Buying on the hoof

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AllDodge

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Been a while since last here but your last words have been rolling around in my head.

Not going to raise for consumption right now, figure I would try to buy on the hoof and have it processed. Remember from last post that Angus has the name, but Wagyu and Jersey is better. Or at least that is how I took it

https://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=117529

Have looked on CL at Jersey Heifer but some of these sure look skinny. They are probably old and should pass, but don't know
https://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/d/iron-city-jersey-heifer/7106187310.html

And my guess is don't want an 8 year old one
Then there was the Wagyu which showed some beef and its a 1/3 fat by the looks
https://bgky.craigslist.org/grd/d/elk-horn-pastured-wagyu-cross-beef/7101185440.html
 
Jersey has good fat and marbling, but tiny steaks and the fat is kind of yellow colored, which some folks dislike! Angus is great! No experience with wagyu.
 
I have a Jersey steer in the freezer processed in December. They show up regularly at the sale barns around here and are usually pretty cheap. Mine was 700 lbs at .66 lb. I fed him out to around 1000 lbs on a high fat feed and he was also on pasture.

The meat turned out great. As mentioned in the previous topic the steaks are on the small side but tender. The burger is excellent. The butcher I used cuts the flanks into Fajita meat and marinates it. All in all very pleased.
 
If you find wagyu you are likely to have to pay considerably more for the beef.

Find a decent looking angus that has been fed well and enjoy the steaks.
 
Here's the last few I put in the freezer

950 lbs hanging, 650 in the freezer


800 hanging, 500 in the freezer


Can't remember the hanging weight, was about 600 in the freezer though... He pizzed me off by breaking fence the week before and the butcher had an opening.. sucked to be him!


I've got another going in a few months after he fattens up on grass, butchering will be around 28-30 months old, grassfed... I only keep steers that are big fat lazybones types, they gain better, fatten nicer and they're nice and tender since they don't get worked up about anything
 
I need to figure out how to be notified when folks post. Every forum is different so will figure it out.

Figuring if I'm buying a whole cow, stakes are not that much. Do like a good one but there is a lot more meat with the rest.

Probably won't go with wagyu because of the cost

Thanks for your thoughts
 
I agree with the others that say the feed and finishing is more important than the breed. We have had an Angus processed that was very good, but no better than the 2 Herefords that we have had. The last calf we finished out was a Hereford heifer that I fed mainly shelled corn, best tasting meat of all of them.
 
I think breed sometimes has a little to do with it. Some breeds are rangier than others. longhorns for instance. Leaner by genetics. Meat tastes and cooks differently. Not bad, just different. I do believe Finishing is the most influencing factor though. Funny, contrary to auction price indicators, my red cows taste every bit as good as my black cows! Hense the black ones get sold and the red ones butchered when needed. I do have a longhorn /brangus cross steer that I will butcher later this year. He looks great and I'm looking forward to seeing how he tastes.
 
I have a bull calf 8 months old, nice and beefy. Should I steer him or let him be until 14 to 16 month before sending him to the freezer?

Does it make a difference in flavor/tenderness if instead of a steer he's a bull at 14 to 16 months slaughter age? I understand that whole calves put on more weight because of testosterone but that their flavor may be impacted.

Thanks.
 
Some say it does make a difference, but we have had 2 bulls processed one at 16 months and another at 19 months and I don't think there is much difference at all if any from a young bull. If they are fed out for around 3 months and finished right then I would just as soon have a bull as a steer. It might be a problem if two or more bull calves were finished together if they fought a lot. We have only fed out one bull at time or a bull with a steer.
 
Generally speaking, the quicker the weight goes on the more tender the meat. Taste can be an issue of preparation and genetics
regardless of the color of the hide.
 
"Generally" a light muscled breed tends to be heavier marbling - like Wagyu, Jersey, and other dairy breeds.
A bull tends to be leaner, harder to "finish" with a fat cover and marbling, but should eat well - as long as he has not been breeding (or ejaculating because there are cycling cattle that he can smell).
 
Jeanne,

I've heard more than once that the corriente cows make pretty good eating. They are light weight and when placed in a good pasture put on decent weight.
 
If you buy a good healthy looking beef cow you can get some pretty decent cuts of meat.
I have them pull the loins and cut into little fat steaks (Delmonico?) I get the brisket, flank steak, Kabobs, Cube steak as much as possible, pot roasts, etc.
 
I think breed sometimes has a little to do with it. Some breeds are rangier than others. longhorns for instance. Leaner by genetics. Meat tastes and cooks differently. Not bad, just different. I do believe Finishing is the most influencing factor though. Funny, contrary to auction price indicators, my red cows taste every bit as good as my black cows! Hense the black ones get sold and the red ones butchered when needed. I do have a longhorn /brangus cross steer that I will butcher later this year. He looks great and I'm looking forward to seeing how he tastes.

So how did the longhorn cross beef turn out?
 
"Generally" a light muscled breed tends to be heavier marbling - like Wagyu, Jersey, and other dairy breeds.
A bull tends to be leaner, harder to "finish" with a fat cover and marbling, but should eat well - as long as he has not been breeding (or ejaculating because there are cycling cattle that he can smell).

So do you think a longhorn x angus would have heavy marbling?
 
I think breed sometimes has a little to do with it. Some breeds are rangier than others. longhorns for instance. Leaner by genetics. Meat tastes and cooks differently. Not bad, just different. I do believe Finishing is the most influencing factor though. Funny, contrary to auction price indicators, my red cows taste every bit as good as my black cows! Hense the black ones get sold and the red ones butchered when needed. I do have a longhorn /brangus cross steer that I will butcher later this year. He looks great and I'm looking forward to seeing how he tastes.
Hi,long time lurker here, figured I might as well pipe in eventually.
I am curious as well as I have a few angus bredback to longhorn and have been trying to decide if they would be good eating.
Also a neighbour has two two year old open purebred longhorn heifers that he has used predominately for roping. He's selling them for very cheap but I am curious if the might be tougher as they have been run around a lot...he says no, but he also wants to sell them haha
 

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