Our county has a 900 minimum and no max (it was 9-13 then went to 9-14 now 9-?) We have a feeder class for calves under 900. They use a ribbon system where Blues sell through the auction, everything else does not. It is up to the judge to determine if the animal is ready for slaughter or not, when I was showing along time ago the judges were far more selective then they are now. We could have blues, reds, whites, or even pinks back then, now they never get past reds.
Since they smaller breeds you mentioned are not the industry standard for size that is the risk you take when selecting them for the fair.
We always take the animals weight into consideration when selecting are calves, if they are not heavy enough to hit are Target range on a ADG of 2.5 we do not select them. So if we have 200 days to fair and are target is 1300 the calf needs to weigh around 800 pounds at the time of purchase Se we would look at calves no lighter than 700 and no larger than 900 depending on the calves type, knowing we are going to probably need to push the lighter or hold the bigger to have them where they need to be for fair.
Some calves will finish under and some over 1300 but at least we have them reaching their potential at the right time.
Calf selection, feed management, and health are the 3 areas of importance for reaching the animals market potential, grooming and and working with the animal are the areas where the kids reach their potential. It takes all of theses areas coming together to have a successful project.
Feed the heck out of the calf you have this year and get him to weight, and try and select a calf next year that has the ability to reach market weight next year.
On a side note: if there are several people who show the smaller breeds in your area you might want to get with those breeders and see if they might get with the fair board and offer a premium for the smaller bred cattle. Our fair does it with the locally bred cattle ( bred and fed in the county), the champion gets a 500 dollar prize, the money is put up by the local breeders and the fair board.
Since they smaller breeds you mentioned are not the industry standard for size that is the risk you take when selecting them for the fair.
We always take the animals weight into consideration when selecting are calves, if they are not heavy enough to hit are Target range on a ADG of 2.5 we do not select them. So if we have 200 days to fair and are target is 1300 the calf needs to weigh around 800 pounds at the time of purchase Se we would look at calves no lighter than 700 and no larger than 900 depending on the calves type, knowing we are going to probably need to push the lighter or hold the bigger to have them where they need to be for fair.
Some calves will finish under and some over 1300 but at least we have them reaching their potential at the right time.
Calf selection, feed management, and health are the 3 areas of importance for reaching the animals market potential, grooming and and working with the animal are the areas where the kids reach their potential. It takes all of theses areas coming together to have a successful project.
Feed the heck out of the calf you have this year and get him to weight, and try and select a calf next year that has the ability to reach market weight next year.
On a side note: if there are several people who show the smaller breeds in your area you might want to get with those breeders and see if they might get with the fair board and offer a premium for the smaller bred cattle. Our fair does it with the locally bred cattle ( bred and fed in the county), the champion gets a 500 dollar prize, the money is put up by the local breeders and the fair board.
