Over the past few years I put the following list of thirty-three things to look for in the selection process .
Things to look for when assessing cattle – Steve Campbell
(Everything else being equal…the following guides hold pretty true)
1. Straight line from the chest, through the belly and back to the hocks. (<i>Most cattle today have a rise in the chest behind the front legs</i>) More meat, very adaptable, better glandular function.
2. Hide should be very loose when shaken at the 13 rib. (<i>Lots of neck folds extending back into the rib cage area is the visual of this.) Tend beef and high butterfat!
3. Small in diameter, short in length cannon bones. (With a very slow taper out to just the width of the ankle. ) This signifies tender meat.
I was doing a bit or reading on Diatomaceous Earth this morning and ran into some interesting information.
I have used it for years to control flies in summer and lice in winter on my animals. In the human section it says you can Lower your Cholesterol by 50-75 points simply by
Consuming 1 tablespoon per day mixed into your water or juice!
Diatomaceous Earth’s Many Uses
In 1978, Dr. Schubert and associates conducted experiments to determine safe levels of Lead and Mercury (<i>he tested other toxic metals as well</i>) in our homes, water and food. He fed a group of 100 rats just enough lead that one animal died. This is an LD1 (Lethal Dose) of Lead. He did the same thing with Mercury.
The really “interesting” part came when he fed an LD1 of Lead and 1/20 of an LD1 of Mercury. Every one of the 100 rats died.
A friend told me the other day that he looked forward to calving season less each year. Mainly it was his having to get up to check on the animals around the clock. This made me think about nature and wonder who gets up to make sure all of the elk and deer are able to have their offspring. In the rare case that one of these females has a problem, nature takes its course, and she does not have a chance to pass those “unsuitable” traits along to any further progeny.
