Everyone knows Sullivan’s Jet Black and Sullivan’s Black Finisher when it comes to fitting black cattle, but have you ever used the red paint line that Sullivan Supply has to offer when fitting red cattle? During this tip from Stock Show University®, we are diving into the science and purpose of each of the red paints that Sullivan Supply® has to offer for your show day needs at the chute. 

When Sullivan Supply® came out with this red paint line, the show industry had never seen this number of color selections before. With this line, you can now rest easy knowing that the right shade is within reach when dealing with red cattle. For the red paints, we have 5 red-based colors to match your needs: #1 Fawn, #2 Copper, #3 Brick, #4 Red Velvet, and #5 Dark Crimson. All 5 of these paints are made with the same quality of excellent coverage, texture, and color dimension to enhance your animal’s natural hair color – like features that you expect from Black Finisher and Jet Black.

Most questions when it comes to this product line are along the lines of: What red paint will match this animal the best? Each of the red paints has its own name but is also classified as a number, 1-5. The larger the number is, the darker the paint is. Below are the 5 different paints along with a description of what red color each of them match:

#1 Fawn – Fawn Touch-Up is the final touch-up for covering adhesives and leg builders on light red hair with an orange tint, found on lighter colored Hereford, Gelbvieh, Limousin and Red Angus cattle. 

#2 Copper – Copper Touch-Up is the final touch-up for covering adhesives and leg builders on medium red hair with a faint brown tint found on Hereford, Red Angus & Light Shorthorn colored cattle. 

#3 Brick – Brick Touch-Up is the final touch-up for covering adhesives and leg builders on medium red hair with a brown tint found on dark Hereford, medium Shorthorn & Red Angus colored cattle. 

#4 Red Velvet – Red Velvet Touch-Up is the final touch-up for covering adhesives and leg builders on medium-dark red colored hair, especially dark red Shorthorn and Red Angus cattle. 

#5 Dark Crimson – Dark Crimson Touch-Up is the final touch-up for covering adhesives and leg builders on darkest red colored hair found in Shorthorn cattle.

When trying to color match your animal, Stock Show University® Professor P.D. Miller suggests that you color match prior to the show. “This is something that you need to test before you start fitting at the show. My advice is to grab a couple of cans that you might think match your calf, and then test them on the calf at home. If one color doesn’t directly match, mixing two of the red paints also works well, spraying them on the calf at the same time to mix the two colors properly.”

Along with these 5 red paints, Sullivan Supply® has 2 additional paints that were added to this line of touch-ups. Blondie, used on light yellow, cream, & butterscotch colored hair, especially on Composite Charolais cattle, and Silver Fox, used on gray and silver hair, also as found on Charolais influenced cattle.

For more tips and video tutorials from Stock Show University®, visit https://www.sullivansupply.com/stock-show-u/online/