What Makes a Fluffy Cow Fluffy?

Have you ever wondered what makes a Fluffy Cow Fluffy? Most fluffy cows are bred to have lots of hair but the hair isn’t so fluffy without the required work.

This is what a fluffy cow looks like before it is all clean. This is my Crossbred (he has both Chianina and Maine influence) Market Steer named Lautner. He weighs 1,300 lbs. I plan to exhibit him at the end of January at the Sioux Farm Empire Show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Follow these steps to see how Lautner transforms into a clean fluffy cow.

Step One: Blow the dirt out of Lautner’s coat.  A blower is a tool like a blow dryer it blows air to through the long hose.  First picture is what a blower looks like. This takes less than five minutes.

Step Two: Grab the garden hose and start rinsing Lautner by putting water on his coat. This takes 20-25 minuets, because you want to get his entire coat really wet.

Step Three: Take the Gain Dish Soap turn it upside down and disperse it all over his coat. This is called “soaping”. This takes five minutes

 Step Four: Take the scrub brush (first picture) a plastic brush with a handle and bristles used to scrub the coat and get all the dirt out. This also helps deep condition Lauter’s coat. This takes 5-10 minutes; I am making sure I get all the soap “scrubbed in” all over Lautner’s coat.

Step Five: Rinse the calf with the garden hose, making sure all the soap bubbles come out.  This takes 10-15 minutes (this step is repeated from step two)

 Step Six: I use the scotch comb (example is the first picture) and brush Lautner’s hair. Lautner’s hair is still wet. This step takes 5 minutes.

Step Seven: Blow the calf out with the blower; the blower was used in the first step. This step is very important. This is how Lautner’s hair dries and becomes fluffy. This could take a while, generally takes 30-40 minutes until he is completely dry.

Step Eight: I apply conditioner out of the spray bottle and brush it in with a human hairbrush.

After all theses steps Lautner looks like this. He is very clean and his hair is soft.

You can definitely see a difference from the first picture to this one. This process in total takes roughly 1- 2 hours per calf. This process is done by most competitive showmen during the winter 2-3 times a week and everyday during the summer to prepare for various cattle shows.