Ideal Cattle?

[stocky]

i have one old longhorn cow that is the only one i didnt dehorn. i bought her with a baby calf about 6 years ago because i needed the baby for another cow and they sold the pair so i was going to take her baby and sell her for slaughter, but i ended up finding another calf and she had such a beautiful set of horns and she has raised a 650lb yellow calf each year that tops the market, so i just never have sold her. she looks so pretty in the field with those horns that i cant make myself dehorn her, so she will always have them

 

[Beefy]

i've always wanted one to mount on my cadillac convertible one day...

 

[Rustler9]

I have so many people ask me if I'm afraid to go in the field with my cows because of the horns. I have people who are curious about them come to the farm to see them because they think they are neat to look at but are afraid of them. So I take a bucket of range cubes out to the field, call them and usually within 3 minutes we are surrounded by fifty or so cows plus calves and a bull. I always get the kids (if there are any) to feed the cows a couple of these cookies. Once they experience these big horned cows with 50" to 60"+ horn spans eating from their hands like ponies I pretty much have them won over.

Any kind of cow can be agressive to other cows, with horns or without. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't have some butting around from time to time but my cows don't fight nearly as much as my dad's Beefmaster herd which contains both polled and horned animals. As a matter of fact his horned cows with the sharp, short horns do alot more damage to each other than my big horned cows do.

To each his own, but to me it's damn shame to cut those big horns off. For any of you folks who may be considering trying some Longhorn cows in your commercial herd I challenge you to leave the horns on and see how much damage you have, if it gets bad you can always take off the horns but I think you may be surprised at how well it will go. Now I'm sure somebody will come back with a horror story but there's always exceptions to the rule. We've got two Beefmaster cows with horns (about 6" long) that I'm considering dehorning because they are some mean b*****s. I'm about tired of these two jammimg their heads into everybody else's sides when they are eating.

For any of you are dead set against Longhorns talk to some folks who use them with a Char bull or any other breed and let them tell you how pleased they are with them. One of my neighbors who runs a black bull on his beef herd consisting of Beefnmaster, Char, and everything else has a few Longhorn/Angus cross cows that weigh about 900 lbs each. He swears that they always wean the biggest calves and they bring the highest even though they sometimes still show some white spots. Those folks who know them will tell you what they can do for you and those who don't can't because they are so dead set against trying something different. Ok, I'm tired of standing on my soap box so I'll get off now.

 

[stocky]

rustler, i dont disagree with anything you said. i have never had a longhorn hurt another cow with her horns. i dehorn for 2 reasons: 1. when i am going to sell them, they bring several hundred more with a baby calf dehorned. than the ones with horns. 2. i use round bale feeders in my pastures because i cant always unroll hay and the horned cows cant use the feeders-----even my pet horned cow has to be helped out of the feeder where she gets hung up at least 2 times per week. i firmly agree with using that charlois bull on them

 

[preston39]

stocky,
You mention an interesting point...why do some folks unroll bales of hay on the gorund? I visualize 30-50% waste...no?

 

[Wewild]

I visualize 30-50% waste...no?

I'd say youv'e never tried it. You been at this long.

 

[stocky]

preston, i am a firm believer that the best way to feed is to unroll the hay on the ground. however, there are a number of circumstances that have to be right. first, you have to have the right number of cows in the pasture to eat 1 bale or 2 bales etc in one day. if you unroll more hay than 1 day's supply they will lay on it and waste it. second, it cant be raining or wet and muddy, or they will just trample it and waste it.
if you have half enough cows for 1 bale you can unroll half of a bale and take the rest out of the pasture for the next day.
one thing i really like to do is unroll real good hay, just a part of their daily intake and then put lesser hay in the round bale feeder. this way all the cows get some of the real good hay and then they can go and fill up on the lesser quality hay in the feeder. this way they all have enough to eat and everyone has an equal chance at the real good hay.
the advantages of unrolling hay are that all cows can eat at the same time. with feeders, the older or more timid cows have to wait their turn, usually this means lesser quality hay for those that need the better hay.
also, it is easier for the older cows to eat the loose hay off the ground than to pull the tightly wound hay out of a real tight bale---much easier on their weaker teeth and they eat more----better for their health.
the key is to unroll only what they will eat today or less than they will eat if you have hay in the feeders----dont have equal quality hay in the feeders or they will pick through the hay on the ground and then go to the feeders to pick through that
when it is raining or i only have less than 20 cows, i just feed in two feeders so they all can eat at any time
when snow is on, i like to unroll some lesser quality hay for them to pick through and for the baby calves to lay on---really helps them to have hay between them and the snow, and there is enough waste on the outside of a round bale to give them real good bedding on the snow---i calve year round, so that helps them alot and lots of times i have a cow freshen on this hay

 

[Bama]

To get em to eat that last roll of hay left over from 2 years ago that you forgot about. Unroll it and pour some sweetfeed on it. They'll eat it. Not saying this is to be done very often, but it does work.

 

[preston39]

I visualize 30-50% waste...no?

I'd say youv'e never tried it. You been at this long.

===========
42 years Wewild...and you?

Are you telling us you have tried everything on a ranch around cows?

Betcha,I can give you a couple things that are new!

How did my inquiry cause you to ask such...queston?

 

[Wewild]

I visualize 30-50% waste...no?

I'd say youv'e never tried it. You been at this long.

===========
42 years Wewild...and you?

Are you telling us you have tried everthing on a ranch around cows?

Betcha,I can give you a couple things that are new!

How did my inquiry cause you to ask such...queston?

I ain't that old.

We've tried that.

Ain't seen it yet with all your posts.

Go figure.

 

[preston39]

stocky,

Thanks for a knowledgable explanation.

Never thought of the older girls....we keep plenty of rings because of the timid ones.

Guess it's what we are experienced with. Dad always said..."they have plenty of time to pick out the hay they want...if it was easier they would be trying to get into something".

Better give it some analysis...looks like another piece of equipment would be needed. geesh!

 

[stocky]

bama, that sure will work. i know a guy that goes around and either buys real old hay cheap or gets it given to him and he stands the bale on its end and pours a 5 gallon bucket of what we call liquid molasses, i think it is probably the same as your sweet feed on the bale and it soaks in and he buys cheap holstein steers in the fall and winters them on this cheap feed and then keeps them until mid july and sells them--does pretty well on some really bad feed

 

[tg]

I have so many people ask me if I'm afraid to go in the field with my cows because of the horns. I have people who are curious about them come to the farm to see them because they think they are neat to look at but are afraid of them. So I take a bucket of range cubes out to the field, call them and usually within 3 minutes we are surrounded by fifty or so cows plus calves and a bull. I always get the kids (if there are any) to feed the cows a couple of these cookies. Once they experience these big horned cows with 50" to 60"+ horn spans eating from their hands like ponies I pretty much have them won over.

Any kind of cow can be agressive to other cows, with horns or without. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't have some butting around from time to time but my cows don't fight nearly as much as my dad's Beefmaster herd which contains both polled and horned animals. As a matter of fact his horned cows with the sharp, short horns do alot more damage to each other than my big horned cows do.

To each his own, but to me it's damn shame to cut those big horns off. For any of you folks who may be considering trying some Longhorn cows in your commercial herd I challenge you to leave the horns on and see how much damage you have, if it gets bad you can always take off the horns but I think you may be surprised at how well it will go. Now I'm sure somebody will come back with a horror story but there's always exceptions to the rule. We've got two Beefmaster cows with horns (about 6" long) that I'm considering dehorning because they are some mean b*****s. I'm about tired of these two jammimg their heads into everybody else's sides when they are eating.

For any of you are dead set against Longhorns talk to some folks who use them with a Char bull or any other breed and let them tell you how pleased they are with them. One of my neighbors who runs a black bull on his beef herd consisting of Beefnmaster, Char, and everything else has a few Longhorn/Angus cross cows that weigh about 900 lbs each. He swears that they always wean the biggest calves and they bring the highest even though they sometimes still show some white spots. Those folks who know them will tell you what they can do for you and those who don't can't because they are so dead set against trying something different. Ok, I'm tired of standing on my soap box so I'll get off now.

I have a friend that has a nice herd of Long Horns and offten I see people pulling over to admire them, never herd him complain about them being aggressive, to each his own I guess.....

 

[preston39]

Don't look at 'em.