Skill rather than speed won a team of feedlot specialists the top prize in an animal treatment competition.
A crew of four from Kolk Farms near Iron Springs, Alta., prevailed among eight teams invited to test their skills in food safety, pen checking, selecting individuals for treatment and inoculating in a feedlot setting.
The team comprised feedlot manager Glen Stronks, Travis Kellett, Betty-Jean Wilson and Kristy Heapy.
Each team had to include the feedlot manager and most of the crews were trained in feedlot or herd health work. The events were not timed.
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“It was more important to us that processing gets done properly, rather than quickly,” said judge and veterinarian Les Byers of Pfizer Animal Health.
The company invited customers to put together teams and test their skills at a feedlot near Picture Butte, Alta., in mid-September.
“A lot of these guys don’t golf or do a lot of other things besides work. They are at the feedlot seven days a week seasonally. This is their life,” he said.
“These cowboys are professional people and they take a lot of pride in what they do.”
The teams processed 20 head each, including two that had to be removed from a pen either on horseback or on foot. The animals were new to the feedlot and ranged in age from calves to yearlings.
Teams were tested on their ability to prepare and store vaccine, check expiration dates and record activities before a judge.
They had to move cattle in a low stress manner through alley ways and a squeeze chute, where they had to administer two vaccines, properly insert an implant and administer a parasiticide.
“They were graded on all aspects of cattle handling,” Byers said.
The final part of the competition was a 21 question multiple choice quiz for each team to complete in 15 minutes.
The day ended with a video critique to show what they did right and where improvements could be made.
These guys don’t ever get any positive criticism on their work and when you are doing the same thing every day and unless somebody tells them they could do it a better way, they are not likely to change,” he said.
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