About Us

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Vaquillas is a BQA certified commercial cow/calf producer raising beef cattle outside of Laredo, Texas. Our herd consists primarily of Beefmaster and Angus cross cows. Herd sires are Casey Beefmaster Bulls, and Halfmann Red Angus. 

The cows are at home on a sprawling 70,000 acres of owned and leased land. The acreage is well fenced into smaller individual pastures, and with the help of electric fencing, our cattle are grazed through these pastures rotationally throughout the year.

This grazing style protects our land from over grazing and keeps the nutrients and vibrance of our grasses to their maximum. As the herd is rotated throughout the ranch, the soil and grasses in unoccupied pasture is able to rest. During which time it can grow fresh, tender, and nutritious leaf.

Our cattle are also supplied, according to their needs, with mineral and protein to help ensure their overall health throughout the growing season. This is especially needed when grazing stockpiled grass as natural nutrients diminish when the leaves lignify.

Target calving season is from January 16 thru April and will typically yield about an 86% weaned calf crop.

Heifers:

Our heifer herd is comprised of only the top 10-20% of the heifer calves each year.

These are selected for disposition, fertility, and overall performance on the grasses. No additional feed is given to the livestock except for the purpose of honing disposition. Each year at weaning, and again once the heifers have been chosen from the herd, they are brought into the pens and gentled to human interaction until the majority will eat range cubes from a hand and all are at ease with people. This gentling proves very beneficial early in the heifer's life as they are more at ease around people and in pens, hereby reducing the standard shrinkage that comes from stress. The heifers are run in their own herd and are bred to Halfmann Angus bulls, which average only 69lb birth weight. The Heifers will be bred in April and start calving in January. The heifers are pregnancy tested with ultrasound.

Vaccines: Heifers are vaccinated for Brucellosis. All of the calves will also receive correct doses and any necessary boosters of Titanium, 7 Way, and Vista Once modified live.

The ranch sells livestock thru Superior Livestock and private treaty.

See livestock currently for sale.

William (Ranch Manager) is a representative for Superior Livestock and will travel throughout south Texas to rep. other rancher's cattle as well.

Improving the value and production of the land we steward is important to us! When cattle alone cannot take on the influx of South Texas' brush encroachment, we turn to equipment for help. Each year the ranch improves its owned land, as well as the leased land that it operates on. Everything from mowing fence lines and roads to prevent fire risk, to root plowing strips of land in a sea of mesquite. Our goal is to provide fresh grass growth and quality pastureland to feed the livestock while maintaining the balance neccesary for our thriving wildlife population, and keep them comfortable in their native brushes.

We will contract out our equipment and operators only locally when neighbors are in need. 

All of our leases are filled!

Vaquillas leases year-round camps for white tail hunting. 

Water and electricity are available at the camp sites as well as RV hookups.

All hunting on the ranch is managed under MLDP. 

Vaquillas partners with Magnum Guide Services to provide this client focused opportunity. For a limited time each year guests can hunt Hogs, javelina, bobcats, and coyotes. All in abundance!
 

Vaquillas is proud to host the Texas Christian University Ranch Management Class annually for a ranch tour and cattle working demonstration. TCU students will receive a full ranch tour, seeing the land improvements, infrastructure improvements, and cattle herds. The tour will end at the ranch headquarters where our crew will run thru a cattle demo. The class will be shown how ultrasound is used to pregnancy test the ranches cows, how a dipping vat is incorporated to control the influx of Cattle Fever Ticks and hold the line of encroaching ticks at the Mexican border. A few calves will also be run thru the hydraulic squeeze chute and worked. The class will have the chance to place a brand, insert an ear tag, earmark, or dehorn the calves. The students can also learn how steers are castrated and are given opportunity to ask any further questions they may have.