Watusi

I'm thinking about getting a Watusi for eating, but don't have much experience with them, so I have a few questions for those who have had them. 1) If I want to keep one for awhile, what type of fence do I need? High or low? Is there anything special needed for the fence (to strengthen it) due to the size of the animal, to make sure it doesn't break out? 2) What cuts of meat would you recommend doing? With burger, do you need to add anything to it, such as beef or fat? 3) What percentage of boned out meat would you expect to get? Thanks in advance.

I have no idea about the meat but as far as fencing goes there are some Watusi and Watusi/Longhorn crosses a few miles west of me and they are just in a standard 5 strand barbed wire fence.

I know exactly where Mike is talking about and have passed it hundreds of times and that fence is fine. Unfortunately I cannot speak on the meat aspect either. Good luck

The only herd I can recall was kept in a standard barbed wire fence

They prob had 20 something

All I got

Watusi are a breed of cattle so I would think you could feed them out just like any other cattle and shouldn't have to add any fat,but I don't have any experience with it.

As far as keeping them in fences, a man down the road from me had a few and they would use their horns to spread the barbed wire and then walk through. He put up a new fence using field fence with barbed wire at the top and that seemed to solve the problem with them getting out.

you’re probably looking at high 30% range on yield, say 400-450lbs on a 1200lb live weight.

If you're putting them in smaller pastures I'd personally go with field fencing or a stout newer fence with 5 strand. Guy down the road had some with a dilapidated 5 strand fence and they figured out how to stretch the fence and get out (which honestly I think any breed of cattle would have done). He went back with no climb with a top strand of barbed wire and they haven't been out since.

I'm no expert on them, but they're supposed to be much leaner than most of the commercial beef breeds. I'd definitely add some fat to my burgers unless you like exceptionally lean meat.

As far as the breed goes I hear they're pretty easy keepers - do very well in the heat, low birth weights, etc. They're a novelty breed - so they're stupid expensive. With the push for "healthier" meat and their overall heartiness I wouldn't be surprised to see them gain some commercial interest in the next few years.

Place south of Big Spring Has american bison (30 plus head ) behind a standard 5 strand wire fence. Part of the fence is very old

Those are beautiful cows.

They are hearty and yearlings have a good roping stock value if you caught the right buyers.

They don’t gain well compared to European or American cross breeds

But if they are cheap enough doesn’t matter

Their horns break off really bad for roping stock value. Depending on how wild they are when you buy them dictates what type of fence you will need. Many can keep them behind a low fence of net wire or barbwire. The only one I have eaten was a steer that was killed after it tried to jump a cattle guard and broke a leg when it hung up in the pipes. The steaks were tough as heck no matter how they were cooked. The hamburger meat good and good flavor. I would say it is more comparable to Longhorn as far as quality and taste. This one was fed deer protein as a supplement to keep the herd gentled down. They can be very hard to pen and work like most other cattle breeds. They tend to want to "clump" together in a circle with calves in the middle and adults surrounding them for protection. They will fight a cowboy on a horse when trying to pen them. Seen this down in La Salle county when they tried to pen a herd of about 25 hd into a pipe set of pens. It was more than a rodeo to say the least. Ending working cattle with a dart gun after that. Pens need to be built to handle the wider horns like you would for longhorns. If they come off of a larger ranch they can be wilder. They gentle to a truck/feed but can still be wild when you are on foot around them. If they are raised around or with other gentle cattle breeds they will gentle down. Might run with a gentle steer/cow for companionship and gentling down to work/handle.

The watusi we have on our lease are as calm as any other cattle but they have been with longhorns for years

I occasionally hunt a ranch that has a Watusi herd. I have had them bow up at the truck if I catch them on the road. If I am on foot and see them, I take a wide route around them. They don’t look to have much fat on them, so I would guess they might be a bit tougher than standard cattle. This is a high fence operation, so no idea about fences.

Thanks everyone!

Cool name. Had no idea it was a cow.

Never ripped a horn off and I’ve thrown a few lopes


Half those ranches in STX gather now with helo’s, doesn’t bode well for tame cattle.

But as you said not my first or even tenth breed I’d pick to own

I've heard good things about them as far as table fare.

It makes sense that they are ornery and agressive, as they've been bred for hundreds of years in areas where they are preyed upon by lions, leopards and hyenas and grazed on open range, they've probably developed some defensive instincts. I see hunts advertised for them; not judging, but I have MANY animals on the bucket list that would beat out shooting a steer, even one with impressive horns. Although I hear that some of the wild cattle hunts in Hawaii and Australia can be INTENSE and dangerous.