Mahoney Pursley Ranch
Well-known member
If you were going to have one of your young bulls butchered ,at what age/weight would you have it done ? Would it have to be castrated or would a intact animal be ok ? Thinking about filling the freezer.
No. The cuts will be smaller I have been told, but the quality will not be affected. If you leave them bulls and allow them to breed I understand that that affects the taste of the meat ~ I think that that is what RAB was referring to.Mahoney Pursley Ranch":m33mhcj7 said:So if I butchered at 10-12 months,hence a lighter animal (less meat) would the quality of the beef be affected?
angie":351fwq9x said:No. The cuts will be smaller I have been told, but the quality will not be affected. If you leave them bulls and allow them to breed I understand that that affects the taste of the meat ~ I think that that is what RAB was referring to.Mahoney Pursley Ranch":351fwq9x said:So if I butchered at 10-12 months,hence a lighter animal (less meat) would the quality of the beef be affected?
Mahoney Pursley Ranch":38m8vcfz said:So if I butchered at 10-12 months,hence a lighter animal (less meat) would the quality of the beef be affected?
I am always surprised to hear of people finishing cattle under a year.
I would advise waiting until the animal is 14 (at least) to 18 months depending on how you are finishing ~ grass finished take longer. Grow them to about 13 months then increase and change up the feed to finish (less protien, more fat) at about 16 months. Could be regional.
baxter78":18sqam4k said:Mahoney Pursley Ranch":18sqam4k said:So if I butchered at 10-12 months,hence a lighter animal (less meat) would the quality of the beef be affected?
NOPE!
baxter78":19mwecu3 said:angie":19mwecu3 said:I am always surprised to hear of people finishing cattle under a year.
I would advise waiting until the animal is 14 (at least) to 18 months depending on how you are finishing ~ grass finished take longer. Grow them to about 13 months then increase and change up the feed to finish (less protien, more fat) at about 16 months. Could be regional.
Yeah if you have straight bred cattle or angus I can see why. Mine dress over 60% every time. Most around 64%. That is using a continental bull. Dressing percentage will go down if you use British breeds.
We've always castrated bulls no matter where they were going, the freezer or sale barn. Being lighter isn't a problem, it won't affect the beef in quality or taste, there just won't be as much. We took a grass fed heifer in about two weeks ago that was about 18 months old. She had a live weight of 950# and carcass weight of 522#. Nothing impressive, but it will be plenty for just my wife and I and our young son.Mahoney Pursley Ranch":d3o0qkkz said:So if I butchered at 10-12 months,hence a lighter animal (less meat) would the quality of the beef be affected?
Mahoney Pursley Ranch":1z1k4ecq said:Why would you get less weight for all hamburger than you would for steaks and roasts? All the trimmed off useless meat goes to burgers,should be the other way around.
Angus Cowman":3ucyccjq said:Mahoney Pursley Ranch":3ucyccjq said:Why would you get less weight for all hamburger than you would for steaks and roasts? All the trimmed off useless meat goes to burgers,should be the other way around.
because if you take a roast and grind you lose the boneand some of the trimmings of fat depends on the fat what % of burger you want we go with 80-20 80% lean 20% fat