When do longhorns stop growing horns?

[CircleA]

Howdy y'all
I have two longhorn crossed cows. Their sire was a pure bred longhorn, and the mama was a Holstein/Hereford cross.

When does the horn quit growing? Age wise.

Thanks

Alex

 

[cherokeeruby]

I am not an expert in any way regarding Longhorns but I believe they grow until they die.

 

[Ryan]

their horns will always be growning, however, the major/rapid growth usually ends around 5 years old. After that the growth will slow down considerably.

 

[CircleA]

Thanks,

this is my situation - i have two longhorn cows that i keep near the house kinda as lawn ornaments. I breed them each each year to help cover cost. I just move the bull from the commercial herd in to the pasture near the house. Well, these beast are very skittish and often jump a fence anytime we attempt to work them.

last Sunday, as we moved them to the north pasture so i could run the horses in the south pasture - the she devil jumped the fence back into the south pasture - for no reason! Now i have to go catch the horse - who are really happy about going back to the barn.

wife says "... tell me again why we haven't shot her ..." i want to stuff the head and make a wall mount and been waiting for the horn length.


But she keeps tearing up fences and one day, she won't make it. And then i Will have a big mess.

I guess i have answered my own question. Time to Cull!!!!

Thanks everyone. BTW, anybody want a couple longhorns??

Alex

 

[magpie]

i really dont know about the longhorn crosses, but we have (2) 12 year old cows that grow about a half inch a year. i would think that the holstein/hereford cross will put a very limiting factor on it.

it is easier to breed to take horn off, then to breed to put horn on.

that growth spurt for a bull while he is young is quite amazing.. they can grow 3 inches per month or better if you have a bull that is world class for horn growth.

for each month that goes by, the growth pattern gradually slows down. 90% of a bull's horn growth is obtained by the 3rd? year. after that is still grows but never like when he was young.

for cows, they have a different growth pattern than the bulls, they take longer to grow out their horn. where a bull is growing the 3 inches a month, the heifer at the same age is growing 2 inches a month... both being yearlings.

polled = dominate

horned = recessive

what is truly amazing to me, is the growth that deer elk, moose, caribou, etc. have on their horns, then shed that and start over again,, too bad we cant take some genes for that kind of horn growth, insert that into longhorns, and at the same time take out the yearly shedding part... man oh man,, we could grow some horn then !!!



magpie

 

[jerry27150]

sounds like she needs to be taught wire-respect with a hot wire. my son had a longhorn here once & she was the same way, after the hot wire training i could keep her anywhere

 

[CircleA]

Jerry, and others
I thought about a hot wire, but was a little hesitant. i didn't want to fix the fence (it is an interior) and have her jump it again and ruin the fence and or hurt her.

I reckon i will repair it and sting a hot wire up and see how things go.

Thanks all

Alex