Texas Longhorn Cattle: What part of Moooo don't you understand?

Texas Longhorn beef was not only what was available on the cattle drives, it is also healthier than the usual commercial beef. You can even check it out at the Texas Longhorn Cooperative website, as well as purchase Texas Longhorn beef there. Yep they will ship it to you. Their website is www.txlonghorncoop.org.

At about 30% fewer calories, saturated fat, and cholestorol than skinless chicken breast, it is a healthier choice for those who want to have their beef and still be fit. When you think about it, that's pretty impressive.

While commercial beef breeders are trying to put fat on their cattle to go to market, the longhorn person is allowing them to be their natural, lean, but still well fed, no hormones, no steroids, no antibiotic selves. Longhorn beef is a natural beef. Naturally, it's from Texas!

It seems that no two Texas Longhorns are alike. They have an array of colors and patterns, but like snowflakes, no two are identical. There is alway some variance in their appearance. There are solids, tri-colors, two-tones, line backs, brindles,blacks, reds, browns, creams, whites, speckles, splotched, splashed, and all manner of any combination. Probably why their hides are so marketable; as well as their horns, and skulls.

The beauty of a longhorn does not stop at just the cosmetic appeal. There is a grace and majesty in in their carriage, and a pride that shines through it all. I watch other cattle in their pastures, and there is a definite difference in a longhorn.

The calves start showing that pride at a very early age. It seems that by the time they are 48 hours old, they already know they are not just another bovine; they are different. They play differently, and they are VERY athletic. One of the reasons they are valued as ropers, along with the stamina to go with those athletic moves.

Before I start getting a lot of unpleasant email or hate messages, let me state a few thing that might help understand how we can take these noble creatures and convert them to dinner plate items.

Every heifer and bull calf born is born to do a job. Whether it is continuing life as a contributing- through- procreation- member of a herd, or whether it is doing what is needed to feed a family of cattle or humans, it is born to do that job. We make every effort to make that job as easy on our cattle as possible, whether it be breeding or beef, they are treated and spoiled equally.

Our greatest desire is to provide good solid seed stock for other breeders, but the fact is, they are also part of the food chain. When a calf is grown out to sufficient age, if it is not what should be used for genetic promotion, other decisions are made for its future.

This month I sent my first two of our herd for beef. The heartbreak was intense. I knew these critters, and they were very loved, and knew it. When you have as small a herd as we do, it is impossible not to know each and every animal, and their individual personalities. You get to know their quirks, likes, dislikes, and everything else about them that makes them the individuals they are.

While it makes the decision to let them go for beef very painful, the logic is that what we get for that beef will feed the rest of the herd all winter. It pays the hay bill, provides for proper veterinary care, and genetic improvements for the herd either through the purchase of other animals or artificial insemination. The money does not go for prettier plants, pants, or pipes. It goes back into the herd, so it can do more than just survive, it can thrive.

Since the breed we have is as strong and rugged as it is, it is my desire to use it to "give back" not only to my own herd, but through that herd to help support something else that I believe in, it is called Heifer International. Another charity I feel stongly in favor of is the SPCA. I am trying to find out how to help each of them through my lens.

Our cattle are raised and maintained in a natural environment, on natural hay and grass, treated humanely at all times, and loved by us. They keep company with 11 rescued cats, and 1 rescued dog.

For the sake of the herd, some give their lives that others might continue on. That is their job, and they do it with dignity,and grace.

Most of us who have Texas Longhorns are slightly challenged if we go car shopping - a longhorn does not easily fit in the back seat. They do fit however, nicely in stock trailers. Mind you, I did say stock trailers - not travel trailers, not RV, not horse trailers, boat trailers, or bike trailers. Stock Trailers. Ones with horizontal rails not verical rails.

When a longhorn is being transported, it needs to have some room to move around, and room for those horns to clear the sides of the trailer so they do not tip their horns or injure one another. It is not a good idea to pack them in like sardines. Think about how you would feel being crammed onto a fully loaded trailer with all those horns.

If one is to be going a short distance, it is one thing on the comfort side of the issue to use a small trailer. Most of those I know use a minimum of a 16 foot trailer for both stock and horses. That is what we personally prefer since we also have horses. There are also open stock trailers available. Good flooring is important, and keeping the trailer clean.

If traveling a distance or overnight, be sure to provide for hay and water, whether it is to be issued at the day's end, or while trailering on the road, they need to be able to eat and drink. In that sense, it is not much different than traveling with any other animal.

It is not uncommon to hear cattle moo. It's what they do to communicate with sound. Mooing is their voice. However, if you listen closely, they moo for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes they are hungry, but not every moo is a plea for munchies. They moo differently if they want their calf at side. Different yet if there is a predator or uninvited guest in their pasture, and different still if they are just glad to see you.

I have noticed with our herd that a cow, demanding her calf pay attention and get to mamma's side, will give out a short "muh" sound. They make this sound mostly within the first week of a calf's life. If I am in the pasture checking out the newborn calf, which I do each and every time a calf is born, the cow will lower the pitch of her "muh" to let me know that calf is hers, not mine, and I had better not make that baby cry! While the Texas Longhorn is a docile and gentle animal, the cow can also be fiercely protective of her offspring. So far, there has not been one time that I could not pick up and handle a newborn calf.

If there are cows "in season" within distance, a bull lets out an almost trumpeting moo. It is much higher pitched, and drawn out. It is almost an "Aaaah - ah - ah - ah- ah - ah! The first time I heard my bull do this, I just knew he was suffering some inexplicable pain. When I realized he had finally 'become a bull', I felt much better! It can be an alarming sound if you do not know what it means since it sounds nearly like a scream. Roughly, it translates to "Hey baby, you work out?"

When I come home, the whole herd will often make a common "moo". It is a short moo as if to say "hello" without any indication of disturbance. If I do not go to the fence and greet them all, they will keep it up until I do. Usually, once I go to the fence and say "hi" to everybody, they quietly mosey on off.

If they are hungry, it is completely different. They moo with a great loud voice, and it is more drawn out with a coarse sounding end. It is a raspier sound than any other mooing.

Calves do not moo. The sound is more like the bleat of a goat or sheep. They get their "adult" voice at around six to nine months of age. A calf is usually pretty quiet. If I hear a calf in the pasture, I check it out right away. While it has not meant anything other than baby just woke from a nap and misplaced its mother on the other side of the hay ring, it can also mean that it is in danger. They rarely make a sound, so you pay attention when they do.

If one listens closely to the voice, it is not that hard to understand any part of "Mooooooo".

Many who breed the Texas Longhorn breed of cattle have sufficient space to allow for them to breed for a specific characteristic. I have a very small space by comparison to most, so what I want in a longhorn is not something that I can play with. My herd has to stay small with the best genetics I can afford.

Some want to see extreme horns, or extreme bodies. Like my friend, Sandy Martin, I look for balance. If the horns are extreme for the animal, I see them as out of balance. Of course I want great horns, but the horns must be in balance to the animal, or the overall animal will be out of balance. The same will happen if the animal is all body and no horn. Or if the top line is too long compared to the height.

To me, the perfect longhorn is one that has a good solidly built body, good leg length, and the horns enhance the appearance of the overall animal in a cohesive image of majesty. This may sound a bit off the wall, but for me, the perfect longhorn has not yet been bred.

When it comes to horn, style is one thing, length another, and base is yet another. For length and balance of horn, the best cow in my herd is without a doubt, Cooper's Mrs Slaytor, a plain looking cream/yellow cow. While I did not like her horn style in the beginning, her horns have twisted out to a more graceful look than the original goal-post look she had. But come on, she was only 2 when we got her, so I can not fault it too much.

Her first calf was out of a well known bull named Working Man Chex. Those goal posts are no where to be seen in her heifer, Working Girl. By using a bull with a good horn base, Working Girl has developed a beautiful set of horns, nicely balanced, and nicely colored.

I have a second Working Man Chex daughter, Firefly, with incredible horns. She is a two year old heifer, black and white. She was born out of Mrs. Slaytor's half sister, Cooper's Miss Lynne. Both Lynne, and Mrs. Slaytor are two of our foundation cows.

The third foundation cow, but really #1 in my heart, is JK Dixie Rebel Princess. She is the direct daughter of Dixie Rebel, the same breeding as Dixie Hunter. The breedings were all ET's - embryo transfers, with the same parents. Dixie is now nearly 20 years old, and she relenquished the herd to Mrs. Slaytor this past spring. Seems she is stepping down a little and enjoying her life, perhaps for the first time.

I hope to keep adding modules on the different cows and their offspring, as well as one on the two bulls I currently have. One is only now a year and a half old, with beautiful base on his horns, and every hope is there for good length, body, and height. His name is Simply Red, and he is currently for sale. Our herd sire is a 3 year old bull named KCC Harry Potter.

Harry is a Dixie Rebel Princess to Red Glacier son, and he is Millenium Futurity Eligible. All of his calves will bear the Millenium Futurity Eligible symbol on their pedigree. Harry is a Parker Brown bull, very good natured, and he really does out produce himself.