ska said:
Tallcool1 said:
I have a personal opinion here, and it is just that...an opinion.
There are a lot of products out there. I believe that they fall into 3 categories.
1. Hair treatment products that primarily focus on keeping the hair healthy and therefore not breaking off as fast as it grows.
2. Melatonin based products that are fed, drenched, or implanted. These products all deal with the process of convincing a steer that it is fall and time to grow hair...which is exactly what a steer's body does in the fall...it products melatonin.
3. Chemically based products that are applied to the hair and cause it the grow because of the process of increasing blood flow to the hide, and who knows what else it does.
In addition to these 3 categories of products that you can purchase specifically for hair, there are other things that can be done. Of course you already know about blowing and brushing. You already know about fans and rinsing. Darkness helps immensely, for more reason that one. There are no flies in the dark. It is cooler in the dark. As mentioned above, it also helps to basically convince cattle that winter is coming because they will think that the days are getting shorter.
Feed Kelp Meal. It is dirt cheap, and a 50 pound bag is enough to last a long long time. It will cool their body temperature. It helps grow hair but also helps with heat stress on those 105 degree days.
Get a mister on the cattle. That can lower the air temperature as much as 20 degrees.
As far as what hair growth product works best on a heifer, I would say anything that fits into category 3 that I mentioned above. Show Coat falls into this category. It is really expensive, but it is the only thing that I have seen that will actually make a bad haired one grow hair. You can cover category 1 with an inexpensive hair conditioner from the Dollar Store. Mix some conditioner into your foamer, and put it on every single day if you want to. It won't hurt their skin even if you fail to get it 100% rinsed out. Remember, if you don't have a cooler, don't put anything oily on them. It will seal her skin, and actually make her retain heat.
Category 2 is not something that I personally recommend for a show heifer that you might be trying to get bred. I know that there are a lot of people that have used Melatonin products on open heifers and have had no problems getting them bred. There are also people that have had trouble getting them to settle when using Melatonin.
Good luck!
thank you so much!!!!! so in conclusion, feed kelp meal, get a mister and keep it dark? and i have been using code blue on my heifer. i don't know if that is better or worse than show coat or sure coat. i also want to know code blue vs show coat vs sure coat? what is the best? thanks!!!! and i will put a mister on her. and i can't seem to get her to grow hair on her front legs. she has very course, dry front leg hair. i am root brushing them and putting code blue on them. will show coat or sure coat make the cattle hot?
thanks so much for your time tallcool1!!! <beer>
Show Coat and Sure Coat are very different products.
Show Coat fits in category 3, and is sort of like Rogaine for cattle meaning that there is an actual chemical composition that specifically causes hair to grow.
Show Coat is more of a category 1 product with a little menthol smelling stuff in it.
We have used both, and both are good products. However, Show Coat is the one that will put hair on a tough haired one!
The thing that I have seen effect front leg hair as much as anything is bedding. If you are bedding in sand, you will struggle with front leg hair. Cedar Fiber is the softest I have used, but of course isn't cheap.
Neither one of those products will make them retain heat. The feel a little bit oily, but if you have fans, dark, and a mister...you should be fine.
