I Can't Ask Them For Help!

 "I can't ask them for help. They won't help me. They're the competition!"

     In my career in Extension and Ag Teaching, I heard this set of excuses every year from a youth new to showing livestock. These statements may be true in other areas of youth competition, but in the world of 4-H, FFA and junior livestock associations, help is more readily available than a youth understands.

     One of the greatest things about our livestock youth is that peer mentoring is a pillar of the program. Maybe it comes from the good ol' "help my neighbor" mentality that becomes instilled in youth raising livestock. It may be as simple as touching a stalled calf's tail to get them to move, to taking time to act as youth clinicians during a showmanship camp.

     The reason one youth helps another youth to become better with their livestock project may vary from general good heartedness, wanting to impress with their knowledge, wanting to become an ag teacher, 4-H agent or the next famous show jock. The fact is, kids like helping kids, and kids will listen to other kids. There is a connection between youth who share a common interest in livestock.

     So I could go on and on with this soapbox speech of how great livestock youth are, but I need to get to the point of this post.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP!!!

     It is simple, just say these words to someone who has shown your species of livestock "Can you help me?" Those four words might make you a new friend, and help you to get better with your livestock project. Most everybody who has shown livestock remembers how frustrating and difficult it seems when you first start out, and remember the person who helped them. They will help you.

     Now it is not to say there aren't a few sour apples who might tell you no, but just ask someone else, and it won't take long before you will find help.

     Go visit them and see how they work with their animals. Agree to meet them somewhere and practice showmanship together. Watch and learn while they clip their animals. Ask them to help you clip, by watching and giving you advice as you do it.

When it comes to asking for help, follow the Nike motto "Just Do It".


Scott Stinnett
Extension Associate
Kit Carson County
Golden Plains Area
Colorado State University Extension

Magic in a Bag!

     Outside of good genetics, proper nutrition is the greatest influence on the growth and performance of livestock projects. No matter how great your animal's genetics are, if they are not fed well, they will not perform and grow well. With that being said, you can also do a lot of damage when you do not feed them properly.

     Let's start at the beginning with using a quality feed. Most all of our livestock projects eat a concentrated show feed. Concentrated feeds are the ones with all the grain and other items premixed in a bag. They have been formulated by someone with a lot of experience in livestock nutrition. If you buy a national brand show feed, it has probably been formulated by someone with a PhD in animal nutrition. The ones from your local feed mill were probably formulated using a computer program developed by a PhD in animal nutrition. Those PhD people have spent many years studying animal nutrition and developing that bag of show feed or computer program to maximize the performance of your animal.

     Now the thing is, it was formulated by the PhD to be beneficial to the majority of show animals. And if you have shown livestock long, you know they can be very different even if they are the same species, breed or even siblings. This is where I see youth fall into one of two traps.

TRAP 1

     The first trap is the trap that all animals should be fed the same. This is a safe way to do it if you are new or keeping it simple. If you have never fed an animal before, buy bagged feed, follow the directions on the bag, and get basic advice from a trusted friend, ag teacher or extension agent if you want to do anything different from the bag directions. This is not a bad way too feed.

     The trap gets set when you start playing with supplements and additives. Supplements are products that contain usually vitamins, minerals or other nutrients to supplement the bag feed. Additives are products added to feed to perform a specific job.
    
     Two quick examples: amino acids are a supplement, a parasite control is an additive.

     The trap is this, you use a supplement because one animal needs more of a vitamin or mineral, but you also feed it to all your other animals. I have seen this several times.

• Pig A needs supplement X, so all pigs get X
• Pig B needs supplement Y, so all pigs get Y
• Pig C needs additive Z, so all pigs get Z
• Now pigs A,B and C are getting all X,Y and Z even if they do not need them.

   This situation leads to problems. First, you are wasting money feeding supplements and additives to an animal that does not need it. Second, you could be giving an animal too much of a supplement or additive they do not need and causing a nutritional problem with their feed.

TRAP 2

     This trap is created by over doing it on supplements and additives. The cause is usually two different thoughts; follow the leader, or if a little is good, more is even better.

     Follow the leader people go to a show or to a successful family's home and make a list of all the supplements and additives they are using. They then go home, buy and feed all the same supplements with no idea if their animals will really benefit from it or not. Worse they may not know when or how to use the products.

     This also is true of those who think if a little is good, more is better. Instead of following the directions of the supplement or additive they feed more than is directed.

   The result is usually an animal with a bad digestive system. They have been overdosed on proteins, vitamins, or additives and it makes the animal sick. And a sick animal does not perform, they go backwards, loose weight and look terrible.


     In summary, feeding supplements or additives can be beneficial to your livestock projects. They can provide additional nutrition to help a specific animal. But understand, there is no magic in these bags. They cannot improve animals beyond their genetic potential, cannot fix problems overnight, or replace good management and hard work.

Here are some additional resources:

Feeding the Show Steer - Stephen Boyles, Ohio State University Extension Beef Specialist
Show Lamb Nutrition - Dr. Kevin Burgoon, Ohio State University

Feed them right, be patient and wait for the results to show.

Scott Stinnett
Extension Associate
Kit Carson County
Golden Plains Area
Colorado State University Extension

Livestock IDs

     Identifying (ID) of livestock has multiple purposes and multiple ways to do it. There are tags, tattoos, brands, ear notches, nose prints, eye scans and DNA. So how is each used and what can it tell us about and animal?

     The main reason to ID livestock is for accurate record keeping. If each individual animal has its own ID, a good manager can know a lot about the animal if they keep accurate records. Records may include sex of the animal, date of birth or purchase, pedigree, vaccination dates and types, veterinary treatments, weights at various ages, and dates of sale or death. These records can be used to let the next owner know important information about an animal they are purchasing. Records may also be part of the marketing of animals such as "fully vaccinated" or "age verified". But all records must be tied to the ID of an animal.

     Livestock may have one or multiple ID forms. Each has a different purpose. Here are some common ID methods and how or why they are used.

Ear Tags

     Ear tags are a relatively permanent ID method. (An animal might loose an ear tag by getting it caught on something or torn off.) Ear tags can be put in at any time, but the younger the animal the better. Some animals have one, others have multiple. Ear tags can be plastic/rubber or metal. They can be very specific to an individual livestock owner or have international meaning.

• Breeder Tags - This ear tag has information the livestock owner needs. It may ID the individual animal as well as its parents.
• Veterinarian Tags - These tags are put on by veterinarians after specific vet procedures have been completed. An example would be a "Bang's Tag" which is a metal ear tag put in after cattle have been vaccinated for Brucellosis.
• US Government Tags - These tags should be the most permanent forms of ID and even have a warning "Do Not Remove" on them. They are to help ID animals who are part of a government program. A "Scrapies Tag" in sheep is an example. It links sheep to a breeder and if sheep were ever found to have contracted scrapies, government officials could contact the breeder.

Tattoos

     Tattoos are a permanent form of identification for livestock. The problem is, tattoos are limited in the amount of information they contain. Most livestock have tattoos put into there ears. Livestock tattoos are different from human ones. A tattoo kit contains a set of letters and numbers that make a connect the dot pattern in the ear.

Brands

     Branding of animals traces back to the Ancient Egyptians. Branding can be done "hot" or "cold". Hot branding uses a piece of heated metal to create a scar on the animal hide in the shape of the metal. Cold or freeze branding uses an extremely cold piece of metal to create a spot on the hide where hair will loose its pigment and only grow white.
    
     Branding is mainly used as owner identification on cattle and some horses. Brands are usually located on the side of the animal and are big enough they can easily be seen at a distance. Each state has its own Brand Laws. Some state require registration of all brands and no two people can use the same brand.  Other states allow anyone to brand an animal with any brand as long as they can document the brand they have been using if there is a question of ownership.

Ear Notches

     Most commonly we see ear notches on pigs. The Universal Ear Notching System is a set of rules used to be able to read an determine ear notch meanings. In the U.S. this means notches in the pigs right ear is for its litter number and the left ear is for the individual pig's number. For example, a pig might be 27-4, meaning it is out of litter 27 and is the number 4 pig in the litter.

Other Identification Methods

• DNA - a hair sample is taken and has the DNA of that animal. No two animals have the same DNA. A lab can test DNA samples to see if they match a specific animal.
• Retinal Scans - No two animals have the same pattern of veins and arteries on the retina of their eye. A picture is taken of the retina and can be compared to another picture taken later of the same animal.
• Nose Prints - Similar to taking fingerprints on people. No two animals will have the same nose print.
• Microchip - A microchip is insert under the skin, usually in the neck. A microchip reader can identify the animal by the inserted microchip. The microchip can be linked to electronic records of the animal.

Additional Resources:

Tattooing of Cattle and Goats, University of Arkansas Extension and Research

Proper Way to Ear Notch Pigs, Nebraska Extension
Beef Cattle: Types of Identification, Clemson Cooperative Extension


Scott Stinnett
Extension Associate
Kit Carson County
Golden Plains Area
Colorado State University Extension