Looking for longhorns

[firestormboergoats]

Running arrow bill,

I am in the market for a longhorn steer or heifer, I know two totally different animals but bear with me a sec, for my dad's pasture art. He want's art, that is it. I was thinking I could get a young heifer, let her get old enough to be bred and have her ai'd to a good bull and then sell the young'n. Other thought was to have her ai'd to an angus or brangus bull and eat the young'n. Anyway, just wanted an opine from somebody who raises longhorns on ease of handling heifer vs. steer and marketablity of offspring, ie just one at a time. Thanks in advance.

shawn

 

[Ryan]

firestorm,

If he wants art, then you can find a speckled heifer or young cow that will be just a pretty color wise but wont have the massive horns as the steer. One calf is better than none. Angus/Brangus crosses i've seen have been fantastic calves, would be good to eat.
I've seen a lot of angus cross and a friend of mine does charolais crosses, she says they taste great and she gets mostly solid colors

If they are just going to be art in the pasture they can easily become pets and handled very easily with minimal work.

I've been raising longhorns 'bout 20 years, cattle are located just outside ft. worth...if you would like anymore info. you can email me [email protected] or pm me.

Hope this Helps

Ryan

 

[kjerckie]

One calf gets lonely .... better get two.

 

[TXBobcat]

Running arrow bill,

I am in the market for a longhorn steer or heifer, I know two totally different animals but bear with me a sec, for my dad's pasture art. He want's art, that is it. I was thinking I could get a young heifer, let her get old enough to be bred and have her ai'd to a good bull and then sell the young'n. Other thought was to have her ai'd to an angus or brangus bull and eat the young'n. Anyway, just wanted an opine from somebody who raises longhorns on ease of handling heifer vs. steer and marketablity of offspring, ie just one at a time. Thanks in advance.

shawn

I am not Bill, but maybe I can help. We are raising registered Longhorns on a ranch just outside of Waco, so we are pretty close to you. As far as ease of handling, our cattle are good natured and can be penned/moved without much problem. I don't like to keep anything around that will cause trouble. When you say 'art' I suppose you are talking about an animal with nice sized horns. We have some of those, but they are mostly older cattle that have had time to produce the horn length; however, we do have some young heifers with good potential.

If you would like more information, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or send me a PM.

 

[Ryan]

One calf gets lonely .... better get two.

This is very true...I know Longhorns like to have buddy, this has had some negative affects on us when showing them.

One thing about art. One of the neatest things about longhorns as art, is watching them grow, seeing how big and how much twist the horns will have.

 

[firestormboergoats]

Thanks for the reply's. One other question, how many strands of barbwire? For the back pastures w/ the goats I have 4" field fence 48" tall w/ a strand of barbed top and bottom. The longhorn, or maybe two now, is going on about an acre and a half in front of the houses. The road side is a pipe top rail and cattle panels welded but I wanted to do something a little less expensive on the house side. Thanks again for your replies.

shawn

 

[Tod Dague]

With one cow it is hard to tell when you need to AI them. If you want to AI you may do better to get either two cows or a cow and a steer.

 

[TXBobcat]

Thanks for the reply's. One other question, how many strands of barbwire? For the back pastures w/ the goats I have 4" field fence 48" tall w/ a strand of barbed top and bottom. The longhorn, or maybe two now, is going on about an acre and a half in front of the houses. The road side is a pipe top rail and cattle panels welded but I wanted to do something a little less expensive on the house side. Thanks again for your replies.

shawn

My first choice on fencing would be the field fence with two strands of barbed wire across the top. I like this because it seems to keep calves in better. My second choice would be a six strand barbed wire fence with T-posts 10' apart and wood stays wired to the fence in between the T-posts.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

So many good points, questions, so little time...lol.

For initial pasture art Longhorns, mature cows will have the best horn for your bucks. Calves and young calves--can watch them grow. The more horn, the more $$. Mature or middle-aged horned Longhorns are bringing top dollars now for the "best" horns.

At Running Arrow Farm we have just about every color in our emerging herd. We are shooting for horn, body, and color. Showing is a minimum priority for us since we are primarily breeders. The top winning show Longhorns (usually at the TLBAA events) are maximizing body and minimizing horn length, in my opinion. We also breed TWH and Peruvian Paso horses--same applies---the Show circuit is not for us...too expensive, too much traveling, too much work, too slim chance for $$ rewards in the end for any given animal. We let the others do the showing and then select our purchases from the award winners (cattle or semen purchases).

Fencing. Since we are a little "paranoid" at our place about cattle getting out (we're right on heavy traffic US 83), our perimeter fence is 5.5' high, seven strand barb wire. Since we have DEEP sandy soil here, we used 8' long T-Posts spaced every 10' and driven about 2.5' in the ground. Our cross-fenced pastures are about 5' high, six strand barb wire. I would NOT recommend any fencing less than 4.5' high for longhorns. And, I could not sleep at night with only a low, electric fence for Longhorns. They CAN jump over fences.

As herd animals, strongly advise to have a minimum of TWO animals together.

Longhorns will walk the perimeter fencing upon arrival at your place and will look for low or weak spots. If they find one...they will travel.

For more information on Longhorns and information on the "Seven Families" of Longhorns as well as a view of our breeding stock and offspring, please visit our website. Or, you can e-mail or PM me for more information.

 

[Ryan]

We use 5 strand barbwire around our entire property, and the only problems we have are when tree limbs fall on the fence... no problems with jumping or leaving or anything like that. If they are treated correctly, and have enough to eat they prefer to stay home.

 

[ga. prime]

Pasture Art. What a concept! Now I know why I want a few belted Galloways and Irish Shorthorns in my pasture even though I know I probably won't make as much profit from them as I would from a good crossbred cow. I've been trying to justify why I want these (and other, red Senepol for instance) animals. Now I know. It is high art.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

We use 5 strand barbwire around our entire property, and the only problems we have are when tree limbs fall on the fence... no problems with jumping or leaving or anything like that. If they are treated correctly, and have enough to eat they prefer to stay home.

Also depends on the nature of one's terrain, proximity to other rancher's livestock, roads, highways, tree cover, and other issues. As well as one's stocking rate (aka enough grass to keep cattle home), etc.

As with any livestock property, if owners, managers, etc., are there 24/7 and can promptly check all fences, gates after high winds or storms, etc., then that reduces chances for fence to be down and cattle get out. For absentee owners, operators, or weekend ranchers, excellent fences & gates and hopefully no tree branches to break and fall on fences would be a must (for peace of mind).

Good fences which are appropriate for the type of animals one is keeping backed up with good insurance on livestock are the basics in my opinion (along with proper livestock feeding and care, obviously).

 

[PLR]

I keep my Longhorns, Highlands and Other Cattle in with a 4 strand Barbed Wire fence with T posts on 8 foot centers. Wooden H's are used to brace the corners. Never had a cow get out. Have a Hot wire on the outside to keep the range bulls out though. Also use 3 rail Vinyl fence. Its very resilent and easy to repair. When We introduced a new bull, They had their usuall dominence fight and the Larger Angus bull pushed the Highland bull into the fence. Popped two rails out but the fence held took no serious damage. Took 2 minutes to pop the rails back in. Didnt hurt the bull either. Had that been Barbed wire he would have got tangled in in it and probably sustained Serious Crippling injuries.

Good luck with your Art project.

Shelby

 

[firestormboergoats]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I plan on starting the fencing this weekend, I am going w/ 6 strand barbed wire w/ 10' pole placement. I don't think there is gonna be more than about 60' straight run in the whole fenceline. I am following the inside of a curved driveway for a good part of the fence. No trees to really worry about except where the run-in is gonna be, the few other trees are interior away from the fence.

Since the consensus seems to be get two, one will definetly be a longhorn, the other---well I haven't decided that yet. I am leaning towards a "beefier" calf that I can put in the freezer, and then get the longhorn a new friend every year, we will see what mom has to say about that, she tends to name everything I take out there and not let me eat it!!! Thanks again and I will keep you updated on the outcome after the fence and run-in get built.

 

[Dyann]

We have been raising Longhorns for 14 years.. we use a 5-strand, high tensile fence, with T-posts every 25 feet. we use solar fence charges, that generally mantain about a 8000 volt charge. Our bulls and everyone else totally respect that hot wire fence.. it is cheaper that barb wire and more effective. The only place where we had barbwire ( back perimeter fence) was not effective. The Longhorns can get there horns under the wire and tear it up.. that is how our neighbor got a few Longhorn/Hereford cross bred calves. it is also our experience that if the animal does not have a reason to leave.. they wont.. meaning adequate grazing, water, etc.

As to yard art.. there are some really really nice steers around also. They like to buddy-up and make great pets!