO you should not pick a breed but a specific calf - find the most docile calm calf you can for her..there are loops and docile calves in every breed .. often the best calves for first timers are orphans and or bottle babies who have no flight zone and are respectful of humans ...check around  .

I second DL's thoughts, but if you are insistent on a breed, you won't go wrong with a High % Maine-Anjou.
 

Ohio1

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Jan 3, 2011
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Every breed has wild ones. Just pic the breed you like a find a claf that fits your needs
 

lightnin4

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West Tennessee
I've always thought Herefords were best for young showmen too, even though we have raised Angus for many years and now Shorthorns.  But, on the other hand, the meanest cow I've ever come across was a Hereford!  I've had Angus that would follow you around like a puppy dog and some I decided it wasn't worth the effort and fight to try to take them to a show.  So far all my Shorthorns have been pretty easy going.  Although, one we showed last year liked me and the boy who showed her, but didn't want anything to do with anyone else.  Like others have said, just look for a docile calf no matter the breed.
 

LostFarmer

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Eastern Idaho
As has been said there are good ones in any breed but the percentages of finding one will go up with the herefords.  Had a kid that thought he was a mighty showman and could handle anything.  A Friction out of and EXT cow had him begging for mercy.  She was pretty but she was nasty!

My sons have shown hereford angus crosses and have gotten by well.  A gentle first calf is always the goal.  My younger son is now 12 and 75 lbs.  He was super tiny at 8.  Bubba was a perfect first calf. 

Something that hasn't been mentioned is good sound structure.  It is easier to show a calf with proper angles than a structural wreck club calf.  You want one that wants to stand correctly instead of one you have to work to set up. 
 
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Regardless of breed, start working with the calf as early as possible.

Not everyone can do this, but for all three of our kids, their first year they showed September, October or November heifer calves that we raised.  Our show season is April to September. We would get the chosen heifer calves and their dams up to the show barn over Christmas break, and started socializing the baby heifers while they were still nursing.  In March we "day-weaned" the calves, nursing them on a rope halter twice a day, but keeping them separate from their dams the rest of the time.  It helps them get started on feed, and they get regular human contact, plus the actual weaning is less stressful because it's done gradually.  Plus the kids are around them when they are a manageable size, so the kids' fear is much less.  By the time the calf is big, they're already buddies.

Was it a lot of work?  Yes.  Did it work?  Every time.  Did we always pick the best (as in winning potential) heifer calf at two months of age? No, but that wasn't the point.  Honestly, if you could find an old show heifer in a sale with a good, well-bred baby heifer calf at side, that would be the ultimate starter package for a beginner, because you'd have the calf to start working with, and the halter-broke cow that's easy to work with to breed back for next year.  And I've seen sweet ones and waspy ones in every breed, but we chose Herefords largely because of disposition.  We've turned a few good home-raised ones out that weren't worth fighting, and sent one back that we bought because the seller guaranteed her to be docile, but your odds are better with Herefords than any other breed.
 

gbart

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Mar 22, 2011
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I would say that we had the best experience with a Braunhvieh. They are probably the most docile breed I have found. We have angus, shorthorns, maines, chi but none like the Braunhvieh.
 
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