Don’t feel bad about it because almost everyone does it! Getting cattle clean and dry is critical to daily hair care, clipping, and fitting. To this day, I’ll take a calf back to the wash rack if I can see I didn’t get him clean when I start blowing him out…yep, did it this summer. Why does everyone do it? Simple, in most cases, they don’t even realize they are doing anything wrong.
Lessons Learned
Years ago, we worked for Tom and Cindy Weimer. While I have to say you’d work your tail off with them, you also learned a ton if you paid attention. In fact, some of the things I’ll teach throughout these stories came from working for them, only a few times.
I remember one year at State Fair, the cattle came back from the wash rack… not completely clean. They were promptly sent back to get it right. If you’ve worked for Hereford people, especially those who’ve shown as many National Champions as Tom and Cindy have throughout their career, you learn about getting cattle clean…and dry.
Today, if you are on the wash rack for us and bring cattle to Frank with eye gunk or manure still stuck to their feet you can happily turn yourself around and head back to the wash rack. “Go get him clean” is likely something you’ll hear.
Don’t take offense to what I’m about to say because you are not alone, but you do have the opportunity to improve.
Most people simply do not get cattle clean.
It is incredibly frustrating at a show to have kids bring cattle over to us to clip but they are still dirty and damp. You may say, “Can’t they see that they are dirty?” We are not talking about obvious dirt or mud on them, we are talking about grease and dirt that is deep in their hair and on the hide.
How Do You Know They Are Still Dirty?
It’s what makes cattle hard to comb through regardless of how hairy they are or the time of year. In reality, there are very few cattle who are so hairy that, when they are clean, dry and the hair is conditioned they are super hard to comb through.
How Do I get I Get Him Really Clean?
- So here’s the deal. It’s simple, it’s just not easy. When you are on the wash rack, either learn to tip your soap bottle into the stream on the hose to get suds or get a foamer.
- USE A LOT OF SOAP.
- Get a good plastic wash brush, whose teeth are not too close together and break out the elbow grease.
- Use a pattern to wash your calf so you don’t miss any parts. Start at his tailhead, work your way down or forward, however you prefer but make sure that you are methodical.
- Don’t forget to wash his belly, under his chest and all four legs…all the way around.
- Rinse them really well in order to get the soap out. Otherwise, you’ll end up with dandruff from the soap.
Now that’s all super important, except when you are trying to hold hair in the spring…no scrubbing. Quite honestly, Spring hair care is an entirely different post.
Ready for a secret to know if you actually got your calf clean? Actually, there are several things indications, but this one is easy.
If you start blowing your calf and he smells like the bottom of your fitting chute…he’s not clean. Clean cattle smell like soap. The top of their necks and over their shoulders are spots that are notoriously greasy.
Sorry guys, but I just hate it when I start combing on one to clip a front end and I can see the dirt and grease in his shoulder. A black one should look black all the way to the hide and you should see all of the hairs individually. If the hair clumps at the root when you pop it, it’s either wet or dirty or both.
Get Them Dry
Getting cattle dry seems to be tricky as well. Not that it’s complicated, but typically people think they are dry when the heavy water is out of them and their hair starts to pop. One way to tell if they are actually dry is to comb through while drying the hair.
When the hair is wet or damp, your comb will drag through the hair. As they dry, the hair is easier to comb through. The vast majority of cattle should be easy to comb when they are dry.
Again, please don’t forget the underside of them. I often have kids tell me they are done or dry and the first place I go with the blower is between their front legs. I tell them to watch the water fly off of them.
Why is it such a big deal?
When the hair is dirty or damp, it doesn’t clip as well, pop as well or look as good. When they are damp and it’s cold out, they’ll hump up because they are cold.
I’m a huge proponent of getting cattle completely dry, especially in the winter. How would you like to go out of the house with your hair still damp at the roots when it’s cold?
Here’s a fun question: If you could only have three products and one tool to for everyday hair care, what would they be? Comment below or in the Facebook post if that’s how you found us.
Want more on hair care? Check out:
How to Grow Hair without a Cooler
If you like the info we are putting out, please share on your favorite social media platform so we know you like it!
Don’t miss a post, subscribe to our email list to see all of our latest posts and information. Always feel free to comment or message us with any questions you may have.
