I'm with the others who don't see anything to get riled up about here. For half-longhorn cows I thought they looked pretty good. If longhorns have trouble in the winter, that could be why they are in the barn. Cattle aren't normally kept all cleaned up like horses usually are. And, if the picture of the calf was taken when it was a month old, but it's weaned now, presumably the calf is now at least three months old and probably closer to six months but they just used an older picture.
I don't know that longhorns would have a lot of trouble wintering in a cold climate, though. It can get pretty cold here, well below zero with a good wind chill, and people generally keep their cattle out in the fields year-round, and I know there are a few places where they keep longhorns that seem to do just fine.
I also see a lot of 'hippy' beef cows around that are probably part dairy. They have nice beefy calves bred to a beef bull, giving more milk than a straight beef cow would so the calves grow faster. I haven't seen too many purebred herds of cattle around here (there are a few), and beef is a major enterprise in this area, often on huge ranches. So I would have to assume that the ranchers know what they are doing, or they wouldn't be in business for very long.
I also don't see those cattle looking skinny.....but why would someone cross a longhorn with an angus anyway?
Maybe the owner bought the farm from someone in the dairy business and doesn't have the money or just doesn't even care about changing the barn.
Up here in Alberta most cows never see the inside of a barn because the herds are just too big and they calf outside even in blizzards.
I don't know how to post links to other threads here so go to the cattle forum and look up the thread from Karen in Alabam titled "need help bottle feeding" on 10/02/10, go to #30 and look at the picture of that poor cow......that's skinny!
I don't know how to post links to other threads here so go to the cattle forum and look up the thread from Karen in Alabam titled "need help bottle feeding" on 10/02/10, go to #30 and look at the picture of that poor cow......that's skinny!
Here is the link to that picture, and oh my goodness yes that cow was a skinny bag of bones, poor thing. need help bottle feeding
1. Longhorn bulls are commonly used on heifers so their first calving is easier. Longhorn cross calves are small. The calves are usually sold to feedlots at weaning, then the mother cows are bred to regular beef bulls for their second calving.
2. I think it's pretty obvious (like Suzyhomemaker said) that the stanchion use was for photographic purposes.
3. I don't know what you are seeing that makes you think that cow and calf are thin. Dirty, yes. Thin, no.
4. I used to raise registered Beefmaster cattle. My pasture is now leased out to one of my former students who raises Corriente cattle. Those are the ones used for bulldogging and calf roping. They look gangly and weird to me, but they are fine. http://www.corrientecattle.org/id8.html
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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
Last edited by Alice In TX/MO; 12/05/10 at 07:05 AM.
My pasture is now leased out to one of my former students who raises Corriente cattle. Those are the ones used for bulldogging and calf roping. They look gangly and weird to me, but they are fine. http://www.corrientecattle.org/id8.html
I was aware of the Corriente breed, but hadn't paid attention. But from the history page of that link, looks like they are descended from longhorn crosses that became a landrace breed, and now they are trying to standardize them as a real breed.
I also don't see those cattle looking skinny.....but why would someone cross a longhorn with an angus anyway?
Maybe the owner bought the farm from someone in the dairy business and doesn't have the money or just doesn't even care about changing the barn.
Up here in Alberta most cows never see the inside of a barn because the herds are just too big and they calf outside even in blizzards.
A few people I know breed a longhorn bull to first time calving heifers. The calves are smaller and easier on the heifer. One of my best friends got a longhorn bull for his heifers and he got out and got in with the cows. He was some mad when all his purebred angus cows had longhorn babies! lol!
Oh gosh. I typed before I realized Alice already explained it.
Well, I've never seen or heard of a beef in a stanchion, but I suppose someone can find a reason to do so.
How about once a year to give them a checkup/yearly shots/vet checkup. Sounds like a doable option if you don't have a squeeze chute.
Looks like alot of people drawing the conclusion that they are kept this way all the time. I don't see anything that would draw me to that conclusion. It just happened to be an easy time to take the pictures.
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If the grass looks greener it is probably over the septic tank. - troy n sarah tx
Our existance here is soley for the expoitation of CMG
Dairy cow build on a beef cow is a bad thing. That critter in the stanchion was represented as a beef cow. At no time in her life should a beef cow ever look like that. I know that dairy cattle, having a different purpose, sometimes look like this but never should a beef cow ever look like that.
The clue for their appearance is the word "long horn" in their breeding background. These particular specimens actually look fat compared to most of the long horns I have ever seen. The longhorns were a rugged breed that could survive the harsh climate and lean pickings of our southern desert country, not to be confused with the fat slick looking modern breeds we see today.
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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain
Same here. I can't see where some say that one is skinny at all. Not fat, but sure not skin and bones either.
And peeing like that would look humped up and look bad in a picture. But come on here those type of cattle never have fat hanging off them.
Agree with you and Jackie...that's far from skin and bones. I've seen some sickly looking cows in my life and that one looks fine to me.
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Dave
"Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded" (2 Chronicles 15:7)
Tinknal, I think you should just call them or email them and offer what you have. You could suggest that you realize that they may be having financial problems and can't afford to feed them much longer and are willing to take them off their hands. They may have lost their home and need to move so have to get rid of the lot also. If you're SUPPOSED to have them, you will. Take a chance.
You have better eyes than me if you can see a starving cow in that picture. The photo is very poor, but I am not seeing rib. Go on and offer them a low-ball price. You'll just make them mad.
I don't care about the breeding if the price is right. I can put some feed in their bellies and breed the ugly and stupid out of them if the price is right. Nothing a good angus bull and a couple of years can't fix.
Take a chance. 
