Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[Ridgetop]

Good idea on that Greybeard. Beef steers were the only animal our kids did not raise for the fair. We never had enough flat area to be safe with them. DS1 always wanted to raise one and a friend offered to help him, but I did not want to take chances. They needed to be kept in the barn during the day and turned out at night so their color wouldn't fade, and our barn is not set up for cattle. Rams, bucks and hogs are dangerous enough for kids. DS3 raised a couple of dairy replacement heifers and showed them, but we have seen some nasty tempered (usually black Angus) steers at our Fairs. I never bought them since I heard that nasty temperament and upset makes the meat tough.

STA - maybe you need softer undies! Or go commando?

 

[farmerjan]

Maybe you don't have calluses on your butt because you don't sit ENOUGH

That's a good one @Bruce . STA certainly hasn't been doing alot of sitting with all the work he has done on his place.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ; sorry but I have to take a little offense at the comment about the black angus being nasty temperment. Ours are some of the most even tempered and easiest beef animals to work around except maybe the Red Polls.
If a show animal is unruly then it probably has not been worked with enough. And I have seen some pretty high strung Limousin cattle, which now also come in black. But the breeders have worked dilligently on that and they were the first breed assoc to have disposition listed as a "heritable trait".
There are strains of every breed that are more high strung than others, but alot comes from the amount of handling.

Right now I have some calves that are about 6-8 mos old that come in through the creep gate for some grain. Still on their momma's but they will be weaned in the next 2 weeks or so. They are not all big babies, but several have learned that my petting them is pretty nice. One is just nuts and she has been with the rest so no real rhyme or reason. She doesn't want to be around people and will jump the fence if separated from the rest. She will be sold even though she is a nice heifer. She is also out of one of my quieter cows so WTH?
Crazy acting high strung animals that have alot of adrenalin (sp?) in their system when killed, will often be tougher. But if angus were tough, how do you think that they would have the ability to tout all the burgers and steaks that are Certified Angus Beef?
Show animals of any breed and size can be cantankerous as I am sure you know with the kids showing goats or sheep or hogs. But any animal needs alot of time and training to be shown and those that do not get it, it will show.

 

[Ridgetop]

I didn't say Angus were tough because of bad dispositions - I said that I did not buy any steers that acted wild in the ring because of the adrenalin making them tough.

Most of the steers at our Fairs were Angus. A couple of them were Herefords. The Herefords were always calmer. However, it could be where the steers came from. If you are working with Angus on a small farm and you are culling for wild crazy behavior your Angus will be calmer. The wild one you have out of your quiet cow is a case in point.

One is just nuts and she has been with the rest so no real rhyme or reason. She doesn't want to be around people and will jump the fence if separated from the rest. She will be sold even though she is a nice heifer.

You plan to cull her out because you don't want that temperament. When the kids are buying out of a feedlot they are not looking for nice temperament they are looking for a steer with show attributes. When the FFA leader buys 10 steers or more in a lot for the students, they will probably get some that are touchy. The people that I know that have raised Angus say they are more nervous than some other breeds. BUT that doesn't mean that they all are. One family that had tons of experience and always had well trained steers came to the fair one year with one they had to show in a special halter. It took 4 hours to separate and load it in the stock trailer with the other 2 steers when they went to buy it. When the family saw how it was behaving the family wanted to unload it and choose another one but the stock men refused to unload it from the trailer! When they got it home it nearly killed the mother once (and she was experienced too) and the teenage girl had to show it in a special metal pressure halter. She kept it completely under control and showed it beautifully. It was a great steer and won Grand Champion. This family knew cattle and worked their steers every day, but this was a nasty tempered beast. The whole family cheered when they loaded it on the livestock truck after the fair. Another one at another fair was so bad that it couldn't even be brought into the auction ring. However, the kid that owned that one was not a good livestock person and did not treat it right.

Steers are dangerous, not because all of them are mean, but because of their size and unpredictability. We have a friend that raises Angus show cattle. His are somewhat easy to handle. DS1 had a beautiful show Hampshire ram that was the size of a small pony and he was the most vicious animal I have ever seen. He would charge you and take you out if he could. We have owned other rams that I did not turn my back on but were fine. You couldn't be near that Hamp ram without a strong fence between you and you had to halter him to be able to get near him. That was a real trick to do too. Luckily I am crafty.

 

[greybeard]

But if angus were tough, how do you think that they would have the ability to tout all the burgers and steaks that are Certified Angus Beef?

I can answer that..
In advertising, ya can say anything, and, there is a demographic that will eat every word right up. "New and improved"
Black hide fever...evidently, extremely contagious.

Watch late night infomercials or just read some of the claims made on any internet board regarding cures, preventatives, potions, lotions, salves and balms and you will find things that have absolutely zero proof about their efficacy but if their fanboys & girls repeat the claim loudly and often enough people will begin to believe every word of it as gospel tho the real studies at best, only use words like "may", "might" "seem to".
I saw a claim about a virus just the other day that goes against every bit of scientific knowledge known, yet it will stand as typed and someone somewhere will swallow it hook, line, and sinker.

And you are right. Animals slaughtered under extreme duress will have triggered chemical/hormonal reactions (adrenaline for one) and the meat doesn't hang/cure as tender as it should and that applies to all breeds and species.
I now have some black hide Xs in my herd but not because I wanted Angus influence..They were all but giving them away at the local sale a few months ago when prices were way down and I knew I could make $$ on them just by putting a few lbs on them with free spring grass.

Everyone should raise a few tigerstripe mommas once in their life just to have a benchmark to judge what docility isn't..

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Hey, everyone. Has anyone heard from Miss @babsbag? I went to her journal to get caught up and noticed that she hadn't posted since early April. I knew she was going through a rough time with her barn having collapsed from the snow and the mud from all of the rain she has gotten. Then after reading her journal I saw where she was having LGD problems. I am kinda worried about her. I fear she may decide to sell out her dairy just to end all of the hassle she has had recently. And she worked so hard all of that time to get it up and running, passing all of the state inspections, etc. I hope she is OK.

Also, I forgot to post these pictures earlier of some deer doing something I am not sure what it means:

Comments?

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[CntryBoy777]

Being a herd animal and they appear to be similar in age, so it could be play between them....but, probably a scuffle over the leaves they are after on the limbs....Comet and Lightning would do that.....Comet had to put his front hooves on something to stand and eat....if one of us wasn't available he would stand on Lightning....or try to....Lightning could stand and balance on his rear ones......

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ; I guess they do things different here in Va as far as show steers since most all are bought private from people who raise "club calves" just for the kids to show. Have never heard of anyone buying them out of a feed lot but maybe that is the way it is done out your way. Both our big market animal show and the 4-H and FFA shows are pretty strict about dispositions in the ring as anyone knows a 100 lb kid cannot control a 1200 lb steer if it doesn't want to be. That is interesting that the FFA leader is buying a "lot" of steers for the kids to show.
We have sold a few steers over the years for kids to show. Never placed Champ but always did good enough to be in the top half or 20% . And we raise commercial cattle. I wouldn't let a kid have an animal that had a questionable disposition. But again, I am not a big fan of the ones that spend this huge amount of money just to have an animal win a ribbon. That may help the kids pocketbook, but it is not a fair way to introduce them into the REAL WORLD of cattle farming. I realize that this gives the kids a good amount of money to put towards a college fund, but the kids are not learning about the real life day to day costs and returns of farming.
I do agree that I have seen mostly quiet animals of the hereford breed. And if you want something that will take care of it's calf and be VERY PROTECTIVE, and sometimes difficult to work with, something like a tigerstripe or anything with some brahma in it will certainly fit the bill.
@greybeard I was trying to make a simple point, we both know all about the "certified angus beef" labeling and what it allows. The fact is if they were all crazy, then the beef would not be very palatable and the certification would suffer overall.

 

[greybeard]

oh, the 'crazy' aint on the animal side of things..

I guess you've seen the current docility discussion?
https://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=119541

 

[Bruce]

Also, I forgot to post these pictures earlier of some deer doing something I am not sure what it means

They are obviously dancing the minuet!