running arrow bill forgot to say that the longhorn bull was going to be used on a beefmaster herd, which is having the calving difficulties with their 1,000 lb heifers.
and they were pulling several, besides losing the one. and they have just gotten so sick of pulling, that they finally are going back to something they don't have to worry about.
and bill is working on the weight thing, and the color thing also. cause he is getting in a registered solid black LH bull (out of a 2,000 lb sire). that has already been on a herd of charlois, and his calves were black, not off-colored.
bill is keeping track of weights and trying to learn what is considered to be "normal" for what you guys are looking for. and i have been researching on ebay, just looking at old postcards from the "good ole days" and have been finding out, that the majority of the longhorns in the old days, were solid colors, with few of the party colors in the herd.
so being new to the cattle business in general, barely coming up on three years, i surmised that longhorn breeders got tired of listening to all the "bad" rap their longhorns were getting, and decided to breed the party colors and horns for their own use. and the heck with fighting the misperceptions that surround the longhorn breed.
i have had 3 lifetime veternarians tell me that the "dairy bulls" are way worse than the longhorns for attitudes. but i dont personally know, cause i have only messed with longhorns. and i dont have a problem with what we have, i move them from one end of the property to the other by myself most of the time. (i'm 5"1".)
to me it's amazing that the LH breed has come as far as it has, seeing as how it was a mutt breed to start with, and then had all the "good" heavy weights put to slaughter, and kept the low scubs for breeding in the cattle drive days, and have had to make a come back from the scrawny rack of bones that almost died out from outcrossing as well as being eaten, to 200,000 strong of today. (yes i know, just a drop in the ole bucket, but they are not extinct- is the point.)
the dickenson herd in ohio was brought up. ---they are breeding for a beef type longhorn as well as horn. breeding for a 2,000 lb bull with a minimum of 60" tip to tip. and have finally been doing it long enough to start to have some consistancy with the higher weighs without loosing the low calving weight. the longhorns have a "short" pedigee for consistant weights compared to your "long" pedigrees of commercial breeds. i acknowledge this, and i know that there is more than just one big herd that is addressing this problem. but you know as well as i do, that it takes time to build a "deep" pedigree.
yes, the longhorns are an old mutt breed, that are still valuable today. there are people that are shaping some of the longhorn breed into a better asset for everybody.
like other breeds have been shaped into what they are today, there is room for the oldtimers that love their party colors and long long horns, and room for me who sees that by taking "part" of my herd and breeding for better weights and solid colors, i can offer more than just a yard decoration.
you guys have "forgot" more about cattle than i will ever be able to catch up, but i'm (we) are in there trying. we are just trying a different approach to the similar end goals. we are not trying to change the longhorn into a different breed, but utilizing what is there to a better advantage. just as the other cattle breeds have shaped their herds into what is best for them.
all we are saying, is don't completely count the longhorn out. there are times when outcrossing to one isn't completely madness.
and as for the color black, it is no different than raising white rabbits for commercial butchering, colored rabbits are docked cause they ain't "white". grins same difference? eh?
and who am i? i'm sandy (magpie) , bill's other half. i have been doing the pedigree searches, color searches, weight searches, and keeping track of bill. grins
to me, once the "black" hide comes off, the meat is not that much different. (even tho the longhorn is lower in cholesteral that the lady at the meat counter says she wants")
it's our "perceived" likes and dislikes, as well as market driven, money driven, get docked at the sale barn driven, that drives everybody to pick the critter that they want to mess with.
yes, we are messing with longhorns, -never have followed everybody's else's beaten path, was too busy going cross country with a flashlite seeing why there wasn't a different way to skin that same old cat. grins
sorry i've gotten so long, but i (we) have a lot to learn from all breeds, not just one.
i really enjoyed black power's earlier post. that really made my day, cause i do a drop check on the boards once in a while just to see what bill has stirred up. grins
we enjoy raising cattle, and learning from all of you.
peace,
sandy
