This is my theory, right or wrong.
The first 3 weeks or so, you are really just getting the cattle to START the hair cycle. They will let go of whatever hair they may have been hanging onto, and their bodies will tell them maybe they need to start thinking about growing a little hair.
At about a month, you will start to see growth on the top of their neck, and their tail. From there it is a little like watching paint dry.
When you get to 60 days, you will notice that their hair is going to start working better because the fresh hair will be fuzzy and thick. They will have hair on the sides of their necks, on top of their grow bone, and really good stuff on the top half of their front legs.
The real fun comes between 60 and 120 days. That is when the lower leg hair starts coming, their tail heads fill in, and they start getting more body to their coat.
You basically just have to put in your time and one day, there it is!
Don't get discouraged.
Quit rinsing them so much. You will have their hair and hide so dry that their hair will break off faster than you can grow it! It isn't possible to condition them enough to compensate for rinsing 5 times a day. Rinse them once a day, for a lot longer. Twice a day MAX.
45 degrees is plenty cold enough! We have ours set about 55 and I believe that is plenty cold enough.
There is nothing wrong with letting them see a little sun light either. Your schedule may be the reason you get them in at 5am. We put ours in about 9 am.
