Longhorn cattle age

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lafollette

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i have a 18 year old longhorn steer, that has just started kidney failure so the vet has said. Has anyone had a longhorn to live a old age and what is mainly some of causes of their deaths, He will be so sadly missed here, he was a huge trophy steer that has won numerous awards and the farm won't be the same without him.
 
According to the experts, ITLA, and TLBAA, Longhorns can easily live into their early to mid 20's if they are well cared for and all. Cows can calve past 20. Bulls still working in their late teens. Cows that produce every year are still good purchase options when they are 10-15 years old.
 
I would check with one more vet.. just cuz. The difference sometimes is incredible... I used a local vet for a while, until I figured out his #$#$ attitude.. he was not compassionate, did not understand cattle as pets.. and the last straw was when a steer (another pet) got injured.. he showed up 7 hours after I called him, gave him 1 shot.. said if that dooesnt help then we will have to put him down and left after getting $150.00 from me. Furious, I called a different vet.. he came out within the hour, gave him a extremely through exam, was here for almost 2 hours and charged me $75.00. The steer made it .. no thanks to the jerk-vet I called first. i stilll use that vet today.. incredible difference.

I have a LH riding steer, he is in semi-retirement, and is 17 years old. Still doing well. Longhorns can and often do live into their 20;s and occasionally their 30's. LH Cows regularly produce healthy calves into their 20's.

Good luck!
 
Something else for me to catch some crap about!
Unless a cow is perfect in all respects and only has calves that are perfect in every respect, what is their value as a producer when they get into those kinds of ages. If the heifers are your best genetics, what does that say about the 20 year old cows possible contribution to the genetic improvement. I guess I just don't get it. We have a couple of older cows that will be heading down the road this year. Their daughters and grandaughters are just so much better then they are. I have my favorite cows that are petlike, but when they're not contributing as well as the younger girls, they grow wheels.
On the subject of vets, if you don;t feel comfortable with your vet, or just think he/she/it's a horses patoot, find another. I realize in some areas there is very little choice, in that case it's like voting, "hold your nose and pull the lever"

dun


Dyann":7uh0wxjt said:
I would check with one more vet.. just cuz. The difference sometimes is incredible... I used a local vet for a while, until I figured out his #$#$ attitude.. he was not compassionate, did not understand cattle as pets.. and the last straw was when a steer (another pet) got injured.. he showed up 7 hours after I called him, gave him 1 shot.. said if that dooesnt help then we will have to put him down and left after getting $150.00 from me. Furious, I called a different vet.. he came out within the hour, gave him a extremely through exam, was here for almost 2 hours and charged me $75.00. The steer made it .. no thanks to the jerk-vet I called first. i stilll use that vet today.. incredible difference.

I have a LH riding steer, he is in semi-retirement, and is 17 years old. Still doing well. Longhorns can and often do live into their 20;s and occasionally their 30's. LH Cows regularly produce healthy calves into their 20's.

Good luck!
 
dun":lgohoge0 said:
Something else for me to catch some crap about!
Unless a cow is perfect in all respects and only has calves that are perfect in every respect, what is their value as a producer when they get into those kinds of ages. If the heifers are your best genetics, what does that say about the 20 year old cows possible contribution to the genetic improvement. I guess I just don't get it. We have a couple of older cows that will be heading down the road this year. Their daughters and grandaughters are just so much better then they are. I have my favorite cows that are petlike, but when they're not contributing as well as the younger girls, they grow wheels.
On the subject of vets, if you don;t feel comfortable with your vet, or just think he/she/it's a horses patoot, find another. I realize in some areas there is very little choice, in that case it's like voting, "hold your nose and pull the lever"

Dyann":lgohoge0 said:
I would check with one more vet.. just cuz. The difference sometimes is incredible... I used a local vet for a while, until I figured out his #$#$ attitude.. he was not compassionate, did not understand cattle as pets.. and the last straw was when a steer (another pet) got injured.. he showed up 7 hours after I called him, gave him 1 shot.. said if that dooesnt help then we will have to put him down and left after getting $150.00 from me. Furious, I called a different vet.. he came out within the hour, gave him a extremely through exam, was here for almost 2 hours and charged me $75.00. The steer made it .. no thanks to the jerk-vet I called first. i stilll use that vet today.. incredible difference.

I have a LH riding steer, he is in semi-retirement, and is 17 years old. Still doing well. Longhorns can and often do live into their 20;s and occasionally their 30's. LH Cows regularly produce healthy calves into their 20's.

Good luck!

Good post, Dun. I agree with you completely. But you're producing beef. Anyone who keeps a steer around for 17 years is keeping expensive pets. And that's OK. But it's also why some people ask on this board if Longhorns are a beef breed.
 
Dun.. I am afraid you just dont get it, cuz you dont know Longhorns. A 20 year longhorn cow is still a good producer..period. One of the qualities of Longhorns is longevity. One of my herd sires, is a son of a bull whose dam was 25 years old when she calved him. That bull is syndicated at 1.5 million dollars and is a beautiful bull. This is NOT a freak accident.. it happens more than you think, and it was not her only excellent offspring...

As to keeping a "pet".. they are advertising... they sell other longhorns.

We have a very diverse market in the Longhorns and I dont expect Angus breeders or any non-longhorn producer to understand.. just like I dont understand medicated feed, growth hormones, pulling calves, pinkeye, foot rot..etc....
 
So there is no genetic improvment being made in longhorns?
If they were easier to housebreak maybe they would be considered pets.

BTW, we don;t have the problems you alluded to either, but that's managment, and breeding quality animals.

dun



Dyann":343pycfi said:
Dun.. I am afraid you just dont get it, cuz you dont know Longhorns. A 20 year longhorn cow is still a good producer..period. One of the qualities of Longhorns is longevity. One of my herd sires, is a son of a bull whose dam was 25 years old when she calved him. That bull is syndicated at 1.5 million dollars and is a beautiful bull. This is NOT a freak accident.. it happens more than you think, and it was not her only excellent offspring...

As to keeping a "pet".. they are advertising... they sell other longhorns.

We have a very diverse market in the Longhorns and I dont expect Angus breeders or any non-longhorn producer to understand.. just like I dont understand medicated feed, growth hormones, pulling calves, pinkeye, foot rot..etc....
 
Dyann":12a96d80 said:
Dun.. I am afraid you just dont get it, cuz you dont know Longhorns. A 20 year longhorn cow is still a good producer..period. One of the qualities of Longhorns is longevity. One of my herd sires, is a son of a bull whose dam was 25 years old when she calved him. That bull is syndicated at 1.5 million dollars and is a beautiful bull. This is NOT a freak accident.. it happens more than you think, and it was not her only excellent offspring...

As to keeping a "pet".. they are advertising... they sell other longhorns.

We have a very diverse market in the Longhorns and I dont expect Angus breeders or any non-longhorn producer to understand.. just like I dont understand medicated feed, growth hormones, pulling calves, pinkeye, foot rot..etc....

I just can't see any Longhorn bull worth $1500 let alone $1.5 million. Must be rich person "pet". Isn't worth a dime in the beef market.-And I'm not trying to be snide - but a Longhorn bull is not worth a dime on a commercial ranch.
 
Oldtimer":1r9s266q said:
Dyann":1r9s266q said:
Dun.. I am afraid you just dont get it, cuz you dont know Longhorns. A 20 year longhorn cow is still a good producer..period. One of the qualities of Longhorns is longevity. One of my herd sires, is a son of a bull whose dam was 25 years old when she calved him. That bull is syndicated at 1.5 million dollars and is a beautiful bull. This is NOT a freak accident.. it happens more than you think, and it was not her only excellent offspring...

As to keeping a "pet".. they are advertising... they sell other longhorns.

We have a very diverse market in the Longhorns and I dont expect Angus breeders or any non-longhorn producer to understand.. just like I dont understand medicated feed, growth hormones, pulling calves, pinkeye, foot rot..etc....

I just can't see any Longhorn bull worth $1500 let alone $1.5 million. Must be rich person "pet". Isn't worth a dime in the beef market.-And I'm not trying to be snide - but a Longhorn bull is not worth a dime on a commercial ranch.
They will be worth every nickel if you put a LH bull with your heifers....99.8% of your calves will be born unassisted....don't see ANGUS being that high!
 
Oregonian":39klgr9x said:
Oldtimer":39klgr9x said:
Dyann":39klgr9x said:
Dun.. I am afraid you just dont get it, cuz you dont know Longhorns. A 20 year longhorn cow is still a good producer..period. One of the qualities of Longhorns is longevity. One of my herd sires, is a son of a bull whose dam was 25 years old when she calved him. That bull is syndicated at 1.5 million dollars and is a beautiful bull. This is NOT a freak accident.. it happens more than you think, and it was not her only excellent offspring...

As to keeping a "pet".. they are advertising... they sell other longhorns.

We have a very diverse market in the Longhorns and I dont expect Angus breeders or any non-longhorn producer to understand.. just like I dont understand medicated feed, growth hormones, pulling calves, pinkeye, foot rot..etc....

I just can't see any Longhorn bull worth $1500 let alone $1.5 million. Must be rich person "pet". Isn't worth a dime in the beef market.-And I'm not trying to be snide - but a Longhorn bull is not worth a dime on a commercial ranch.
They will be worth every nickel if you put a LH bull with your heifers....99.8% of your calves will be born unassisted....don't see ANGUS being that high!

Who will buy the calves?
 
Dyann":1ukbnpaa said:
Dun.. I am afraid you just dont get it, cuz you dont know Longhorns.

Dyann, i'm afraid you just don't get it cuz you don't know what the purpose of a program should be. whether it's longhorns or beef cattle shouldn't you be breeding for improvements? if a 25 year old cow has your best calf, what have you been doing for the last 25 years? if you're breeding for better genetics (whether that be weaning weight, horns, carcass info), shouldn't the newer models be out-producing the old?
 
First, not my cow... second. the 25 year old cow is not the ONLY cow in that herd producing. My point was that a LH cow at 25 is still a viable producer.. period.. unlike the non-LH breed who producing days are over at about 10. There is plenty of genetic improvement in the LH breed.. you just wont ever open your eyes wide enough to see it. I do not have any issues with commerical producers.. none what so ever. But, I do get annoyed when anytime a LH on this board is mentioned it is SLAM time..Why so defensive? I also get exceedingly annoyed when i go to the feed store and they shove medicated feed at me like.. what? you dont want that?

If you dont use growth hormones and dont pull any calves.. then you are one of the only I have ever heard of. .. congratulations.

Just like I cant compare my longhorns to your Angus or whatever breed you raise.. you cant compare yours to mine.. They are not pets.. but they could be (I did have a "pet" hereford when I was a kid").. I chose to raise Longhorns because of the diverse market, the ease of raising them and the easy calving. You have your reasons for raising what you raise. I started raising some of my LH's for meat, because I cant find a decent piece of meat in the supermarket.... even "Black Gold" or whatever they call it. Twice as expensive.. still tastes like nothing.

So I will continue to raise my LH and enjoy it.. you raise what you raise and we will just agree to disagree. in the end, there is no superior breed.. only preceptions.
 
Oldtimer.. I dont mean to be snide either.. but.. $29,000 later and the sale of 22 young longhorn bulls would imply otherwise.. Where did I sell them? to commerical breeders.. mostly Angus and Brangus.. three were repeat customers and two other brought friends out here and the rest came from ads I put in the fall "Beef edition" of the country newspaper than runs in the state of Texas ....
 
Does this provethat Barnum was right?

dun


Dyann":3rk7kuby said:
Oldtimer.. I dont mean to be snide either.. but.. $29,000 later and the sale of 22 young longhorn bulls would imply otherwise.. Where did I sell them? to commerical breeders.. mostly Angus and Brangus.. three were repeat customers and two other brought friends out here and the rest came from ads I put in the fall "Beef edition" of the country newspaper than runs in the state of Texas ....
 
My point of contention with lh breeders is their impression that they have discovered some great hidden truth and that all other cattle have problems, either calving, pinkeye, footrot, require implants, etc.
But you summed it up correctly in your last sentence.
Some animals excell in certain invironments, others do't do worth squat. There are poor quality animals in each breed, just as there are those that are superior. There are also managment concerns. The best quality animals won't perform up to their genetics when poorly fed, inadequate health programs, bred to the wrong type of animals, or any number of other issues, most of which boil down to managment.

dun



Dyann":27cdywyf said:
If you dont use growth hormones and dont pull any calves.. then you are one of the only I have ever heard of. .. congratulations.

in the end, there is no superior breed.. only preceptions.
 
I beg to differ with you.. we dont think we have found some great hidden truth.. not at all.. we just dont like to be "dismissed" when the word Longhorn comes into the sentence.. What basis does someone who has never raised or possibly never even been a round a longhorn have for saying... they aren't any good for anything? they are pets, yadda yadda. It is prejudiced, it is biased and if anyone appears to have an "air" of superiority.. there is it. Secondly, Longhorn producers are just as serious about the cattle we raise and any other producer. The implication that we are less than practical for doing it is antagonistic at best.

I grew up in the Midwest on a farm.. we raised cattle, not longhorn cattle. It was a total pain in the butt.. and I chose a different path from you. I am sure should I go into your pasture, I would look at your animals admire their qualities.. I have an open mind.. unlike some of other producers on this board that would not even take a step into my pastures.. their outdated ideas of what a Longhorn is, just cant seem to be freed from their minds.
 
Dun.. the post above from "guest" was from me.. forgot to log in :)

As to your "was barnum" right .. i have no clue what you are referring to..
 

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