livestock judging

Livestock judging is a fun past time for me, most people do not know what livestock judging consist of so I am here to explain. The whole point of livestock judging is to find the animal which will either produce the better livestock babies, or which one will produce the most meat at the market. Picking the livestock that will produce the most meat might sound easy, you would just pick the biggest one. Using the approach of picking the biggest one might sound good in theory, but you have to factor in size of bones, and just because one is bigger does not mean it is the better livestock at the market one can be bigger because of fat. In picking the better livestock you want to pick the animal when its muscle starts blending in with its fat this is called the peak of the animal, you do not want to eat a steak that is all fat, or a steak that is all muscle. The reason behind picking an animal at its peak is because the fat is what holds flavor, but the muscle is where the protein is at. 

The Different livestock that are judge are lambs, goats, steers, heifers, bulls, pigs, turkeys, rabbits, and chickens. Within these different animals you have breeding classes which consist of heifers (female cow that has never born a kid), bulls, ewe (female lamb), sow (female pig), nanny (female goat), boar (male goat). The Meat class would consist of lamb, goat, steer (castrated male bull), pig, turkeys, rabbits, and chickens. In the breeding class you would judge how well an animal will carry a child, which would make the best babies, and which will have the least amount of problems during the birthing period. During the meat class you would judge on which one not only will bring the most meat at the market but the best quality of meat which is its peak. 

With the meat market lamb, goat, steer, and pig you want the livestock that is widest across its back, because it is the most expensive part of the meat. Second you look at which one is widest at its base (his legs), and which has the biggest butt. In all of these animals you want muscle mixed with fat which is called marbilization.  When judging turkeys, and chickens you look at which one has the biggest breast, in order to do this the shower will flip the bird over facing towards the judge and the judge will fill the birds breast and see fill the muscle content of the bird. When judging rabbits there kind of a class of their own they bunch three rabbits of the showers choice together and see if their backs are the same width and length.




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