Pineywoods Cattle
At a Livestock Conservancy board meeting we visited the Kerr Center in Oklahoma, that was when Callene fell in love with the Pineywoods cattle. She badgered Eric until they finally purchased their first polled Pineywoods, a bull that was the only living bull of that bloodline, Palmer-Dunn. We purchased 7 heifers that were horned and from the Conway Strain along with the bull in 2008. We still have 5 of the original cows. Pineywoods were on the critical list when we first got into the Pineywoods but have now moved up the threatened.
The Pineywoods, Texas Longhorn, and Florida Cracker cattle are all descended from the Spanish Cattle brought over in the 1500s. There are multiple strains, each with a unique trait so you can tell them apart from the others pretty easily.
Pineywoods are small in size, alert in appearance, and have a nice color variation. They are great, low maintenance cows. These cows are great for calving ease, calves can be 40 pounds or even less. They very quickly get up and get going, good luck catching them once they’re on their feet! In the 10 years of calving out Pineywoods, we have only had to assist with one birth and that was because its head was turned back. We thought the cow was done for after that but we gave her a year of rest and she calved again.