Longhorn finished?

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hraz

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Since a longhorn will not look like a typical beef steer when finished, what do you look for to tell if they are "done"?
 
He is about 14-15 months I think. There was not a lot of info when I got him. They told us he would not be ready to go until next summer but he is a big boy. He tried to put a horn through one of the kids this weekend (amazingly accurate with those horns!). Not a nice steer at all. I do not want to keep him any longer. He has been eating about 6 pounds of beef finisher a day as well as free choice hay. I figured I would pour the feed to him for another 30 days and send him off. But, if he is ready now so much the better. He is for our freezer, hence the concern over finish.
 
I run my Longhorn cross calves as yearlings and then grain them for 90 days before butchering. If you look in the tailhead area and it looks fat and lumpy they are usually ready to butcher.

Bobg
 
(He tried to put a horn through one of the kids this weekend (amazingly accurate with those horns!). Not a nice steer at all.)

He's got to go! I would have shot him on sight for trying to gore a child.
 
That was my first reaction but she said she worked too hard helping feed him and she wants to eat him. I am personally going to feed him for another few days. We separated him from the rest of the animals so the kids are safe. I made his appointment with destiny on the 18th.
 
I have fed out a few, and the main thing I have observed about Longhorns is that is takes a lot longer to finish out a Longhorn steer than most other breeds. I usually let them stay on grass until they are a least 20 months old, at which time I'm hoping they might weigh in at 700-900 lbs. I then drylot them with some hay, and put them on feed for somewhere between 75-120 days, ramping them up to around 25lbs a day, broken into 2 feedings. Finished weight I am shooting for is around 1000-1100 lbs.
 
If the kids don't do the pics this is the best I can get. And that took 20 minutes.
 

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