What do you think of this cross.

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Got a phone call last night from a guy thinking of buying some Texas Longhorn cows bred back Chianina. Price = $400. The guy who is elling them has agreed to buy back the calves for calf price next year. This guy is talking about breeding these cows back to a black Galloway. My question is will those calves be black or will they have the motley color of the Longhorns. He seems to think he'll do okay with his black calves. I think those Longhorn genetics may be too deep to get straight black calves. Opinions anyone?

 

[jerry27150]

they will mostly be colored like the longhorns

 

[Frankie]

Got a phone call last night from a guy thinking of buying some Texas Longhorn cows bred back Chianina. Price = $400. The guy who is elling them has agreed to buy back the calves for calf price next year. This guy is talking about breeding these cows back to a black Galloway. My question is will those calves be black or will they have the motley color of the Longhorns. He seems to think he'll do okay with his black calves. I think those Longhorn genetics may be too deep to get straight black calves. Opinions anyone?

It takes several generations to get the spots off a Longhorn cross. One of my neighbors has been using Angus bulls for probably ten years and still occasionally will get some spotted calves out of his cows that go back to Longhorns. He sells those separate from his solid black calves. He claims the buyers will discount the whole group if a spotted one is mixed in.

 

[Rustler9]

I know that the spots can show up in crossbred Longhorn calves but we have some Beefmaster cows that have solid red or black calves every year when bred to our black and white spotted bull. I've got a guy coming Saturday to look at two solid black heifers out of this cross. One has small horns, one is polled. Both are out of horned Beefmaster cows. Looking at these heifers you would never guess that they are half Longhorn. These same cows had solid black calves last year-took these calves to the sale barn-the guy who helped unload and tag the calves called one of his friends and told him that we had Longhorn cross heifers in the sale. The guy came to the sale and bought them all-says he's going to use a Charolais bull on them. My suggestion for the guy thinking about buying the Longhorn cows is to use a Charolais bull on them-the calves will all come out a cream (yellow) color, much like any of the Charolais cross calves from other breeds. Charolais seems to dilute the Longhorn colors. The calves grow like crazy and bring a premium price at the barn. Several people in our area use this cross and swear by it. Those Longhorn mamas can sure raise a good calf.

 

[cowspider]

I Raise Longhorn/Angus cross and Brahma/Angus cross and you will get docked for the calves with the spots if you take them to market. sell privitelly and you get a better price. they taste good with or without spots.

 

[SF]

Why do you get docked for the spots?

 

[dun]

Why do you get docked for the spots?

Because they can get away with it.

dun

 

[dun]

Got a phone call last night from a guy thinking of buying some Texas Longhorn cows bred back Chianina. Price = $400. The guy who is elling them has agreed to buy back the calves for calf price next year. This guy is talking about breeding these cows back to a black Galloway. My question is will those calves be black or will they have the motley color of the Longhorns. He seems to think he'll do okay with his black calves. I think those Longhorn genetics may be too deep to get straight black calves. Opinions anyone?

I haven't worked with Chis in something like 20 years but there was a real problem with calving problems even on mature Angus cows. That was in the days that they were called Ankina instead of Chiangus. Unless the cow is real power milker she's not going to be able to support the potential of that chi cross calf.

dun

 

[Copenhagen & Shiner B]

My solid (red) colored no butt horned 395 pound Longhorn X Angus bull calf brought $1.10 a pound tuesday, but my spotted, polled 465 pound Longhorn X Angus bull with butt only brought $.86 a pound. A few people around here cross Longhorn cows with Charolais bulls and get good money for them around here. The Charolais knocks the spots off a Longhorn cross calf and adds butt to it most of the time.

 

[BC]

I had an old sale barn operator tell me that the best way to breed the spots off of a Longhorn was to use a Charolais and then sell the calves at 300 to 350 lbs. before they narrowed up in the butt.