Free martin?

[crazy4equines]

We just found out that one of our heifers is a free martin, we are planning on either selling her or should we finish her out and butcher her? Is their a differance in taste between a free martin and a steer? She is an angus/dairy crossbred. thanks

 

[ANAZAZI]

Eat her yourself, they taste great.

 

[expensive hobby]

I think that you would be better off finishing her off and eating her yourself. She probably will not finish as heavy as you would like for sell. I finish the good calves off and sell the better quality calves. I put the "not so quality" calves in my freezer. Heifer beef is just as good as steers, just more fat in some areas and leaner in others. How did you figure that she is a free martin?

 

[crazy4equines]

The vet was out to do preg check on the girls and found her to be a free martin

 

[highgrit]

How many lbs. does she weigh? A 400lb heifer will bring 500.00 $ you can buy alot of steaks for that. Most butchers around here charge .30 to .50 cents per lb. to cut and wrap. Home grown beef is great but expensive.

 

[crazy4equines]

She weighs about 900 pounds and she is about 18 months old. Were we take our beef they charge .45 a pound and a $45 kill fee. I am more wondering how a heifer would taste, she has been on hay/pasture and a grain mixture.

 

[dun]

She'll taste as good as a steer, maybe a little less tender is all.

 

[bigbull338]

id put her on feed for 60 more days an then butcher her.

 

[expensive hobby]

If she would have been the second of 2 twin heifers you would have been OK. One bull + twin heifer= sterility. I had a cow that had twin heifers but I sent them both down the road. They just never grew. Plus it was a pain in the back side dealing with them. Obviously they both made it but was quite a chore geting them to nurse. Brought the momma cow down pretty hard and she did not breed back. I kept the momma this year but I plan on shipping her in the next few years.