Keeping up appearances with show cattle is very important. A large part of show cattle’s appearance is their hair, which ideally should be long and healthy. However, it can be quite difficult to tame a show cattle’s hair. In this article, we’ll discuss the best techniques to promote hair growth for your show cattle.
If you want to put muscle on your cattle, you should check out my article on how to put muscle on show cattle.
How to grow hair on show cattle?
The best way to grow hair on show cattle is to wash and dry the cattle once a day. This helps stimulate hair follicles and promotes growth.
There are also conditioner and shampoo products that you can use that help promote healthy hair growth.
Washing and Drying
One of the best ways to grow your show cattle’s hair is by consistently washing and drying your cattle. By keeping your cattle clean and by stimulating the hair follicles, you’ll more than likely observe faster hair growth than before.
It is relatively easy to wash and dry your cow, if not somewhat time-consuming. But, the time is worth the effort as it will encourage your cattle’s hair to grow.
Washing
To promote hair growth, you should try washing your cattle everyday or every other day. You can watch this video below which goes into more detail about the steps of washing your show cattle.
For starters, you should wash your cattle with cold water. This helps promote more hair growth, as their body thinks that the colder temperatures will require more hair to stay worm.
I also suggest that you invest in high-quality shampoo. The best shampoos will have conditioning qualities as well as cleaning qualities and will ideally be foaming. The bubbles of the foam will do wonders when it comes to lifting grime and dirt off your cow.
A great option is this livestock shampoo.
Washing your cow can be rather difficult as it may be uncomfortable for it. The best place to wash your cow is in a grooming chute. If this is available to you, utilize it. It will make washing your cow much easier and more accessible.
Note that the grooming chute may be scary to your cow, so you’ll need to work with it and be patient at introducing them. Mix your shampoo with the water and then apply it all over your cow, rubbing it in vigorously for the best results. After this, remove all the excess water and begin to dry.
Drying
You can either use your hands or, more ideally, a brush. Make sure to brush in the direction that the hair grows. Stimulation of the hair follicles promotes growth, so brushing is an important step.
You should take your time and thoroughly brush your cow’s hair to see the best results. After you’ve brushed out all the excess water, it is time to blow dry. Blow drying is very important to promote volume.
The volume will make your cow’s hair appear to be longer than it is by making it stand up and take up more space. To optimize volume, use a blow dryer and a fluffer brush. Brush the hair upwards with the fluffer brush while blow-drying to dry it upright. Blow dry at a slow enough pace to dry all the hair equally. Long, slow, sweeping movements are ideal. You can also set up some fans in their stall to help dry them off.
Conditioning
Cleaning is often not enough when it comes to promoting hair growth in show cattle. Conditioning is also a very important step. Once your cow’s hair is clean and dry, it needs moisture.
Even though shampoo removes dirt and foreign bacteria from hair, it can also remove important and natural oils. Shampooing can also lead to dryness in the hair, making it more brittle. Conditioning is the solution.
There are lots of great spray-on conditioners for cattle that will replenish your cow’s hair, keeping it healthy and shiny. All you have to do is spray the conditioner into the hair and then distribute it evenly with your fluffer brush.
Like when you are drying, use slow, sweeping movements to ensure that the product is being distributed evenly throughout the hair. Once you’ve conditioned, your cow is ready to go. Repeat these steps every time you wash your cow in order to ensure your cow’s hair is moisturized and replenished.
You can even condition more than you wash if you’d like. Feel free to condition your cow’s hair 4-5 times a week. Here is a link to some good livestock conditioning cream.
Final Thoughts
In order to keep your show cattle’s hair in its best condition, you need to put in the work to take care of it. Hair that is in good, healthy condition will naturally grow faster. By simply washing, drying, and conditioning your cattle’s hair on a regular and consistent basis, you will be helping the hair grow quickly and healthily.
The most important thing to remember is that consistency is key. You won’t see results right away but rather after some time. You will only see ideal results if you are regularly washing, drying, and conditioning your show cattle’s hair. It takes time, but the results will be worth it!
