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Texas Longhorns FAQ

  • Do the girls have horns?
    Yes, both male and female longhorns have horns. As a matter of fact, female longhorns will sometimes have much nicer and wider horns (more tip-to-tip). Males will often have a much larger circumference at the horn base, but, due to testosterone, they often tear up the tips and grind down their horns just being bulls.
  • How big do their horns get?
    Some of the largest horns in the industry easily reach 110" Tip-to-Tip (yes, that's close to ten feet wide!). While there are two predominant methods of measuring horn length, we prefer the simple and most common method of Tip-to-Tip (shown below). The other predominant method is total horn length, where the tape measure is run along the entire length and curvature of the horns. It's also common to measure the circumference of the horns at the base.
  • How fast do their horns grow?
    Horns are already in the process of growing when the calves are born. You can spot the little "nubs" during their first few weeks. While all longhorns are different, a few general rules of thumb are: - Early on, horns can grow as fast as two inches per month. - The most rapid growth happens up to about 4 years of age; after this, the growth rate starts to slow to roughly 1 inch a year. - 90-95% of their horn growth occurs by 4 years of age - By the time longhorns are 2 years old, you can double their horn length to estimate their horn length at 4 years old. This is often useful in predicting whether or not that particular longhorn will have "show-worthy" horns.
  • How long do longhorns live?
    Longhorns can live into their early twenties and keep producing until their late teens. However, once they stop producing, it's about time for them to move on.
  • How many calves can a longhorn cow produce?
    Female Texas Longhorns come into maturity and are ready to breed between 16 and 24 months of age. From there, it's 283 days (~9 months) of gestation until birth. Cows typically calve one calf at a time (it's a rare and a potentially dangerous condition to have twins). In nature, a bull can re-service within a month or so and start the process over which would provide another calf within 10 months. We prefer to give our mamas some time off and shoot for 1 calf per year until their early teens. So, it's not uncommon for a single, strong cow to produce 12-16 calves in her lifetime. All that said, due to modern medicine and science, the number of offspring produced by a single cow can be much higher if you take into account embryo transfers. This is much more time consuming and costly compared to the old-fashioned way, but it's definitely a good tool when trying to capture and promote specific genes.
  • I thought they lived in the south. How do they do handle the cold?
    Great! Texas Longhorns are some of the most well-conditioned cows for almost any weather the United States can throw at them. They were some of the first cows brought to America and were the battle tested breed of the North American cattle drives. They are non-picky eaters (some might call that a well balanced diet), disease resistant, all-climate tolerable, and easy calving. On top of all of that, they're great to look at and be around (if I do say so myself).
  • Calf
    Male or Female under the age of one
  • Heifer
    Virgin female
  • Cow
    Female who has calved at least one calf
  • Bull
    Male who still has all of his reproductive parts
  • Steer
    Castrated male
  • Yearling
    Male or Female between the ages of 1 and 2
  • A.I.
    Artificial insemination: doing a bull's job. Allows a farmer or rancher to bring in traits/genes from other herds (in a effort to enhance their own).
  • Why have I never heard about Longhorn Beef before?
    Simple...Marketing. There's been a lot of money and effort put in over the years to market other specific beef products. The folks with the most money, cows, and resources can do a lot to market their products as the best. When other beef breeds were brought to the United Sates from Europe, they had a slight size advantage over the Texas Longhorn (roughly 25%), which also equates to an additional 25% more return on the product. Additionally, when it comes to simple beef production, raising Texas Longhorns comes with some unique challenges. Due to the horns alone, we require special equipment to work, feed, care, and transport them safely. But we're willy to trade the extra complexity for the beauty of the breed and the quality of the beef!
  • If the meat is so lean, is it tough?
    Well, it can be; it all depends on how you cook it and what you plan to do with it. Just like every tool has a job, there is not one meat that will do it all (we ourselves enjoy the occasional Wagyu steak as a delicacy). Texas Longhorn beef is great protein for those everyday lean meals. It's in a league of its own when it comes to texture and taste. When our beef sales are available, we will also release a cooking guide with some great meal ideas!

Heart Healthy Beef

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Did you know...

  • The typical beef you buy at the store has changed hands 7 times before making it to your table!

  • Ground beef from the store is typically ground with crushed ice to give it the fluffy pink appearance.  It's a marketing strategy to convince buyers there's more in the package and make it look more appealing. (Note picture on the bottom right).

  • The notion that Angus beef is the best you can get is nothing more than a successful marketing campaign.  Angus is simply a breed of cow; how an animal has been bred, raised, fed, and cared for is ultimately what determines the final quality of the product.

  • USDA grading of beef is primarily done based on marbling...so, the more fat you eat the better the meat (according the the USDA chart on the left)

  • Beef that is 100% grass fed has a slightly different taste (sometimes more 'gamey').  Nothing wrong with it; it's just not something most consumers are used to, as most store-bought beef is grain fed and grain finished. 

Note color differences

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