Hereford bull on Longhorn Cows

[wvherefords]

Hi there. New to longhorns... just bought two nice 5 year old cows six months ago. They should be calving in the next two or three weeks. Primarily used as lawn ornaments... ;-)

Rather than fooling with AI and/or buying a longhorn bull, I'd like to turn them out with my Polled Hereford bull.

Any issues I should consider when doing so?

Also, I bought a longhorn heifer two months ago that just turned one a few days ago. She's been on grain with a few of my hereford heifers and is growing nicely. Since I plan to breed her to the same Hereford bull, should I wait until she's closer to two to breed her (i.e. next spring) or can/should I just follow my usual plan of having my heifers calve at 2 years of age, assuming they are proper size at breeding time? I'm concerned about the genes of the larger hereford bull (although he's a 1.8 BW epd and throws under 85 lb straight hereford calves with my hereford cows) on this smaller longhorn cow and unsure of the affect of the longhorn trait of smaller calves.

Definitely appreciate any insights you can provide on both of these subjects.

thanks.

 

[Ryan]

I think you should be able to breed your cows to the hereford no problem. Seen em crossed with lots of other breeds. Good luck with them.

As for the heifer, I would think that if she was the proper size to handle the hereford bull at breeding time then you should be okay. If his calves are usually less than 85lbs and you havent had any problems so far with other heifers, then I would think it would be okay. Longhorns in general are known to be extremely easy calving.

Good luck with them.

Ryan

 

[LibertyIIE]

I have had a small group of Longhorns for several years mixed in with my other beef cattle. I have had a Hereford,Angus,Brangus Bull over the last 15 years. The Longhorns will deliver a calf from any bull you breed them to. They will do it so quickly that if you are not watching closely you will miss it. Have never pulled a Longhorn calf. I also cannot tell when they are going to calve as they do not bag up or dilate to the last minute. All the ones you had to assist in calving died a 100 years ago. Good luck.

 

[LonghornRanch]

If you ever do have a problem with a Longhorn calving, do us all a favor and make hamburger out of her. Longhorn breeders have zero tolerance for sickly cows and ones with calving problems.

 

[wvherefords]

thanks a ton for your comments. makes perfect sense. I am not worried at all about the two 5 year olds. the only one I was concerned about was the heifer, but from the looks of your responses, I've got nothing to worry about.

thanks!