Growing Hair without a cooler

[Schneider Show Calves]

Anyone have ideas on how to grow hair on steers with just fans and not using a cooler.

 

[braunvieh]

Do you have misters?

 

[rackranch]

Fans, misters, plenty of shade, daily rinsing and some melatonin if you want to but depending on where you live I wouldn't worry to much about it until the fall. That is,  unless your steer is plenty big and plenty fat for your show date... this is the hardest time of year to put weight on and fans, misters and shade where i live just keeps them cooler this time of year but isn't gonna grow much hair...G-Luck

 

[forcheyhawk]

Do not underestimate brushing.  I think this is the most missed step in growing hair.  I generally wet my calves down 2-3 times per day depending on my schedule.  I keep them in an area of the barn that doesn't have any sunlight.  I blow them semi dry.  I blow in some Double Dip.  Then I brush for 15 minutes or as long as I can afford.  I used to use the same routine without the brushing and heard many times from guys that know how to grow hair consistently that brushing is very important.  The last couple of years I have introduced the brushing and have had good results.  I try to wear out at least one rice root brush per year per calf.  I've always heard that you need to shoot for two, but I haven't been able to find the time to wear out two yet.  Good luck!

 

[shorthorngirl2010]

Rinse at least 15 min/ day, or long enough to make sure hide is chilled. Brush hair up and forward. Kleen sheen & double dip also. Just brush brush brush. Fans & misters have helped a lot too. Angus heifer has quite a bit of hair from this routine.. Just working on getting it to pop now...

 

[Dozer45]

one word BRUSH

my heifer only has shade and gets hosed off, I dont have a set up for fans/misters. But man that brush has sure put a lot of hair on her. she is not a fluff ball by any means but she has enough to work with.

 

[Dozer45]

I ment to add that this last week our temp as been 100 +

 

[flacowman]

Put your pen under a big oak tree and get a fan on them if at all possible.  In my experience natural shade is ALWAYS cooler than a barn, cheaper too.  Last year I put almost 3 inches of hair on a steer for a September show (in FLORIDA i remind you) with an oak tree, 2 30 minute rinses, 1+hours of brushing, per day and a big squirrel-cage fan that puts out 3 times as much air twice as fast as a turbo running 24-7.  It can be done.

Steer was a golden child by the way

 

[shortyjock89]

Put your pen under a big oak tree and get a fan on them if at all possible.  In my experience natural shade is ALWAYS cooler than a barn, cheaper too.  Last year I put almost 3 inches of hair on a steer for a September show (in FLORIDA i remind you) with an oak tree, 2 30 minute rinses, 1+hours of brushing, per day and a big squirrel-cage fan that puts out 3 times as much air twice as fast as a turbo running 24-7.  It can be done.

Steer was a golden child by the way

I don't know about that. Shade is definitely cooler than a metal pole barn. But I have a very old mule/horse barn that stays about 70 in the heat of the summer.  It's made of all wood, with about a 10-12 foot ceiling and a HUGE loft above that is packed full in the summer. It als has lean-to's on both sides, so the central barn never gets direct sunlight on it at all.  I have never really seen calves that were kept in anything but a cooler have the hair that our calves do. Maybe it's almost as good as a cooler? Definitely have an advantage over a metal-sided barn. I've also never seen an old barn in as good of shape as ours.  But if you want shag on them, you always have to rinse, brush, and and rinse and bush some more.  You can't really ever take a day off. It's a serious undertaking and committment to get one really haired up.

 

[The Show]

Check out the hair growth thread in the hall of fame section. It has a lot of good tips.

 

[linnettejane]

for a feed supplement for hair, show bloom ...100%...i wont use anything else...and ive tried everything else

 

[Freddy]

Keep the room where they are as dark as you can ,they put heat lamps up with mare in early spring to make them cycle earlier,mainly for the light ....

 

[jlingle]

Shade, fans & misters if you've got em..... and rinse until calf is cool to the touch (remember their core body temp is 101.5) and brush.  On top of all that, you've gotta keep their hair and skin coat in good shape.  Do a search on here for hair or klean sheen mixes & it'll be an eye opener for ya.  I use a half vinegar/half sheen mix, with a dab of rag oil & some infusium in it. 

We live in the armpit of planet earth, SW Oklahoma.  It's hot here, and I mean big time hot.  It's 101 degrees outside & my calves are growing hair without a cooler.  It can be done, but it takes LOTS of work and commitment.  You can either do the work, or be like everybody else and not have hair & blame it on the heat.  The really awesome news.... is that it's your choice. <beer>

 

[CAB]

  I always have said, give me a shade tree and a couple of kids that want to work and we could be respectable @ a county level. No one has mentioned hair by genetics. There are some that are just hairy and some that are just not, A.K.A. breeds differ greatly.

 

[Schneider Show Calves]

I'm mainly talking about for the upcoming year as this years show season is coming to an end.

 

[savaged]

That little gal in your avatar can have PLENTY of hair with good brushing and rinsing.  We have a cool room but still need to brush and rinse a lot to get great hair.

 

[Show Heifer]

I am surprised only one (and that was in passing) has mentioned genetics. Sorry to inform you but if a calf doesn't have "hair genetics" they will not be hairy (why do you think all those baby calves have their hair fluffed when they are 300 pounders?)  Yes, you can make one "hairer" by rinsing, brushing, etc. but you will never get one to grow hair if they do not have the genetic potential.

On the flip side, you can have one with hair genetics and have it not reach the "full genetic" potential of the hair without the hard work!

 

[steerjock48]

get  cold watter and drench them twice a day with it and blow dry with  a but fan on  them at the same time

 

[CAB]

RSC, how's your poor man's cooling system working? PPL can cut rinse time by quite a bit if you were to use ice cold water.

 

[steerjock48]

it works great