Butchering a flighty steer

[kenojoe]

I am getting ready to have a steer butchered and he is still a little on the flighty side. My question is, how long does it take for the adrenalin to work its way out of the meat after the "last ride"? The man that I want to process the steer may be willing to come to the farm and shoot him on the spot. He is set up to halve the steer on site and take it back to his place to finish up and hang him. If he is unable to do it on the farm I am concerned that this nut job steer won't be fit to eat after a ride. What are your experiences with having a less than tame beef slaughtered and the side effects of adrenalin in the meat? Thanks for any advice.

 

[deenranch]

Mine are usually too fat to do a whole lot of anything.... :D :D :D

 

[tsmaxx47]

we had one like that. we're eating him now. i've always thought the effects of adrenaline were maybe a little bit blown out of proportion; anyway, we're eating that psycho sob. the premium cuts were still better than store bought and the hamburger - well what can you say about hamburger? I take it you're going to eat the steer anyway so if the kill fee is the same and you aren't left with a big mess, have the guy come over to your place and pick him up. one word of caution, make sure he's (the steer) ready when the guy arrives to dispatch him. sometimes the act of containment is the most traumatic part of the whole deal!

 

[jilleroo]

The toughest killer (to try and eat) we've ever had was a young fat grey brahman cow shot while standing in the yard chewing her
cud. Even the slow cooker couldnt do anything with it......The mince (hamburger) was like ground up car tyres. We gave it all away to someone who declared they'd use it somehow, and went and shot something else. Usually mad beasts which have been pursued through the scrub before being shot are great eating. Once we butchered an 11 year old cow who broke her leg and the meat was very tender.

 

[dun]

Have the guy come out and wack him on the farm, well worht the extra cost with a spooky animal

 

[dieselbeef]

the only way we do it

 

[BRYANT]

Some beef are better than others no matter what you do. That being said one that is all stired up or has been hot shoted a bunch can have problems. A lot of the time they will not bleed out right and have blood shot in the meat.Also we use to save alot of bull blood for fish bait and a bull that was stired up ,flighty, alot of the time his blood would not gel up.so if it can do this I could see how it could effect the meat. We always thought it had something to do with how hot they got befory you killed them one that is flighty can get pretty hot ????? for the record I have killed several thousand head of beef and this is what I have seen.

The toughest killer (to try and eat) we've ever had was a young fat grey brahman cow shot while standing in the yard chewing her

Brahman make fine beef if they are about a 1/4 Brahman but full bloods I don't think so. I can walk through a cooler with 500 head hanging in it and them all skinned and pick out all the full blood brahman. Cross them and they are great just not pure.

 

[kenojoe]

This steer is a Waygu/limosin cross that I have fed well since I got him and can't wait to have him to dinner. I am willing to pay what it cost to have him shot on the farm, if I can get it done that way. If I can't I'm still wondering how is the meat affected by the ride, and how long does it take for the adrenalin to work its way out? Does it take 1 hour or 10? I put alot of effort into raising this nut up for a good beef and want to do the best that I can. I have raised a fair number of cattle over the years but this is the first one I decided to keep for the freezer. Sorry to ask dumb questions, but I can't seem to get an informed answer from my neighbors. Thanks Joe

 

[dieselbeef]

get im to freec hoice feed and when his head is in the trough.....BANG!....thats the way we do it..hes sure happy when he hits the ground at my place..calm and full..

 

[3waycross]

This steer is a Waygu/limosin cross that I have fed well since I got him and can't wait to have him to dinner. I am willing to pay what it cost to have him shot on the farm, if I can get it done that way. If I can't I'm still wondering how is the meat affected by the ride, and how long does it take for the adrenalin to work its way out? Does it take 1 hour or 10? I put alot of effort into raising this nut up for a good beef and want to do the best that I can. I have raised a fair number of cattle over the years but this is the first one I decided to keep for the freezer. Sorry to ask dumb questions, but I can't seem to get an informed answer from my neighbors. Thanks Joe

I could be wayy off base but I don't think it is adrenilan you need to worry about. I am pretty sure that what you end up with in the meat is lactic acid from the excitement and the stress. I have eaten a lot of game that was scared and chased or run for miles before they were shot and truthfully is varies from one to the next. I have seen an Elk wounded and tracked for a couple of miles that ate like veal and another one(a dry cow) that stood up in her bed pe'ed and was shot dead as a doornail in her bed, that ate like crap.
Obviously it makes sense to create as little adreniian as possible but if you are really concerned about the aftereffects and you do decide to haul it to town it could take days to recover if at all. Cuz after the lactic acid wears off there is still the stress of relocation.

Shoot him at home and get to eatin!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dun]

This steer is a Waygu/limosin cross that I have fed well since I got him and can't wait to have him to dinner. I am willing to pay what it cost to have him shot on the farm, if I can get it done that way. If I can't I'm still wondering how is the meat affected by the ride, and how long does it take for the adrenalin to work its way out? Does it take 1 hour or 10? I put alot of effort into raising this nut up for a good beef and want to do the best that I can. I have raised a fair number of cattle over the years but this is the first one I decided to keep for the freezer. Sorry to ask dumb questions, but I can't seem to get an informed answer from my neighbors. Thanks Joe

The reason you can;t get a solid anser is that there is NO solid answer. Like anything else, some will react differently. Some will calm down fairly quickly and settle in some will be wild as long as they're in a new environment.
Just having a stranger show up may stir it up enough that it has a bit of a flavor/tenderness issue. But the best bet is to wack him at home while he's calm. Does make a mess sometimes in the feed bunk and it can be tricky getting them out of it depending on how the fall, but eating somehting is the best time.

 

[dieselbeef]

werks fer me

 

[jilleroo]

Bryant, pure brahman has also been some of the most tender beef we've had! Not that we kill a lot of them - we are mainly a charolais/charbray operation, have always butchered our own beef, and it's always a lottery what it will be like, no matter what the breed. I do agree with you though the brahman-infused is more likely to be tender than the pure brahman. That grey pure cow we killed was totally inedible! The steaks would curl up when you cooked them. I might add too that she actually had very little meat on her - she was all fat, like brahmans can sometimes be.

 

[BRYANT]

pure brahman has also been some of the most tender beef we've had! Not that we kill a lot of them

There can be exceptions to any breed. But there is some breeds that are not beef breeds,full blood Brahman being one of them, I could list a bunch more breeds but I wont because if I did there would be someone post how each breed was the best beef they ever ate. I have probably kill more in one day than most people that raise cattle have killed in a life time so I think I know what the packer likes. tender is just one thing to look at and not the most important we had something we did to help with that part of it. But will they grade, well most on my list will not grade very often. USDA prime is not as easy to get as you may think.
before people start saying I just don't like Brahman let me say I have some full bloods and don't need any cow on my place with out at least 1/4 Brahman

 

[jilleroo]

Bryant, I for one would love to hear what you consider the best beef breeds as you seem to have the experience to back it up.
We have charolais because we basically only get paid for weight at present. We try to breed a nice soft beast that will do well in the feedlot but have no idea what the meat will be like. Do you consider angus to be one of the better breeds, as far as eating is concerned? We get no resistance to our charolais but the buyers do love our angus x char cattle a lot. We're not "precious" about what breed of cattle we have - they're all good when they're fat and prices are up!

 

[pdfangus]

my biggest concern is can the guy get the kill done on the farm without strirring up the steer.

The dressing out and transport to the cooler are not real big issues and I have had several done on the farm.

I once had a nutty steer that jumped a six foot fence and tore it all to the ground. he would not only run....he would fight you and the rascal weighted about 1500 lb. two weeks later i had arranged things and shot him at 150 yards with a 270 and nailed him right in the middle of the forehead and he dropped like a rock.

When I drove the tractor with the loader into the field he rose from lying down. I immediately stopped before he took off and shut off the tractor. he looked at me and stretched while he decided to run or fight....and I popped him right from the tractor seat. Hauled freight over there and cut his throat and hung him up with the loader.

 

[dieselbeef]

forehead shot mustve been off by ...this much...i aint never had one git up

 

[BRYANT]

Bryant, I for one would love to hear what you consider the best beef breeds as you seem to have the experience to back it up.

Cross between angus x charolais or herford x charolais
if you live where it is hot weather then no more than 1/4 brahman in the feeders
a cow that is 1/4 to 1/2 brahman will take the heat and they are good calf raisers
other crosses is good I just think you take the strong points of two breeds to make a better feeder . I would never breed a longhorn to a brahman and think I could raise a feeder that would grade and be a good beef .If I had acow that was that cross I would breed her back to a Char. or Angus but still would probably not have a feeded that would grade

 

[dieselbeef]

back on topic i was thinkin..if this steer is so flighty how can it be easier to load it and haul it then to just drop it in the feeder??

 

[pdfangus]

forehead shot mustve been off by ...this much...i aint never had one git up

no he got up before I pulled the tractor up to the gate. I shut the tractor off and laid him back down.