Question....

kealar

Hello all....could someone tell me why people clip the hair along the back of there livestock,has it something to do with lice when livestock being housed over the winter,is this a new thing,and is it an advantage..thanks..

Finno59

its because their putting on pour on's i think , it doesn't have to be done tho.

Gerry.H

Maybe it increases their sex appeal!

blue5000

I think it lets off heat along the back when animals are on a high conc diet, might help reduce pneumonia because the animals don't sweat as much. I'm open to correction though.

pakalasa

Ya, it helps them to keep cool, so less likely to sweat and get pneumonia.
Supposed to, anyway.

flatout11

we clip a strip of the the backs (2 to 3 blades wide) also do the tails
it cuts down on them sweating so in theory it cuts down on the risk of lice aswell, not sure if there is much of a performance benifit from doing it

jerdee

we used to do it in scotland were i worked about two months before the sales it gave them more beefy look and a straight topline also we would clip under bellies to make them look taller..maybe different

mad cattle would relax a lot when we would be doing it

pakalasa

jerdee wrote: »

...mad cattle would relax a lot when we would be doing it

To quieten any mad cattle in the crush, I rub my fingers down along their backbone.I saw a vet doing this years ago. Same effect. It does work.;)

LostCovey

blue5000 wrote: »

I think it lets off heat along the back when animals are on a high conc diet, might help reduce pneumonia because the animals don't sweat as much. I'm open to correction though.

I have heard that too, but I have also heard that cattle have no sweat glands except on their muzzles....... and that what looks like sweat on housed cattle is actually condensation and evidence of poor ventilation......hence the association of "sweating' with pneumonia.

Which would suggest the appropriateresponse to cattle "sweating" should be to remove side sheeting and leave the clippers in the box!

LC