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About Texas Longhorns |
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The Texas Longhorn has a long and amazing history. They were very rare and almost became extinct in the early 1920's. However in 1927, money was made available to gather a herd together to preserve the breed. This herd was held on Wichita Wildlife Refuge and became known as the WR herd. Luckily for us, six other herds were kept by people of great vision, and the Texas Longhorn, a link to the past, was saved from extinction.
The Texas Longhorn has been described as a "genetic goldmine”. Longhorns were groomed by nature for hundreds of years to produce a unique and superior genetic package that, aside from character and beauty, includes a number of traits invaluable for commecial purposes:
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Texas Longhorns and calving ease go hand in hand. No other breed can compete with the Texas Longhorn‘s ability to almost guarantee a live calf on the ground and just as important reduced calving stress on the first calf heifer. Other breeds are happy with an 80-85% calving percentage, Longhorn breeders look for a 99-100% calving percentage. Ten of the twenty largest ranches in the United States have successfully used Texas Longhorn bulls. The Texas Longhorn bull’s reputation for the easy and uncomplicated birth of a vigorous calf is undisputed. The U.S. Meat Animal Research Centre in Nebraska USA evaluated 1,905 births comparing 11 breeds. The Texas Longhorn proved superior with the highest unassisted birth rate of all breeds (99.7%) and the lowest birth weight (32 kgs.). These old, nature-fixed, time tested qualities are making extra profits for cattlemen through reduced labour and more live, saleable calves. These low stress birth traits profit owners when the mother cow quickly re-breeds after an easy birth. Dairy industry heifers bred to a Texas Longhorn Bull deliver a small calf. With a no stress birth they are in better condition and this allows them to produce more milk. | |
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High Fertility & Mothering ability
Longhorn bulls can produce from an early age, so you don't need to wait to buy a 2 year old bull. Longhorns start producing from 12-13 months of age (and earlier). Heifers can be joined to calve at just over 2 years of age, thus being productive from an early age. This coupled with their ease of calving means you are producing live offspring earlier in your operation.
Hardiness / Browse Utilisation / Adaptability & Endurance
Texas Longhorn Cattle are extremely hardy and have the ability to live and thrive in all areas, from semi arid regions to snow covered paddocks. With their endurance and ability to walk distances they utilise the vegetation available and where other cattle survive the longhorns thrive. |
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Crossing other breeds with Longhorns produce excellent hybrid vigour in the offspring (see left). These offspring perform well in feedlot and grass fed environments. Try it for yourself.
Lean Beef
The Texas Longhorn’s lack of fat, once a cause of near extinction, is now recognized as one of the breed’s strong qualities. Health conscious modern nutritionists consistently condemn the heavy fat content of generic beef and wholeheartedly support the use of less fat, lower cholesterol meats like the Texas Longhorn.
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Texas Longhorn cattle have a natural resistance to diseases compared to other cattle. Using less chemicals and thus reducing your ongoing costs of running your cattle herd.
Longevity
Longhorns are famous for their long life span. They live well into their teens and many in America have been known to live past 20 years of age. They are productive all the way through these years. Producing calves on a year in year out basis. Gone are the days when commercial cattle breeders have to think about culling their breeders at 6-7 years of age. In commercial terms, this longer productive life means that cattle breeders can retain fewer heifers to maintain herd size, allowing him to market more calves annually. Cross breeding with longhorns can effectively increase the productive life span by several years of the conventional beef breeds.
Incredible colour and horn!
What other breed of cattle can boast the range of colours the Texas Longhorn can produce. From solid blacks, brown or white to roam dappled colours, spots, patched and flecked. Calving time is like a big lucky-dip...you never know what you're going to get! There are as many different colours and patterns as there are longhorns!
And the horns speak for themselves. Horn is an essential requirement for rodeo time-event stock: cowboys & cowgirls can't get enough longhorns. There's also a small but very keen market for longhorn hides and horns, another plus for longhorn breeders. |
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About Texas Longhorns
