SUCCESS STORIES
Tigger
Tigger was purchased to be shown by a first year showman in Texas at her County Fair (slick show) and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (slick show). To accommodate the family’s facilities and get Tigger off to the best start possible, it was recommended to ‘downshear’ him to help keep him cool during the summer months. He was skinny - the goal was to get him going quickly but safely to allow him to fill out. It doesn’t happen overnight, but this is the beginning of the ‘pushing’ stage.
The first update listed here comes about 90 days in, where Tigger has put on roughly 250 pounds and filled out significantly. He is still growing and adding muscle without putting on fat cover, so we continue the ‘pushing’ stage. At the same time, we notice the skin in his chest starting to sit slightly deeper and acknowledge at some point we will have to protect him from getting too fat too soon.
The next update comes approximately 45 days later. We see evidence of fat cover starting to deposit in his chest and substantial softening of his flank from where it started, indicating he has hit a different stage of maturity. At this point we switch to the ‘coasting’ ration, where we attempt to maintain weight gain and growth without adding more condition (which would lead to the animal becoming ideally finished earlier than its end point show).
Tigger's next picture comes another 45 days later, where he has haired back up quite a bit. He appears very similar in terms of both muscle and fat cover (our feed plan worked!) but has also continued gaining weight like we hoped. It is now time to moderately push him for the roughly 60 days leading into his end point show period.
The following picture shows Tigger (now sheared) not long before his County Show. He has bulked up but remained fresh in his condition, maximizing balance and eye appeal and preserving his structural integrity and movement to the highest degree. We continue with the ‘moderate pushing’ phase to maximize his muscle and correctness of finish between the County Show and Houston.
The final set of pictures show Tigger at the Houston Livestock Show. He has added a slight amount of condition in the few weeks between the county and Houston, but is still a standout performer in a class of about 50 head, looking fresh and finishing in the top 5!
MablE
First update, two pictures:
Weight: pig weighed 108 lbs, and had been gaining 1.43 lbs per day for the past two weeks. If it continues at the rate, it will be 260 at show. Shooting for middleweight so no issues with weight.
Videography: Please refer to the video example for videoing the next one. When taking videos of the pig, pretend like you are in the showring. The person videoing is the judge, and it is up to you to get all of the views needed to them!
Showmanship: we are still trying to get the pig broke, and that is okay! Keep working on it, and on the next one lets be showing it like we are in the show ring!
Pig was eating:
1 1/2 pounds (23% protein 7% fat) pellets, 1/2 lbs oat groats. 2x a day
Animal:
Needs improvement in regard to skin and hair, we added a plan for this. The pig is good in terms of skeletal width and muscle, stoutness of feature, and extension up front. Her flank needs to be better and we need to keep an eye on her back leg because she is slightly outside of herself. Her knee pushes out just a touch, nothing we can do to fix that, we just need to hope it does not get any worse.
I advise switching to a higher fat:protein ratio feed because of her hind leg and to help with flank. Right now you are at 7:23 fat to protein ratio, I recommend something like a 6.5:16 fat to protein. Can reduce oats to just a handful every feeding for gut health. The pig is gaining well, but since she is getting bigger we can increase total feed by about ½ lbs per feeding.
Second Update, three pictures:
Weight: pig weighed 210, had been gaining 1.21 for the past 2 weeks. If continued at that rate she will be 260 at show, perfect for middleweight.
Videography:
Much better this time. I could not get a side view screenshot of this one because the video was a little too close up on the pig. Please refer to the example video for the side views.
Showmanship:
Making tons of progress! You’re keeping the pig going at a consistent pace and directionally it is doing what you ask it to. Try to keep the pigs head up the entirety of the time you are driving her. As we get closer to the show, make sure the pig can drive like they are in the showring for 15-20 minutes. Practice practice practice!
Pig was eating:
1 (16% protein, 6.5% fat) pellets, ½ pounds (23% protein 7% fat) pellets, handful of oats
2x a day
Animal:
Her hind leg is staying where it needs to be, but it is still something we need to keep an eye on. Rib shape and flank is getting much better. Pig looks good and is doing the right things.
Feed advice:
Keep doing what you are doing. I would recommend adding 2 oz of some type of fat supplement (lamb’s milk, full figure, sumo, etc.) to help more with flank. As we get closer to the show we will start adding in a couple of supplements to help build some more back shape. For now we are plenty good though.
We are about a month out and she is gaining just about what we need her to and we have some room to work with on the top side, since we need to keep filling up her rib and flank we can increase total feed by ½ a pound on the 16% protein 6.5% fat feed.
Third update, three pictures:
Weight: 262. Right on target for middleweights
Videography: Still too close to get a good side view, great on the rest.
Showmanship:
Very nice job! You have been working on training her head and keeping eye contact with the judge. Do that tomorrow and you’re gonna be fine!!
Pig was eating: 1 ½ lbs (16% protein 6.5% fat) pellets, ½ lbs (23% protein 7% fat), 4 oz fat supplement
The week leading up to the show we put the pig on some electrolytes to build backside muscle shape
Animal: She looks as good as she ever has. Her hind leg did not ever give out and we filled in her flank. She ended up reserve breed hamp at their county show. She got beat by one who was squarer in their knee and more within themselves from behind.
Feed advice: none because this was her last show.
Louis
Louis was purchased to be shown as a young lady’s first ‘haired’ steer at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. He was located and acquired very early in the buying process, so his story includes more management.
Early on, it is easy to see he was very skinny. The goal was to push him on feed in a safe manner, but allow him to fill out as quickly as possible.
Our first progress report comes about 60 days in where Louis is starting to fill in and look more like a show steer. He still appears fairly skinny, so we continue with the ‘pushing’ plan to get him completely filled out.
75 days later or so we see a wet picture, showing what he looks like underneath all that hair (very helpful for evaluation of unclipped animals with extra fluff). Here we can see his brisket is starting to fill slightly and his flank has dropped significantly. Time to slow down and put him on a coasting ration.
In his next update (about 60 days later), Louis has shucked most of his hair (normal for late spring, especially in South Texas). Notice his neck is quite a bit thicker. The coasting ration is giving him too much energy that is converting to added fat cover earlier in the process than we hoped (still approximately 180 days from his end point show). We now embark upon a hard ‘hold’ in terms of feeding - still keeping the animal alive and well cared for, but trying to limit the amount of growth and weight gain they experience.
The next picture is a bit rough - Louis has been held for about 75 days, and looks as poor as he has since any point after arriving home. He is now 105 days from his end point show; it is time to start feeding him slowly and managing his hair more diligently.
40 days and several baths later and Louis is starting to look the part once again. He has fleshed back up fairly quickly, so we keep slow rolling him.
The next picture is about 40 days later, which puts us inside a month to the finish line. He appears to have completely filled back out and has grown a substantial amount of hair. The wet picture that accompanies it shows us he is still looking very ‘fresh’ underneath the hair and gives us and idea of what he will look like clipped. We are watching his weight and need to hold a bit, so we continue pushing him nutrient wise, but cut back the volume of filler to try to maintain weight.
The next several pictures show him preclipped for the show, at the show, then showing, and celebrating his class win. A very tricky (and lengthy) process that was easier said than done sometimes, but paid off for the young lady with her first venture into the haired steer game.
WAylon
Waylon was purchased sight unseen out of an online sale by a family in North Idaho for a competitive county fair. The first picture is rough - to no fault of the breeder or the family that bought him, but to the circumstances of life. The ending was a whole lot better, but it took faith in the process, extreme dedication and no excuses by an entire village to make it happen.
I told you… ROUGH. While getting hauled halfway across the country the trailer he was on got caught in a snowstorm. He ended up getting delivered 8 hours away from where he was supposed to. This picture was taken the day he got off the trailer at home - a sight no one ever wants to see of their new prized project. At this point, the family worked with their local veterinarian to ensure Wilson was healthy before starting the long process of getting him ready for show.
The second picture is approximately 30 days in. After a couple weeks of getting him healthy and letting him settle in, he got started back on feed and began the long process of filling out. Part of the ‘push’ process of upping the animals feed gradually to increase the amount they consume but try to avoid some of the downsides that can come with feeding high starch diets.
You can see as we reach picture number three that Wilson has made quite a bit of progress. This is approximately 60 days after arriving home, he continues to develop more depth of side and fill out in terms of muscle. He has haired up nicely also, and looks back to full health. All systems go to keep on the path he is on. This is looking significantly more like the calf that was advertised and purchased in the online sale.
Our next look at Wilson shows us he has filled out to be extremely muscular (look at the shape to his upper hip) and is beginning to put on a small amount of condition (fat cover) in his brisket and neck (whew, a day we never knew would come about 120 days prior). At this point his ration was changed up slightly to incorporate more fiber/filler in an attempt to drop his flank without adding too much fat cover (because he still had approximately 7 months to his end point show).
The next look (about 30 days later) shows he is gaining body and does not appear to have added much in the way of fat cover - perfect! Stick with the plan.
One month later and Wilson is starting to belly down well. He also looks a shot chunkier. At this point he is on a strong ‘coasting’ ration and about to head to his first show of the spring.
30 days later Wilson gets cleaned up and presented for a virtual show (remember 2020?!?) - he wasn’t completely ‘ready’ but was chosen as Champion Prospect his first unofficial show.
In our next update you can see the weather has warmed up and Wilson has shucked out most of his winter hair (perfect timing, 120 days away from his end point show). He appears to have also hit a slight growth spurt, and now does not look as chunky as he was. Time to start moderately pushing once again.
The next update shows a pair of pictures days apart, one unclipped, the other clipped and fit for his next show. He is still in a growth phase and has not bodied back down yet, in turn we continue with the moderate pushing to manage his structure but get him to start to look like a fat steer. (90 days to fair).
Up next, about 30 days later, Wilson has hit his stride (literally and figuratively). He is hairing up, bodying down, and starting to look like a fat steer. Now time to manage weight (he got BIG, before being that heavy was becoming a trend). (60 days from fair).
The last pre-fair show was his best yet, Wilson looked like a stud and came home with another Champion banner! With it being 30 days to fair, time to keep him home and healthy and put the finishing touches on for the big show.
The pair of pictures, one preclipped at home and the other at the backdrop at his fair, show the finished product. It is somewhat unbelievable to look back and see what he looked like getting off the trailer. This is an instance where good people made the best of a situation, didn’t blame the breeder for an unfortunate set of circumstances, invested every bit of effort they could into their family’s project, and it paid off with a top three finish for Senior Year. It doesn’t always work out like this, but buying into a process will teach life lessons that are rewarded in a variety of ways.