• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

4H Calves

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
In our 17 year 4H tradition-not a winning one unfortunately lol-the kids picked their steers at branding.

IMG_2642.jpg


Emily's

IMG_2644.jpg


Sara's friend Kara's-he's got his Daddy's weak pasterns.

IMG_2648.jpg


Sara's

IMG_2661.jpg


Red purebred I think Megan will take to her new digs for her cows.

IMG_2663.jpg


SAV Pioneer calf that I bought in his momma-a smoothie but too much jam for our toast I think.

IMG_2649.jpg


This little baldy heifer I doubt weighed 40 lbs at birth-should make a nice little cow someday.
 

Haytrucker

Well-known member
Good looking using-type cattle, they look to be well fed.
In my 4-H days we mostly showed the home-raised stuff, and enjoyed it. One of my younger brothers showed a steer at the state fair that was a red ribbon live, and fourth place carcass. Overall. He bought that steer. Judging practice, I suppose.
Thanks for the view from up north.
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Ours are a bit too young and I'm not a good enough feeding coach for ours to do well at a first week of June show. We have won the district with females three times though-the best was Ty won the cow/calf pair with his heifer that finished dead last the year before because she was 'too small' lol. Come to think of it that cow was the bwf steers great granddam lol. The show part is a pretty small component up here I think the public speaking does the kids more good than anything. As the kids go on to compete at provincials you get to see that there will be some good future spokespeople for agriculture. I'm trying to get our club to make a trip to the Plentywood Montana 4H show-Megan and I went one year and had a blast with the Montana kids. Watching kids show pigs is priceless!!!
 

RSL

Well-known member
We moved up and down the class as trends changed and our cattle never. I think as ranchers we always had trouble with how much you have to torque the feed to a calf to get it finished for June. We are used to growing, not finishing calves.
My brother had a 4-H heifer one year that had her first calf in mid May (same as the rest of our cows). The calf was growing like gangbusters, and outdid a lot of the high profile purebred calves, and the heifer placed near the bottom of the class. 15 years later she was still busy making money, when I suspect most of the other heifers in the class were long dead and gone.
 

PureCountry

Well-known member
Nice calves NR. I've often wondered how we could structure a grass-based 4-H club. Let kids grow them out, maybe even put all the members' calves together at one place for the winter on swath grazing and see how they do side by side, then on grass in the spring.

We may host a grass bull test here next year with the Alberta Galloway Association. Those of us on the board have talked about it for a few years, only hiccup being nobody had enough grass to go around. :lol:

I think projects like that are the only way to really showcase the difference between grass genetics and high-octane genetics.
 

per

Well-known member
PureCountry said:
Nice calves NR. I've often wondered how we could structure a grass-based 4-H club. Let kids grow them out, maybe even put all the members' calves together at one place for the winter on swath grazing and see how they do side by side, then on grass in the spring.

We may host a grass bull test here next year with the Alberta Galloway Association. Those of us on the board have talked about it for a few years, only hiccup being nobody had enough grass to go around. :lol:

I think projects like that are the only way to really showcase the difference between grass genetics and high-octane genetics.
Sound like a project that could be done jointly with the forage association. Maybe even a north and south competition.
 

Larrry

Well-known member
PureCountry said:
Nice calves NR. I've often wondered how we could structure a grass-based 4-H club. Let kids grow them out, maybe even put all the members' calves together at one place for the winter on swath grazing and see how they do side by side, then on grass in the spring.

We may host a grass bull test here next year with the Alberta Galloway Association. Those of us on the board have talked about it for a few years, only hiccup being nobody had enough grass to go around. :lol:

I think projects like that are the only way to really showcase the difference between grass genetics and high-octane genetics.

Now just watch someone will come up with the idea to supplement them just a LITTLE. How much is a "Little"?
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Dylan and I are probably going to test some on grass again-I doubt either of us tightwads will be buying any supplement lol. If you moved northy cattle south they'd probably do better than cattle moved the other way in a grass test deal. You can design your 4H club kind of anyway you want to as long as everybody in it is on the same page.
 

Shortgrass

Well-known member
Good calves, all of them. Our kids always liked the home grown calves, although the ribbons were never purple, they made more money for their college fund. They learned that disposition was the first trait. The calf has to be fun to work with, then started looking for composition.
 

Shortgrass

Well-known member
Northern Rancher said:
The local businesses are pretty good at making sure even the cellar dwellers make a little bit every year. I'd say 95% of 4H calves up here are homegrown.

Thats great! The way it ought to be. At our county fair, a lot, like most of the calves were high dollar "club calves." I am still pushing for a class of El Paso County raised steers at the El Paso County Fair. We also have a group of businessmen that hold the floor up at the sale.
 

Kato

Well-known member
I never felt that a kid who had his high priced show calf picked out for him by his parents, fed by Dad, and then walked out of the ring with the trophies ever really learned anything from the experience.

Our boys always showed home raised calves. This was back quite a few years, and there were biases back then too. They were just different than the ones that are around today though. Back then they were competing against some extremely tall cattle that were "all show... no go". Lots of daylight underneath them. We didn't like the extremes, and never bought into it. Some did though. And I'll tell you there were some noses out of joint when we came up in front of the occasional judge who used standards from the real world. :wink: Over time, the boys took home a few trophies, and both paid for their own educations as well. And they learned skills that are still paying benefits today.

Those trips to 4H meetings were some of the best investments of time that it was possible to make.
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Were touring a hutterite colony and Highland Feeders next month than going to the waterpark next month should be fun. Hopefully a couple 4H Dads don't get kicked out for goofing off like last time!!
 

Kato

Well-known member
We had a couple of Dad's get careless with some candles at a 4H supper, and almost start the table on fire! I guess they should have had the pre-supper lecture instead of the kids. :wink:

I have never had a meal anywhere anytime that was as good as the pot lucks we used to do for 4H. mmmm........... we should'a done a cook book. :p
 

Latest posts

Top