Texas Longhorn

Help Support CattleToday:

There are quite a few people on here that raise Longhorn but they definitely are a minority. You can still get good responses on most issues. I know I have. I have a small herd that I started two years ago. I only have 13 head, and have got a lot of valuable information here. :tiphat:
 
Most of the members of this forum look at them as not being real beef animals, just ornaments.
 
I am in Australia and my OH is keen on getting one. We raise (majority) Angus cattle so it will be an ornament for us... I will start looking soon enough :D
 
talldog":s8qwu0ag said:
Why don't I see more discussion on Longhorn cattle here?? I'm in the process of starting in this breed , which I love !!! :D :D

Probably because the vast majority of posters on this board are the "good ole boys" who think the only REAL beef animal or bovine comes in black... Still others run down Longhorns just because they "can" and it serves as catalyst to encite controversial and flaming dialog...lol.

Some people just seem to think by blasting someone else's breed or program will elevate them in status...not.

Welcome to Longhorn Country!
 
dun":3vghr2lx said:
Most of the members of this forum look at them as not being real beef animals, just ornaments.

Pretty much. If you dont mind me asking Talldog, why Longhorns? They dont need much vegetation right? Thats why the deep south and dry areas have them more than the plains. Or am I wrong in that?
 
Running Arrow Bill":1ah5jdyz said:
talldog":1ah5jdyz said:
Why don't I see more discussion on Longhorn cattle here?? I'm in the process of starting in this breed , which I love !!! :D :D

Probably because the vast majority of posters on this board are the "good ole boys" who think the only REAL beef animal or bovine comes in black... Still others run down Longhorns just because they "can" and it serves as catalyst to encite controversial and flaming dialog...lol.

Some people just seem to think by blasting someone else's breed or program will elevate them in status...not.

Welcome to Longhorn Country!

RAB, I thought it was cause all the good ole boys were skeered of all the calving problems you'll have them. What with those long horns and all. ;-) :lol2: :lol2:

I only know of one true herd of longhorns near me and what I will say is that that breed seems to have a unique appetite for things other cattle around here do not like to eat. Seems they will jump a fence to leave bermuda grass so they can go chew on galberry and palmetto and gain weight doing it.
 
Yeah, Jogee...the Longhorns are very efficient "weedeaters" and will often choose a young tender weed to good grass. They also keep our fence rows clean and lower branches on what few trees we have stripped of leaves. They like young tender Russian Thistle (variety of broomweed), some pigweed, and other stuff. They can "survive" on about 80% of what it would take for other breeds, but to keep their BCS good they need good nutrition. Can also go longer without water and walk longer distances if needed for water.

When we have new growth of weeds and some grass in our alleyways, we'll turn Longhorns in to graze. Then, what they haven't eaten we'll then run the brushhog to cut down the stemmy weeds that are left.

We'd let them in our yard to graze; however, they would eat our tree leaves and break off branches rubbing their heads & horns on them to scratch an itch...lol. They can easily reach 6 to 6.5" high (larger cattle can reach 7 feet high) to eat leaves on trees.
 
Mine love it when I push down trees, they not only attic the leaves, but they love the poison ivy as well. My vet said that he palpated one without gloves in his younger days and got poison ivy clear to his shoulder.
 
Talldog, there are longhorn discussions off and on. Cattle that can be considered ornamental or hobby breeds don't get a lot positive input, but I think it would get awfully boring quickly to talk about one or two breeds only. We all have our favorites, they don't happen to be mine, but I'm starting to appreciate them more. From what I've learned here, I think de-horned LH or LH/cross cows would make an awesome cowherd under a polled Hereford, Charolais, or Red Angus bull. They would do great on the pastures here, probably even in the dry long summers. I think they would be easy calving and long lived. Those super long horns don't hold any appeal to me, but I think there'll always be a place for such hardy cattle.
 
I am surely no expert on the breed, we raise baldies, but use a longhorn bull on our first calf heifers for calving ease. Here is what I can tell you from my experience; Easy calving, easy to feed, tough as hell in any environment, calves hit the ground running and suckling right away, bulls don't waste any time getting the job done. In our experience, the half longhorns sell right along with the baldy calves, they do just fine. However, full "longhorn looking" calves don't sell real good here. If they did, I would probably be raising them myself. Important thing is to raise whatever breed you enjoy raising. My opinion, there is nothing prettier than a hereford, but everyone has their favorites.
 
You know it seames lot of people do not care much for Black Angus cows, well I love them. Also love herefords,short horns, and a few of the other Beef breeds. Long horns are like a american icon,so is buffalo, both are probly good eating, and I entertain the thought of having a few of both. Also want mini horses and ostrichs. I raise Black Angus And F-1 Hereford and Angus . They both eat well , great....Easy to handle.
 
I learned that you can buy good, milky longhorns and breed them to charolais bulls and they will raise yellow calves that will sell very, very well as feeders. I have about 70 longhorns that I paid an average of 350 each for and I sell a 500-700 lb calf each year from them. They take very little care, eat most everything, travel for feed, and are very gentle. I cut the horns off about 2 inches from the head, so there are no horn problems and no problems for them eating out of round bale feeders. Most longhorn breeders have a different business purpose than I do, but I can do better with a 300 dollar longhorn cow than I can buying a 1200 dollar angus heifer when it comes to selling feeder calves and running more cows on the farm and not having to buy the better feed it takes for the angus. I am in the process of changing over my angus and cross cows to longhorns as I find longhorns for a cheap price. The key is the good quality charolais bull that you breed them to. The longhorn calf will sell very cheap, but the Charolais calves sell very well.
 
talldog... welcome to the Longhorn World!
Read my last post "Pasture Ornaments vs Hamburger;" it will explain allot of the beliefs towards the various breeds of cattle and the some negative feelings towards Longhorns. Just stay true to your particular breeding plan; you're the one having to look at them everyday. Whether you procure $500 LH cattle for beef or $1500 LH cattle for ornaments, STAY TRUE to your particular plan.
Many mentioned they'll eat anything, CORRECT! Mine stand and watch me cut down limbs when I trim the trees just to attack the leaves, ate 6 rose bushes down today, and they prefer to get down on their knees and eat under the fence rows THOUGH we've had 14.5" of rain in 2 weeks and the grass is knee high.
I raise what many call "ornaments" and did extensive research concerning conformation, color, horn before I purchased my foundation herd (PM me if you 2
have any questions) and if you need help with the infamous "medina hinge" get in touch with me; I worked, welded, tore down, re-welded, bent, re-welded until I finally fabricated the best solution for myself, the future customer, and the cattle for branding, AI, and general purpose. (The photos you'll eventually seek out and download may not show the other beneficial tricks.)
 
I think this is as good a discussion I've read on any breed on CT.

In my opinion as an innocent bystander, longhorns have lots to offer on the maternal side of a commercial herd, but the horns pose problems under normal management conditions. Dehorned longhorn cows or dehorned longhorn cross cows can be bought cheaply and bred to the right bull can very well improve your profit margin. Elsewhere in the world there are other breeds that are used in the same manner like Afrikaners and Ngunis here in the 3rd world.

BUT, and there is always a but, there are a big portion of the longhorn breeders that seem to focus on horn length and colour patterns (same is happening in Ngunis) with disregard to beef traits or production traits. They are the reason that beef producers don't take the longhorn breed in its entirety serious as a beef breed.

If more longhorn breeders bred longhorns like Ryan do more people would sit up and take a good look at longhorns. To have "World Champion" horn growth maybe nice in longhorn circles, but its about as usefull as a chocolate piszpot in commercial beef production.
 
grubbie":17o16bin said:
I am surely no expert on the breed, we raise baldies, but use a longhorn bull on our first calf heifers for calving ease. Here is what I can tell you from my experience; Easy calving, easy to feed, tough as be nice in any environment, calves hit the ground running and suckling right away, bulls don't waste any time getting the job done. In our experience, the half longhorns sell right along with the baldy calves, they do just fine. However, full "longhorn looking" calves don't sell real good here. If they did, I would probably be raising them myself. Important thing is to raise whatever breed you enjoy raising. My opinion, there is nothing prettier than a hereford, but everyone has their favorites.

Well said! If a person is gonna put time, dollars and effort into any project you should enjoy it.
 
In some regard I like longhorns. Yesterday I was given another squeeze chute by a longhorn breeder, crowding tub and all.

I know some people that use longhorn in their crossbreeding program to make their cattle more sustainable in certain conditions. I have seen picks on CT that would indicate that some people take the time to produce them as serious meat producing animals.
The problem I have with them is that to many people ride on the shirt tails of the serious breeders. They have no clue as to what they are doing. Their market is other people just like them or more often the sale barn where they are docked severly.
As far as I am concerned anybody raising longhorn whithout consideration to the individual animals pluses and minuses, as to beef production, is simple raising yard art.
If you want to know what catagory you fit in just ask yourself if you would still raise the same animal if it didn't have the horns.
 
Whata great discussion !! First of all, let me say that I was raised in a abattoir and encountered most all beeds. Longhorns suit my farm to a tee, and also think the meat is Fantastic !! All breeds surround me, mostly Angus, but a good showing of all breeds. I'm planning to cater to a retail beef operation. Thanks for ALL the great comments and keep them coming !!! :D :D :D
 

Latest posts

Top