Featherstone Ranch
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Featherstone Ranch was purchased in 1995 from an
ostrich farmer. We were raising emus at the time to support our emu oil
product business which is operated by our son, Jason. In 2003, we
discovered that we could buy emu fat much cheaper than breeding and
raising the emu. We decided to add 2 longhorn steers to the ranch since
both of us were native Texans and had attended school at The University
of Texas. We loved looking at the UT mascot over the years and wanted
longhorns at Featherstone.
What started as an idea to own two steers has
blossomed, almost magically, into a herd of over 100 bulls, cows, and
calves. We still are not sure exactly how that happened.
Research into Texas Longhorns clearly indicated
that two very sound bulls, Phenomenon and Emperor, should be part of our
herd. However, additional studies put us in awe of a bull, who while
only breeding for a relatively short duration and on a limited cow base,
had an impact into the longhorn herds that was undeniable. That bull is
named Gunman.
For several years, we started acquiring some Gunman
progeny. One of our first two purchases were daughters of the Gunman son
JR Seman. Those two cows, Miss Texas Valentine (Val) and Bar L Miss
Texas Roxy, are still with us.
In 2005, Ron Jones allowed us to purchase two very
important animals from his herd; JR Twini 1 and JR Ramrod. We have a
young herdsire, FR Heartman, who is a product of that union. He looks
very much like GF G-man and has the disposition of both his sire and
dam.
Currently, we own 7 Gunman daughters outright, own
50% of another Gunman daughter, and have over a dozen of Gunman
granddaughters and great-granddaughters. Not only do we own JR Twini 1,
we now have her twin, JR Twini 2, their dam, JR Sequel, and their
granddam, JR Sequential.
Our ranch program is based on becoming a source of
sound Gunman genetics as well as Gunman genetics blended with
Phenomenon, Emperor, and Shadow. We have managed to collect a semen
supply of those 3 bulls plus others such as JR Grand Slam, JP Grand
Marshall, PPF Gun Maker, Riverforks Hired Gun, and a large supply of JR
Phenoman.