Fluffy Cows

In case you missed it online, fluffy cows was (is) a thing on the internet. Pampered, primped, and highly groomed show cattle’s photos have gone viral, often comparing them to teddy bears. They’re not, of course, they’re just groomed cattle like Westminster has groomed dogs. It’s for competition and show.

Ask a kid who has shown livestock in 4H or FFA, and they’ll tell you all about it. Baths, special shampoos, blow drying, clipping the hair, and styling products are part of the process for showing animals at fair.

Vernon did a bit of 4H as a kid. I was always more into scouting, so my kids did one year of 4H only and it wasn’t in livestock. Well, Jaxon got interested… then Daniel decided he’d take some of his registered females to a sale in Cheyenne.

Today I helped Tess wash and dry two calves. This was all new to me!

First, a bath.

Followed by a rinse and rub to squeegee the water out.

Then a blow dry. You do it much like a stylist blows your hair, going against the natural way it lays so it stands up “fluffy”.

We didn’t do more than that, final primping will be done before the show. Keeping them clean beforehand just makes it less of a chore at the show, plus it’s a training exercise.