Heifer beef

[tncattle]

We just slaughtered a 1400 lb. grass-fed Angus bull and his beef turned out really nice & lean. We have a Angus heifer that is around 1100 lbs.(maybe a little more) that we're going to slaughter and sell. I haven't slaughtered a heifer yet, I'm thinking her meat might be more fatty (marbled) and she will yield less beef?

 

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

Should taste exactly the same as the bull In fact if you put em on the same plate next to each other and served em in a taste test noone would know the difference. Also, she may yield less meat but she may have less wasted carcass and should marble fine. Got a heifer in the freezer now. Even her steaks are mighty tasty.

 

[JRGidaho`]

Many of the flavor components in beef are in the fat. If the heifer is, in fact, fatter than the bull, I would expect the heifer to have a beefier flavor than the lean bull. We have slaughtered both open 1st-calf heifers (30 months) and open replacement heifers (19-20 months). In both cases the grade has been high select or low choice.

From a flavor standpoint, we prefer the 30 month animal because of the richer, beefier flavor.

 

[backhoeboogie]

You already have answers on meat quality in posts above. On your yield question, think about mass in feet and bone difference between a bull and a cow. If you take the bones out of a heifer and compare them against the bones out of the bull, your going to find the heifer bones yield much less mass. The feet, the head, and everything else you don't cut into steak will be the same mass difference. In my opinion, if you have same size/weight animals, the hiefer will have a higher yield in beef.

 

[novatech]

I believe the degree of marbling will be more of a genetic issue than bull vs. heifer. Although I have heard that heifers marble better than bulls.

Angus bull and his beef turned out really nice & lean

Isn't this an oxymoron?

 

[options]

Heifers generally run a higher dressing % than steers, not much of a difference between the 2 so don't worry about that. As far as fatty well anything that is over fed will be fatty.

 

[xbred]

this is a new one on me..i always thought heifers would yeild less than steers or bulls...i thought that is why heifers bring a dime or so lessas feeders..i guess if heifers yeild the same, steers must bring more at sale time because they have a better growth to feed ratio than heifers ?

 

[options]

this is a new one on me..i always thought heifers would yeild less than steers or bulls...i thought that is why heifers bring a dime or so lessas feeders..i guess if heifers yeild the same, steers must bring more at sale time because they have a better growth to feed ratio than heifers ?

Okay look at it this way I'm allowed x number of animal units in my feedlot because of my federal feedlot permit. A steer will finish on average 150 pounds heavier in the lot than a heifer. 1400 pound steer sells for $80 a 1250 pound heifer will sell for $80. Now between the 2 animal units I have a net profit of $49.50 more with the steer. If I'm out buying 500 pound calves I will need to pay $.099 cents less per pound for the heifer than the steer to have the same net profit for that animal unit in the end.