Red Calves

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farmboy

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Apr 21, 2007
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south webster ohio
Right now im looking at a red heatwave and was wondering how red calves ar fairing in crossbred classes. He's a nice calf and all but he's RED so...just lookin for some input on how they compare to black calves
 

afhm

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May 1, 2007
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parts unknown
For the most part, quality trumps color but not always.  Watching Callahan in Fort Worth this year, you had to be solid black to do any good.  The champion at Ohio the past 2 years has been painted up and a red was reserve in Il or IN with in the past few years.
 

Telos

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Feb 4, 2007
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2,267
Location
Dallas, Texas
I think they would fair equally as well as all the other colors. If they're good, they're good.

The darker the color the more light is absorbed. The lighter the color light is reflected back to your eye more.

Black cattle with hair comparativeiy speaking who get lined up in a class with all other colored cattle appear to sometimes look better then lighter colored (as in Light to darker tones) because the holes they may have are more disguised. With hair and a nice sheen, black is hard to beat because light is being absorbed and at the same time,the sheen reflects some of the light back to your eye which is why they can look pretty dramatic and stunning when all groomed up.

Ironically, it's your mid-tone calves which general look better in a slick show. The judge becomes more programmed and really have to look when evaluating the cattle. Black can become lost and more difficult to see and the lighter toned cattle seem to show up better. Really dark and your lighter colored calves can sometimes come across as being coarser made because when the light is reflected back there is more contrast in light and dark. Middle- toned cattle appear to even the light out better and therefore look smoother, but like I said if there good. there good and probably should not make much of a difference.
 

red

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Jan 20, 2007
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7,850
Location
LaRue, Ohio
I love red cows in case you couldn't tell! When we showed our red heifer, we were told that to win something like Louisville a red heifer has to be even better than good. Guess she was!
I have no problem w/ a red calf. We're seeing more different colors win at our county fair & even state level. A red calf will stand out from the crowd & chances are the judge will remember it more.

Red
 
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