Brangus Heifer

[kimbaljd]

My daughter is showing a heifer for the first time this year. I showed in high school a "few" years ago. We have a pretty nice little brangus heifer that we are pulling out of the pasture in late January. I am looking for any comments from people that have raised Brangus cattle. Info like suggestions with hair care or any tips in general.

 

[garybob]

Wouldn't worry too much about hair. Too many people in the business concern themselves with ''fluff''. What you have is a brood cow in the making. She'll be around a lot longer than a crippled fuzz-ball. JoeBoy has a brother that breeds a set of Brangus cows to "steer sires". I'd ask him.
Welcome to our "planet".

GaryBob

 

[red]

(welcome)

the main thing is making sure they are clean. I'm not sure how you clip a brangus heifer. I do think we have a couple of people on here that have showed them. Maybe they'll give you more answers!
Best of luck!
Red

 

[cowz]

Wouldn't worry too much about hair. Too many people in the business concern themselves with ''fluff''. What you have is a brood cow in the making. She'll be around a lot longer than a crippled fuzz-ball. JoeBoy has a brother that breeds a set of Brangus cows to "steer sires". I'd ask him.
Welcome to our "planet".

GaryBob

(welcome)  I have never ever seen a brangus with any hair.  So don't worry about it.  Just have your kiddo enjoy the brushing and washing....as that is what truly tames these heifers down.  Good Luck!

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

We have a lot of commercial American influenced cattle and they don't grow hair for anything.  ;D They don't need much clipping, just on their faces and tails with a little on their bellies and topline.

My sister usually shows commerical gerts. I showed an American steer last September - he didn't place real high but it's hard to compete against British and exotic breeds with a steer like him. I'm not an expert, I show mostly show only simmentals and simmental crosses.

 

[Joe Boy]

A true brangus does not have much hair.  I would keep her clean.  Wash her regularly.  Clip her head back to her ears about 10 days before the show.  Since this is the first time for her to show work with the calf a great deal, handle her easy, brush her daily after she is broke to lead, find out all the shots you need to give her to take her down the road and get them early (many require a second shot), before you show her take her in the trailer to other places and practice (even a neighbor's barn or another lot), use a radio in her stall to get her use to different noises, have other animals run around her, and something we did ever year was to tie them beside a main highway (inside our fences of course) to help her get used to changes and noises.  We never had a problem come show time.  Brangus sometimes are heady....I will snychonize 50 head tomorrow...we culled out 40 or so last week and put in CIDRs and gave their first shot.  Maines are puppies.... we never showed a brangus ourselves but we did Limmys, Semmys, Chi-Angus and the Chi-Angus can be tough and my guess is some of the Brangus will be the same way.

Hope this helps...  Best wishes.... Brangus heifers are very beautiful....

 

[afhm]

I have been around Brangus that had plenty of hair, I guess it is the Angus coming out in them.

 

[kimbaljd]

Thanks for all the comments so far.

 

[kimbaljd]

Another couple of questions. My daughter will be getting the heifer in the middle of Jan. This will be when the heifer is weaned. Should I start straight into feeding it show feed or should I start with something else? And I saw a "Heifer Femininity" supplement online, should I feed that as well?

 

[shortyjock89]

I would start her on a feed that is pretty sweet to get her to like grain, and we use a grower ration to do this. We actually use this for our show feed until it's time to stop growing them/start getting them prepared to breed.  I wouldn't worry about the supplement. I would just stick with a good basic ration.  I know that AAOK has a genius all purpose ration. If you ask him real nice, I think he would help you out.

 

[kimbaljd]

Bump

 

[kimbaljd]

Well I took my kiddo to look at a brangus heifer today. As soon as we got there it started raining. I took two pictures that didn't turn out so well. The heifer is basically being given to my daughter by a friend of the family. I think she will be great for a first calf to show. I will try to post some pictures of her on here. I would appreciate any comments.  Just don't be rude about it please. I have seen some people on here that tend to get a little vicious.

 

[KDSC]

I think she looks godd, even though I know nothing about brangus ;D

 

[kimbaljd]

Thanks, she had a lot more hair than I expected her to have. A few people said on here that brangus dont have long hair.

 

[AAOK]

Lots of good advice in the posts above.  Having Judged a few Brangus shows, I will say that a good Brangus with good hair and a good fit job is sure hard to beat with even a great slick haired calf.  There is a bit of gene in the breed, but enough TLC will take care of it.

You will need to get her going on a show ration as soon as possible.  Most Show Calves are weaned and started on a grain mixture by 5 months, some as early as two months.  No need for supplements, just make sure you have her on a top notch mineral.  As has been said already, keep her clean, and do lots of brushing with a rice root brush.

 

[kimbaljd]

This may sound stupid, but do you mean put her on a "top notch mineral" in addition to the show ration?

 

[KDSC]

Yes you should always have very good mineral free choice to your heifers, even if your feeding a complete show feed

 

[kimbaljd]

Here is the feed I was planning on feeding.

Heifer Developer
This medicated feed is designed as the sole ration for beef heifers being raised for show competition from the time of purchase to show. 
 
Here's why ACCO Showmaster® Heifer Developer-Medicated is ideal for your show heifers:

Feeding show heifers is an art form that requires just the right amount of conditioning to ensure the proper physical development, weight gain and desired visual appearance at show time. ACCO Showmaster® Heifer Developer-Mediated has been specially formulated as a SOLE RATION to do just that.

I copied and pasted it off the ACCO website. It says that it is a sole ration and is medicated. Does that mean you should not feed a mineral in addition? Sorry for the 20 questions.

 

[kimbaljd]

Thanks again for all the current and future comments. Been a great help so far.

 

[chambero]

With Acco, you really don't need extra mineral.  However, we always top dress with one just out of 20+ years of habit. You can also put a mineral block or loose mineral out in their run area for them at night.  They won't eat it much if they don't need it.  It doesn't hurt if they do.