Eating heifers

[dun]

Extract:
Heifers typically outperform steers in marbling and USDA quality grade, but product tenderness usually favors steers, according to Pre-Harvest Factors Affecting Beef Tenderness in Heifers, a beef checkoff-funded report by Colorado State University meat scientists J.D. Tatum, Ph.D., S.L. Gruber and B.A. Schneider.
Link to entire article: http://www.beefboard.org/news/Release_2007_07_23_f.asp

 

[MrBilly]

This isn't scientific, but some of the best beef we have eaten was from heifers - tender and great marbling and taste.

Billy

 

[grannysoo]

Thanks for the link Dun.

 

[bigbull338]

i never thought about it but your right.we buy meat at the stores an we dont know if its heifer or steer meat.i just eat the meat.

 

[Limomike]

Interesting article dun... Aint it funny how people think one animal or another is good tender beef or not. I have ate some really tender meat from both a heifer and a steer. To me its how long its "aged" after butchering and how its cooked.

 

[dieselbeef]

why eat a hiefer?? unkless ya know its got issues...or cant sell it

 

[dun]

why eat a hiefer?? unkless ya know its got issues...or cant sell it

Not every heifer should be a breeder.

 

[bandit80]

why eat a hiefer?? unkless ya know its got issues...or cant sell it

Not every heifer should be a breeder.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of cattlemen who don't know this fact.

 

[TexasBred]

why eat a hiefer?? unkless ya know its got issues...or cant sell it

We've had 4 holstein heifers butchered after finishing their first lactation. Only milked about 5 months, started putting on weight and were still open. Pulled them out of the milk line, pulled them off silage and put them on grain and hay for 45 days...made out of this world eatin'..... :clap:

 

[dieselbeef]

issues..like i said

 

[TexasBred]

issues..like i said

Absolutely...wouldn't think about eating a $4000 good milk cow. :lol: :lol: These cows were usually close to 30 months old and 1350-1400 lbs.

 

[dun]

issues..like i said

Absolutely...wouldn't think about eating a $4000 good milk cow. :lol: :lol: These cows were usually close to 30 months old and 1350-1400 lbs.

What issues? Not all heifers should be breeders, not even ALL Holstein heifers shoudl be bred.
A heifer that isn;t of the quality (I don;t consider that an issue just a fact of life) that will be an improvement should go to the feedlot just like bull calves should be cut and sent to the feedlot.

 

[TexasBred]

issues..like i said

Absolutely...wouldn't think about eating a $4000 good milk cow. :lol: :lol: These cows were usually close to 30 months old and 1350-1400 lbs.

What issues? Not all heifers should be breeders, not even ALL Holstein heifers shoudl be bred.
A heifer that isn;t of the quality (I don;t consider that an issue just a fact of life) that will be an improvement should go to the feedlot just like bull calves should be cut and sent to the feedlot.

Only issue in each case was that the cow was not milking well and was not bred when finally pulled from the milk line. All were excellent heifers and genetically should have been great milkers....but some just don't work perform regardless of what the numbers indicate.

 

[shorty]

The last three animals we kept for our own use were from the same cow , a red angus simm cross , the 1st two were heifers and the last one was a steer , all were good but I think the steer might be a little more tender.

 

[msscamp]

why eat a hiefer?? unkless ya know its got issues...or cant sell it

Why not? They are beef, and the fact that they are capable of reproduction does not automatically mean they should be bred.

 

[dieselbeef]

i reckin yer right..just was always mor eapt to sell or trade em than eat em....

 

[dun]

i reckin yer right..just was always mor eapt to sell or trade em than eat em....

With the dairy breeds it seems like every heifer is sold as a potential milker. If and it's a big if, you have nothing but the best quailty cows and use only the best quality bulls, then possibly every heifer will be a good producing cow. But we've all seen too often a top cow bred to a top bull will produce a mediocre daughter. That daughter sells, even though she's not milking much, based on her genetics and is bred to a top bull and still you get poor performance. I saw one dairy go down the toilet because they kept keeping inferior cows becasue they had the pedigree to be great cows.
At the dairy there is a cow that just freshened for the 3rd time, she's never milked more then 30 lbs a day any of the previous lactations, her mother was a 100 lb cow at her peak. As low as she's started this time I doubt she'll peak at even 25. Yet they've kept 2 of her daughters and are expecting great things from them.
It happens with beef cows too. No matter how good the genetics, we send a lot of heifers to the feedlot because they aren;t the type of animal that we feel has the potential to be a top producer that will hanf around till she;s 10 or so at least. We also won;t sell a heifer unless it's the kind of heifer we would be willing to buy.

But since we're retired from the business and only want to keep a herd of 25-35 cows or so, we can be much more selective

 

[pwilli3]

Issues have nothing to do with it. Heifers make great meat. Many more of them grade to prime than steers. It is just like humans. Heifers have a greater need, and therefore a greater ability, to take on intra-muscular fat. This is the stuff that makes steaks more tender and juicy. It only makes sense they would make better eating. Steers came about because one bull, after puberty, could produce 60+ calves in a season, while a heifer could still only produce one. Supply, demand, and the need to control a herd led to steers being the more commodity driven beef choice. Given a choice I'd most likely eat a heifer. Heiferette is different. Changes to the body after having one calf reduce the marbling. For my buying dollar the heiferette would be reduced compared to a true heifer or a steer.

 

[hillsdown]

At the dairy there is a cow that just freshened for the 3rd time, she's never milked more then 30 lbs( that's around 15 liters.. :???: ) a day any of the previous lactations, her mother was a 100 lb cow at her peak. As low as she's started this time I doubt she'll peak at even 25. Yet they've kept 2 of her daughters and are expecting great things from them. (Hmm even the highest bull for milk will not do much with that.)

Quota might eliminate these types of decisions.

We have done both, Holstein heifers and steers,, the heifers are as good if not better.
So it makes sense that the same would be with beef as well. :nod:

 

[msscamp]

i reckin yer right..just was always mor eapt to sell or trade em than eat em....

You wouldn't think twice about feeding out a sub-par steer, why would it be any different for a sub-par heifer?