Stocky's Watusi Cattle

[Chuckie]

Stocky, tell me a bit more about the Watusi cattle. I used to see a couple here and there, but they were only considered an exotic animal at the time. They do have tremendous horns! Are you using them in your beef operation or are you raising them as exotics? Are you crossing them with other breeds? I can't remember what type of body they had, but seemed it was pretty thick and compact. It was hard to get past looking at the horns.

 

[stocky]

chuckie, the watusi cattle that i have are not real large bodied animals. they cows are from 800-1000 lbs and the bull i have is about 1500 lbs. he is a real beautiful red with white specks. the cows are red or red and white. i bought a black watusi bull but he wasnt nearly as good of an animal as the reds, so i sold him. the first two cows that i had, i bred to a charlois bull and they now have beautiful yellow calves that are 2 months old. no calving problems at all out of the charlois bull.
to be honest with you, i dont know what i am raising them for---lol. they look beautiful by the road and i have 5 cows and bought 5 heifers that are just beginning to spring a little. the lady that i bought the heifers from had 10 of the most beautiful watusi cows i have ever seen and she wanted 2500 each for the cow-baby calf pairs. that was way out of my price range so i bought the native pure registered bred heifers for 750 because i figured they would grow up to look just like their mothers. the day after i turned down the pairs a guy in arkansas bought them for the full 2500 per pair, so i guess they werent as unreasonable as i thought they were. i have sold 2 bull calves for roping for 500 dollars each at 425 lbs, so i thought that was pretty good. i have kept each of the heifers to be cows.
they are very gentle and i can pet each one, but you need to be careful because they can accidently hit you with a horn because the horns are from 50 inches to over 80 inches from tip to tip. i paid 350 each for my first 2 cows and then 500 each for the next 3 and then 750 each for the heifers. if i can sell the ropers for 500 each, i think they will subsidize the cows by the road to look at. as you can tell, i dont know alot about them, but i am trying to learn. they have very different personalities than my other cows and they group up and protect the babies. they are fun to learn about and beautiful to see coming over the hill side by side with those huge horns

 

[Chuckie]

Their horns are so huge!! I looked them up on a website, and they had crossed a Longhorn with a Watusi. If the picture wasn't distorted, I don't see how the animal carried it's head. The horns looked about 6 feet each. I can see the interest that they bring. I hope you have a lot of luck with your cattle. I did read about the history of them and how the meat is so lean. It also said the milk was 10% butterfat. It also talked about the very low BW's. They appear to have given some blood to the the Brahman cattle. The skin and the shape of the bodies are much alike. They also have the hump. They are good looking cattle and I like the colors they come in. The speckled cattle remind me of the westerns on TV. Take some pictures some time and post them if you get a chance. I would like to see them. Thanks for the information.

 

[stocky]

Chuckie, yes, the horns are huge. The only other watusi i have owned had over an 8 foot spread and she only weighed 650 lbs. She got old and I sold her to a Chevy autombile dealership owner and he put her out in front of his dealership to attract attention. The horns are hollow and they have alot of blood circulation and that is supposed to be how they keep themselves cool in the hot weather. I have read where they were once called the cattle of kings because they are so royalty looking---if that is a word---lol. Also there are people who look for the watusi meat to eat because it is supposed to be so healthy due to being so lean. the cows do not have a big bag of milk, but because of the butterfat content the calves seem to grow well, however the breed does not weigh heavy. They weigh more like a longhorn when it comes to judging their weight.
I do enjoy having them and will be getting a camera before long to use with the computer, and after I learn how to use it, I will post some pics.

 

[Chuckie]

I can see why the dealership wanted the cow for the attention. I am sure that she got it too. Not many people in cities or towns have seen such horns. I am sure kids get the parents to stop and see her too. When you do get that camera, be sure to let us see your herd. Chuckie

 

[docgraybull]

i have sold 2 bull calves for roping for 500 dollars each at 425 lbs, so i thought that was pretty good.

They do have a good diameter of horn base don't they? Have you done it, or do you know of anyone who is crossing them with Corrientes, specifically for roping or bulldogging prospects? Seems that the cross should produce a good stout, broad based horn on a hardy animal.

 

[cherokeeruby]

Chuckie, yes, the horns are huge. The only other watusi i have owned had over an 8 foot spread and she only weighed 650 lbs. She got old and I sold her to a Chevy autombile dealership owner and he put her out in front of his dealership to attract attention. The horns are hollow and they have alot of blood circulation and that is supposed to be how they keep themselves cool in the hot weather. I have read where they were once called the cattle of kings because they are so royalty looking---if that is a word---lol. Also there are people who look for the watusi meat to eat because it is supposed to be so healthy due to being so lean. the cows do not have a big bag of milk, but because of the butterfat content the calves seem to grow well, however the breed does not weigh heavy. They weigh more like a longhorn when it comes to judging their weight.
I do enjoy having them and will be getting a camera before long to use with the computer, and after I learn how to use it, I will post some pics.

Stocky you don't have to buy a digital camera to be able to post pictures. If you have 35MM film developed at WalMart One-Hour Photo they can put it on a CD, you don't even have to get prints. You will pay the developing fee and $2.88 for the CD, can put more than one roll of film on the CD also. I don't have a digital camera, this is how I get pictures to post. Used to use a scanner but it broke.

 

[stocky]

cherokeeruby, thanks for the info, wal-mart saves the day again. I am laughing as i type this because it reminds me of the joke in another part of this site about the blonde riding the horse and the wal-mart greeter saving the day. everytime i see a wal-mart i think of that---lol

 

[stocky]

docgraybull. they have a very good horn base. the heifers that i bought are out of cows that are supposed to rank very high in the breed for horn base, which is important in watusi cattle, i am told. i dont know of anyone who crosses them with corrientes but it makes sense that the cross would make an excellent roper.