Black Cross-Bred Texas Longhorn Cattle

[Bullitt]

Hello,

I just registered on Cattle Today, but I have been reading about cattle here for a while. I signed up to discuss an interesting idea that I saw on the Internet.

I see a cattle breeder in New Mexico is selling cows that are Angus crossed with Texas Longhorn to get all-black or mostly black cattle with some white areas. I was thinking this was a great idea since black cattle seem to be the flavor of the decade. Is this still true all over? It is also a good idea because you would get the meat quality of Angus cattle with the feed efficiency, health, and parasite resistance of Texas Longhorn cattle. Heifers of this cross would make great mommas.

My idea would then be to put an Angus or Brangus bull on these cross-bred heifers to get calves that should be all or very close to all black, would be largely Angus, and would benefit from the heterosis of the cross.

What do you think about this?

I saw pictures on this board from a breeder who crossed a Charolais bull with Texas Longhorn cows and got good looking calves that were mostly a solid pale yellow color. That single cross seemed to sell well for him. I was thinking all-black calves would be even better in the market these days.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Didn't work well for the guy down the road calves still have heavy LH looks and colors. LH DNA doesn't play by the rules and is strong stuff. Lots of skunk color calves he got killed on at the sale barn. LH looks or color will get you heavily discounted by the order buyers.
He only has two LH cows left now rest are Brangus or Braford.
All of his LH cows were 1/2 to 3/4 Angus and wild color patterns still showed up along with the LH frame.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

:hide: p

Hello,

I just registered on Cattle Today, but I have been reading about cattle here for a while. I signed up to discuss an interesting idea that I saw on the Internet.


not being a smart a-- ,but if you read anything on here at all...you've had to run across atleast one, of the multiple threads about longhorn and crossing them. Seems like it's ask a dozen times a week...

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

:welcome:

Glad to have you.

 

[Bullitt]

not being a smart a-- ,but if you read anything on here at all...you've had to run across atleast one, of the multiple threads about longhorn and crossing them. Seems like it's ask a dozen times a week...[/quote]


Of course I have seen threads about Texas Longhorn crosses here. I have not seen a thread about using all-black Angus x Texas Longhorns and breeding an Angus bull with them. Maybe there is such a thread, but I have not seen it. As I mentioned in my original post, I did see a thread on here where a guy crossed Charolais with Texas Longhorn and got mostly pale yellow calves that sold well.

 

[Bullitt]

Didn't work well for the guy down the road calves still have heavy LH looks and colors. LH DNA doesn't play by the rules and is strong stuff. Lots of skunk color calves he got killed on at the sale barn. LH looks or color will get you heavily discounted by the order buyers.
He only has two LH cows left now rest are Brangus or Braford.
All of his LH cows were 1/2 to 3/4 Angus and wild color patterns still showed up along with the LH frame.

That is good information. Thank you.

As I mentioned in my original post, I saw a thread here where a guy crossed a Charolais bull with Texas Longhorn cows and got mostly pale yellow calves that sold well. Maybe that is a better cross.

Here is that thread: viewtopic.php?t=49051

I would like to see what happens when those crossed heifers are then bred again to a Charolais bull. Has anyone tried this?

 

[Bullitt]

:welcome:

Glad to have you.

Thank you, sir.

 

[Muddy]

Don't worry about Caustic Burno and Alacowman. Yes you can get crazy colors but only if you breed chromed up longhorns to a black angus bull. Solid longhorn cows didn't throws crazy colors when bred to a black Angus bull. If it were me, I'll just breed the half Longhorn cows to a black Continental bull instead of Brangus bull.

 

[Caustic Burno]

You have to remember you can't BS a man at his own game.
You will not fool the order buyers on LH cross calves. All the breeds have been genome mapped for feed efficiency.
This is about days from pasture to rail and pounds hanging. Seventy percent of beef goes to hamburger Your LH cross calves will never compete in gain or feed efficiency. Sorry just science and fact, there is no short cut or fooling the order buyer.

 

[Muddy]

You have to remember you can't BS a man at his own game.
You will not fool the order buyers on LH cross calves. All the breeds have been genome mapped for feed efficiency.
This is about days from pasture to rail and pounds hanging. Seventy percent of beef goes to hamburger Your LH cross calves will never compete in gain or feed efficiency. Sorry just science and fact, there is no short cut or fooling the order buyer.

You won't fooling the buyers if the calves are junky looking. But you can fool the buyers if the calves are beefy and growthy. Sometimes I wondered if they ever DNA tested ALL calves they brought.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Don't think I'd want to be the guy trying to fool a buyer of my product... We call that a swindler around here and they're either broke, not well liked, or usually both..

Like I've said before - Raising longhorns is like sleeping with your cousin - seems to be a southern thing, the people doing it try to hide it and think they're getting away with something, and everyone else looks down on it. :lol:

 

[bird dog]

I have one solid black angus LH cow in my herd just because they were giving her away one day at the sale. She is ugly as sin and not very big but will throw a decent calf with some color as noted. One thing I have noticed is her calf will wean off at 7 months about 60% of her weight. Efficient little cow. Calves won't ring the bell but considering her cost and the cost of keeping her, she is a money maker.

 

[Bullitt]

I have one solid black angus LH cow in my herd just because they were giving her away one day at the sale. She is ugly as sin and not very big but will throw a decent calf with some color as noted. One thing I have noticed is her calf will wean off at 7 months about 60% of her weight. Efficient little cow. Calves won't ring the bell but considering her cost and the cost of keeping her, she is a money maker.

This is how a Longhorn cross makes money. They are easy to care for and will eat about anything.

Do you use an Angus bull with this cow? That would make the calf 3/4 Angus and 1/4 Longhorn.

Do you happen to have a picture of this cow with a calf?

By the way, I wish I could get free cows at the sale barn.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Don't worry about Caustic Burno and Alacowman. Yes you can get crazy colors but only if you breed chromed up longhorns to a black angus bull. Solid longhorn cows didn't throws crazy colors when bred to a black Angus bull. If it were me, I'll just breed the half Longhorn cows to a black Continental bull instead of Brangus bull.

I wouldn't worry about us either.. Its the market they need to be concerned with...

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

I have never tried to hide what my calves are from my buyer. The cows are always in the pasture next to our feedlot when they come to price the calves. We've been selling our Angus calves, as well as our cross calves to them for several years. They feed them out, and actually really like the cross calves.......Like them enough that they now have several Angus X LH cows out of their own that came out of my herd. I've never understood folks that haven't ever tried it, telling us that have, that it won't work. I guess everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinion, and thanks for lumping us in with swindlers and cousin kissers. Classy.

 

[Muddy]

This is the reason why most Longhorn guys has left this forum, most of long time members here always bashing on their ideas and tell the longhorn guys that their LHX calves are hurting the beef industry. Some feedlot guys do like the Char x Longhorn cross calves. Honestly I just think most of the long time members are just jealous or being in denial.

 

[Bullitt]

This is the reason why most Longhorn guys has left this forum, most of long time members here always bashing on their ideas and tell the longhorn guys that their LHX calves are hurting the beef industry. Some feedlot guys do like the Char x Longhorn cross calves. Honestly I just think most of the long time members are just jealous or being in denial.

I think it is good to try to be open-minded to other ways of doing things.

I like the look of the Charolais x Texas Longhorn calves. viewtopic.php?t=49051

They look like good beef cattle and they are mostly a solid pale yellow color.

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

I've posted this pic before. I was a little late getting him weaned, but 655 at 6.5 months. No creep feed, or grain to the cow. This was her first calf. Just goes to show what a good bull can do to clean up a junk cow. LOL

 

[mpassmore85]

Attached are 6 month old heifers (averaging 600-680 lbs) Angus cross. All at least 75% longhorn blood. (Solid cows make solid calves)

Great heifers for any beef program I'd use black simmental myself to beef up a bit more

 

[Caustic Burno]

This is the reason why most Longhorn guys has left this forum, most of long time members here always bashing on their ideas and tell the longhorn guys that their LHX calves are hurting the beef industry. Some feedlot guys do like the Char x Longhorn cross calves. Honestly I just think most of the long time members are just jealous or being in denial.

I think it is good to try to be open-minded to other ways of doing things.

I like the look of the Charolais x Texas Longhorn calves. http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49051

They look like good beef cattle and they are mostly a solid pale yellow color.

Open minded doesn't pay the bills to play the game. If it did we would all be running a niche breed.
To draw premium money you have to deliver a premium calf for your area that the buyers want.