Butcher ready?

[GANGGREEN]

Thought I'd post pictures of two animals that will be going to the butcher this week or next. The last time I had animals butchered, I posted pics and got beat up a little bit on the board. :lol: Thought I'd post the pictures of these guys and see how I did.

The first pic is a Limo cross steer, about 17 or 18 months old. I don't keep them on grain constantly but he seems to have filled out pretty well, at least to my untrained eye. How did I do?

The second guy is a Highland bull that never really sized up. He was small when he as a weanling and he's still small statured. He's also 17-18 months old. He certainly isn't fat but he seems rather stout. Keep in mind that Highland steers/bulls typically don't see the same kind of gains that many beef breeds do. The efficiency hasn't been great on our other Highland animals but the beef has always been good.

 

[novaman]

I know nothing about Highlands so I will no comments on him. However, that black dude looks pretty rough judging by the picture. Its tough to see by the pic but he looks very small for being 18 months old. I'll quit there and see what others think.

 

[KNERSIE]

For my taste both needs to be fatter

 

[farmwriter]

I don't keep them on grain constantly...

If they are nearing the time we take them to be processed, they are getting grain twice a day. Based on your photos, it doesn't look like they have much grass, which some people prefer for finishing feeders, and that's fine, but they need more grain and hay to compensate for that.
I too know nothing about Highlands, but your black fellow has a little bit of a stunted look to him. :oops: Maybe it's just the photo. No offense intended.

 

[GANGGREEN]

No offense taken. To answer some questions, they're on grass all spring, summer and fall. These two were just moved into the pasture that they're presently in a day or two ago and the pasture that they came from still has plenty of lush green grass (the rest of my herd had taken care of most of the grass in this pasture and they just got moved into the pasture that these two came from). In the meantime I've given them extra grain and free choice hay, which they haven't taken much advantage of.

I don't know anything about limos but when I bought this one, he was with another "limo cross steer". I have no idea what the cross was. I do know that this one was/is a good bit shorter/smaller than the other one but I believe that this one is a bit fatter than the other one was when he was butchered. The other one was tasty but not marbled very well at all and not overly tender, I'm hopeful that this one will be a bit better.