The Rural Voice, 2003-12, Page 30Legendary
breed
horns in
Texas Longhorns, a
new/old breed find nd a
home on some Ontario
farms
Photos and Story by
Elise DeBruyn
Texas Longhorn cattle come in
hundreds of shapes, sizes,
colours and horn
configurations, so it's no wonder
America's oldest cattle breed is
attracting new interest in Ontario.
Gord and Carolyn Tuer of
Stratford, and Murray and Jean
Johnston of Kincardine are among
those who have fallen in love with
the cattle, once seen so often in
western movies.
The Tuers spent 32 years raising
Holsteins before they changed to
Texas Longhorns five years ago.
"We wanted something a little
different," said Gord.
They wanted to see what the
Texas Longhorn cows were like so
they found out who was raising them
and visited their farms.
At first, they considered getting
buffalo, but those required sturdier
handling facilities than those they
had on their farm. Fortunately the
Texas Longhorn cattle fit better with
what they had from the Holsteins.
The couple started with four
Longhorn cows and now they have
30 head, along with some
Simmentals. This year they had 11
calves born.
Gord said they decided on the
Longhorn breed because they are
unique.
"They have such long horns, their
beef is really lean, they are easy to
26 THE RURAL VOICE
Jean Johnston admires one of the longhorns on her Kincardine -area farm.
get along with and are excellent
calvers. They come in so many
different colours, you never know
what you are going to get," said
Gord.
"It's like Christmas around here in
the spring because you never know
what colour the calf will be," said
Gord.
A calf can be born with red and
brown colour, despite coming from a
black and white mother and light
brown father.
Not only do their colourful coats
get them noticed, but their horns are
always unique.
"Every cow has its own set of
horns and colours. They come in all
different shapes and sizes," said
Gord.
He said Texas Longhorn cattle are
not very popular with commercial
breeders because they don't gain
weight as well as other breeds. At 18
months a steer should weight about
1,200 pounds while a heavy breed
would weigh about 1,600 pounds at
14 months, Gord said.
The Tuers have also cross -breed
their Longhorn bull with a
Simmental cow.
Gord said Longhorns are really
good mothers and would kill
anything that tried to hurt them or
their offspring. He said they never go
out to the field without a pitch fork
for safety purposes.
Gord is the vice-president of the
Ontario Texas Longhorn Association,
which they have been members of for
two years.
Carolyn said the meetings are a
family event with a pot luck lunch
and an opportunity for members to
swap ideas, share pictures and a
chance to buy some cows.
The couple also belongs to The
Great Lakes Longhorn Association in
Michigan, where they "meet the
nicest people," said Carolyn.
Gord is director of the Michigan
club and Carolyn is secretary.
They will keep a bull for two
years and then trade it with another
member so the genetics of the
animals will change and inbreeding
will not occur.
Gord said prices of a Texas
Longhorn cow varies, but the
average is about $1,500 per
cow.
Carolyn said sbecause of the Mad
Cow crisis, they haven't been able to
sell anything since May, except for
four steers they sold for beef.
Gord said they are really enjoying
the animals.
"We like them a lot better than
Holsteins because there is no milking
involved," he said.
Every year they brand their cattle
with their Spring Creek farm logo.
The Johnstons are also owners of
31 Texas Longhorn cows on their