Longhorn bull for breeding then butcher?

Apryl in ND · #1 03/24/10, 09:35 AM

What would the meat from a two year old longhorn bull taste like?? Would he need to be finished on grain and for how long? Would the meat be good for anything besides burger?

I have a simmental/red angus cow due to calve in May and no way to get her bred. I traded my two horses for this cow thinking it'd be better to have something that could make beef. I wasn't thinking about how I would get her bred again. There aren't any AI technicians around here. My neighbors do have a hundred or so head of cattle, but I'm not really sure how I could turn mine out with theirs and get her separated and back home again. Longhorns sell for cheap around here and I was thinking that I could buy a two year old bull and use him for breeding her then butcher him this fall. So, good idea or bad idea?? I'm pretty new to cattle so any advice is much appreciated.

ksfarmer · #2 03/24/10, 09:50 AM

In my opinion you are downgrading if you breed your cow to a longhorn. You will get a calf that is nowhere near the quality you would have if you find a way to get her bred to a better beef bull. A simm-red angus cow will give you a nice calf if bred right. Check with the neighbor to see if something could be worked out. He might have a bull you could use for a small fee, you might even get him to deliver. Also, check with your local vet, surely someone in the area does AI.

As far as butchering the longhorn bull, you can do that, but he would need a lot of feed to make any good steaks, and still not compare to angus or other beef breeds. Again, that is just my opinion. But, there is a reason longhorns sell cheap!!

Allen W · #3 03/24/10, 02:45 PM

If you share a fence your neighbors bull will breed your cow. Check with your neighbor and see if you can work something out before the fences get tore up. You might have a neighbor that does his own AI work or check with a local vet. You could always buy a yearling bull or a thin bull at the sale barn and take him back when your cow is bred.

Gregg Alexander · #4 03/24/10, 07:44 PM

Meat from Longhorn cattle is just like any other breed. Steaks, hamburger, roast ect

wr · #5 03/24/10, 08:45 PM

I'm going to have to disagree with ksfarmer, longhorn meat is excellent - or at least that's what my repeat customers tell me. Certainly the cuts are smaller and leaner but cooks nice, has terrific flavour and texture.

The flaws I see in your plan would be that you'd be better with a yearling than a 2 year old bull becuase he'd be easier for you to handle but with one cow, you're likely going to have some problems. Bored longhorns can be wandering longhorns so you'd need outstanding fences and even then, you're not going to win too many friends if your bull is found servicing your neighbours cows.

In all reality, they have to be weaning and processing so they have some way to sort and separate so they would be able to cut a single cow out at that time if you can make arrangements with them.

Lannie · #6 03/30/10, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksfarmer

Also, check with your local vet, surely someone in the area does AI.

I think the Dakotas are a bit "different" than a lot of other places. I have the same problem here. A lot of the ranchers DO it, but they won't do one single cow. I suppose if I took my cow over there and put her in with theirs, they would, but what one (close) neighbor asked me to do instead was bring my cow over and put her in a corral with one of his bulls. He said I'd have a better chance with natural cover anyway, and it worked well for me, however, the last time I did this, she didn't "take" and by the time she had her next heat it was too late to try to breed her again the following month. I want NO winter calvings here, it's just too rough. So she's still open. And now that her calf is weaned, I have no one to send with her to keep her milked while she's visiting a bull. I'm still trying to figure out the solution for this particular problem...

Anyway, you'd think with all the cattle in the area, there wouldn't be a problem, but there actually is. And the acreage we're talking about is inconceivable. If I turned my cow in with the neighbor's herd, I might never see her again! LOL! Yes, they wean and move the cattle from summer to winter pasture, but that would be only every six months. In the meantime, my cow would be GONE!

~Lannie

ErinP · #7 03/30/10, 03:33 PM

Any good cattleman is able to cut a single cow/pair/bull out of a herd. Even on a two or three section pasture. If we can do it, so can anyone else. (though they might complain.

)

So far as butchering a LH bull... All I can think is that the English-bred bulls are tough (Herefords, Angus, etc.) I can only imagine what a LH would be like! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad where he's young and hasn't had much time for muscling up, but I can't help but think he'd make excellent hamburger.

Apryl in ND · #8 03/30/10, 03:46 PM

Lannie - I know what you mean! Even the vets around here don't do AI. They suggested that I bring my cow 100 miles to the closest vet that does it. YA RIGHT!

What if she didn't take?

I'm still tossing around the idea of a young longhorn since I need beef anyways. Another neighbor has a smaller herd (30 head?) of black angus. Maybe he'd just let me turn her out with his herd until weaning? How much would I need to pay him to keep my cow all summer??

Lannie · #9 04/01/10, 01:38 PM

Apryl, I probably shouldn't say this, but you can offer him whatever you want. It's doubtful he'll take anything, though. The Angus rancher I take my cow to wouldn't take a cent from me the first time, then when I took my other cow, I BEGGED him to at least take $25.00, which he reluctantly agreed to. It was during the winter, and he was feeding her hay, so I wanted to give him SOMETHING for that. I then gave him another $25.00 and a package of homemade sausage when I took the older cow back over there in December. That breeding didn't take, and I told him, so he said bring her back later, but I'm just going to leave him with the $25.00 because he never charged me the first time. I don't want to leave her anyway, because I have no way to milk her while she's gone.

I haven't come across anyone here (and I'm sure it's the same in ND) who would ever take money for doing something that THEY think is no big deal. So there's an extra cow in the pasture? So what? Unless they had to feed her separately or something... If they're just all out on pasture, chances are there'll be no charge. Offer, to be nice, but don't keep insisting. I've found that some of them think this is insulting (like maybe you're implying they NEED the money or something, I dunno...). I have one neighbor that has bent over backwards for us since the day we got here, and won't take a penny in return. He's brought his big tractor over here and dug us out of the snow, he's helped us put up fences, he's helped us clear the garden space, and all manner of other things, and I FINALLY just a month ago (after another snow-clearing episode) got him to accept some eggs. Go figure.

~Lannie