A herd of longhorns

[MtnCows93]

Answers will be all over the board on this. In my opinion, the cheap cost of getting in is absorbed by the hit on the calves. The beef cow will always have a higher salvage value than the LH cow. Your gonna have cash tied up in both of them either way. Why not start with one, that's going to gross more on calf sales, and salvage for more when her days are done?
I've had my share of longhorns around. It's kind of a necessity of what we do. They'll weigh a 150 pounds or more less at weaning, and be 50 cents back from the same beef calf. You do the math on em, and they just don't pencil out.
If you want a bunch of cows cheap, that give few problems, and will be with you a while, then it's the way to. You won't be making anything though. A charlois bull will hide "some" of your problems, and the old char genetics would add a few pounds. They won't fix everything.

You're probably right that Longhorns don't pay as well.

But to "do the math" you need all the figures. Like how much does a Longhorn eat vs an Angus. The extra 150 pounds isn't free - it takes feed. And to maintain a higher muscled cow all year isn't free either.

Can anyone tell me how much their Angus eats? And how much their Longhorn eats? Both cows and calves?

even if both weighed the same the longhorn still needs less feed, and they get by on poorer quality hay. people say you dont have to bother working them, worrying about calving problems because they almost never need help, and they last till their late teens. just thought id throw some pros in with everyones cons

 

[Dave]

Answers will be all over the board on this. In my opinion, the cheap cost of getting in is absorbed by the hit on the calves. The beef cow will always have a higher salvage value than the LH cow. Your gonna have cash tied up in both of them either way. Why not start with one, that's going to gross more on calf sales, and salvage for more when her days are done?
I've had my share of longhorns around. It's kind of a necessity of what we do. They'll weigh a 150 pounds or more less at weaning, and be 50 cents back from the same beef calf. You do the math on em, and they just don't pencil out.
If you want a bunch of cows cheap, that give few problems, and will be with you a while, then it's the way to. You won't be making anything though. A charlois bull will hide "some" of your problems, and the old char genetics would add a few pounds. They won't fix everything.

You're probably right that Longhorns don't pay as well.

But to "do the math" you need all the figures. Like how much does a Longhorn eat vs an Angus. The extra 150 pounds isn't free - it takes feed. And to maintain a higher muscled cow all year isn't free either.

Can anyone tell me how much their Angus eats? And how much their Longhorn eats? Both cows and calves?

even if both weighed the same the longhorn still needs less feed, and they get by on poorer quality hay. people say you dont have to bother working them, worrying about calving problems because they almost never need help, and they last till their late teens. just thought id throw some pros in with everyones cons

All cattle eat somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 2 1/2% of their body weight in dry matter a day. But that is not the entire story. It is not just how much they will eat but how efficiently they utilize what they ate. One might gain a pound on eight pounds of feed. Another might take 12 pounds or more of the same feed to gain that pound. That is where the Longhorns will fall behind. And that is why the feedlots only want them at a discounted price.

 

[Bigfoot]

Answers will be all over the board on this. In my opinion, the cheap cost of getting in is absorbed by the hit on the calves. The beef cow will always have a higher salvage value than the LH cow. Your gonna have cash tied up in both of them either way. Why not start with one, that's going to gross more on calf sales, and salvage for more when her days are done?
I've had my share of longhorns around. It's kind of a necessity of what we do. They'll weigh a 150 pounds or more less at weaning, and be 50 cents back from the same beef calf. You do the math on em, and they just don't pencil out.
If you want a bunch of cows cheap, that give few problems, and will be with you a while, then it's the way to. You won't be making anything though. A charlois bull will hide "some" of your problems, and the old char genetics would add a few pounds. They won't fix everything.

You're probably right that Longhorns don't pay as well.

But to "do the math" you need all the figures. Like how much does a Longhorn eat vs an Angus. The extra 150 pounds isn't free - it takes feed. And to maintain a higher muscled cow all year isn't free either.

Can anyone tell me how much their Angus eats? And how much their Longhorn eats? Both cows and calves?

I can't honestly answer that. I would say, that it would stand reason, that 2 750 pound LH cows bred to a charlois bull, may very well be a better "deal" than 1 1500 pound beef cow.

I've got almost 50 calves up of my own right now, that I weaned in mid October. There are 2 calves in there, that are long horned influenced. Some calves in there are impressing me with their growth, and some are coming along, and what I'd call average. The 2 LH calves don't seem to be growing at all. 2 calves out of 50 isn't much, for me or anyone else to base an opinion on. I did trailer wean some bred the same way, on the last sale of the year. Partly because I needed money like the world needs love, but I couldn't see feeding them if their not going to grow.