steer hair help

ska · Nov 26, 2019

ok, so i have a black here i am steer. He is SOOOOOO hairy. and i blow him at least 1 time a day and then he is under a fan. but i feel as time goes on he is actually loosing little bits of hair. i dont know why. like his hair is so long that it sometimes tangles when i blow him. and i feel like when i use my plastic fluffer comb on him it kinda pulls some hair. i have learned that in most cases that the neglected cattle out in the pasture have more hair than the cow that u are working hair on 1-2 times a day (lol) so my question is is what comb do i use on this steer and how many times do i blow him?
thanks all

ska · Nov 26, 2019

or do i not even comb/brush him at all? just blow the product in?

CAB · Nov 26, 2019

Rice root brush or roto brush, forward and up.

DLD · Nov 26, 2019

They’re always shedding some hair, year round.

For what it’s worth, I think you need to keep that dead hair cleaned out so the scalp can breathe. I’ve seen steers that were never combed or brushed all winter long - washed with a foamier, rinsed, blown, products blown in, but never combed or brushed because they could see hair coming out if they did. When they’re finally ready to clip, by the time they’re scrubbed, combed out and blown dry, it suddenly seems like they have half the hair you thought they had.

We use a plastic fluffer or skip tooth every time we work them. Rice root too, of course.

Tallcool1 · Dec 2, 2019

The only product I would be putting on steers this time of year is oil.

No Show Coat. No Green Stuff. No nothing other than a very very light oil.

After you wash or rinse you can put a little sheen on, but all you should be doing this time of year is keeping the hair hydrated and oil works great for that since it it cold outside.

Final Bloom or Flare. Olive Oil spray from Wal Mart maybe.

Keep it simple this time of year.

As DLD said, there is nothing wrong with them losing a little hair. I agree with the scrub brush regimen. We never had a rice root brush in our show barn. I hate those things. Just use a scrub brush. They lift and separate the hair rather than just mat it down.