How to get angus ready for butcher

[GoodValley]

Hi,

Would greatly appreciate advice. I'm a newbie farmer, got involved with angus nearly 3 years ago. I plan to sell three of my five angus as soon as possible.

Here's what I got now: 1 mother 5 years old, 1 heifer about 3 years old (tried insemination twice, did not stick), two steer (twins) born 14 months ago, 1 heifer born last month. Total 5.

I have a few acres for my cows and it may not be enough land to keep them fed. The twin steer drive us crazy, they constantly escape through electric fence, the other cows show no interest in escaping. I am not sure if it's due to hunger or they just like to escape for the fun of it.

I want to get the 3 year old heifer ready to sell, she is very large and healthy. The twin steer are 14 months old, and look like they could grow a bit more because they're not as big as the heifer. Nonetheless I am fed up with their escaping, they have to go.

I trapped the two steer in the barn, approx 12' x 12'. I can easily feed them water and carry to them grain and alfalfa. I would rather not let them out.

I heard that if you pen angus in a small area and feed them a lot, they will fatten up which makes them ideal for butchering.

What do you suggest in terms of getting them ready for the butcher? What to feed, how much, etc?

I have frontage on a busy road and I'm quite sure that if I put a sign out on the back of my old Chevy pickup "All Natural Black Angus" etc, within just a day or so I can find locals in the area to buy half a cow or more. People here love natural grass fed beef, fetching high prices, and I'm in an area where there is basically zero competition (nobody is a farmer anymore here, we have condos and stores, the odd horse, that's about it). I want to make sure I get the cows ready properly though, and I'll arrange the butcher. What do you suggest I might charge for the cows?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Dave]

I am probably south of you and in an area with a few more cows. I get from $1.75-2.00 a pound hanging. If you are closer to the city you shouldn't have any problem getting $2.00 to 2.50 a pound. I have heard of people getting up to $4.00 but for that much of a premium it had better be top of the line. It doesn't sound like you have the experience to produce or know if you are producing top of the line beef. At that $2.00 to 2.50 neither you or the customer is getting hurt.

 

[Bez>]

Hi,

I am not sure if it's due to hunger or they just like to escape for the fun of it.

Your comment tells me there may be problems with your set up and your feeding plan - always free choice hay at a minimum for animals that may be short on grass.

I want to get the 3 year old heifer ready to sell, she is very large and healthy.

You sell that heifer for anything other than meat your rep will be ruined - she is NOT a breeder - in fact I would have tossed her a long time ago.

The twin steer are 14 months old, and look like they could grow a bit more because they're not as big as the heifer. Nonetheless I am fed up with their escaping, they have to go.

Sell one and eat the other - or sell both asap - ship today if they are a pain.

I trapped the two steer in the barn, approx 12' x 12'. I can easily feed them water and carry to them grain and alfalfa. I would rather not let them out.

Sounds like they are now crowded. If they are that wild you are still in for trouble - PLUS - they will tag up big time (get schitty)

I heard that if you pen angus in a small area and feed them a lot, they will fatten up which makes them ideal for butchering.

What do you suggest in terms of getting them ready for the butcher? What to feed, how much, etc?

Search the boards using the search function at the top of the page - you will read for weeks.

...... I want to make sure I get the cows ready properly though, and I'll arrange the butcher. What do you suggest I might charge for the cows?

Once again use the search function - months of reading available - it basically is area dependant.

Thanks for any advice!

All extremely common issues with newbies.

Sigh,

Bez>

 

[GoodValley]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your email. I'm just a few miles east of Bellevue. Do you have angus? I know one guy in Eatonville does well with his angus, he was there at the sale barn in Marysville when I got mine, and I've seen him at the Puyallup Fair as well. Always nice to see him because everytime he tells me he never has enough to supply the demand for his beef.

The range of $2-$3 per lb sounds good. But I wonder what I should do to "get them ready". Lock them up in a small area first? For how long? What do you suggest? Is that important at all?

Thanks!

 

[Dave]

GoodValley,

I am south and west of Olympia. You are in a lot better beef selling area than I am. There is no shortage of potential customers up there.
My bulls are angus. The cows.....well it is the rainbow coalition out there. At least one of every color. But the calves are all black or black baldies.
To get them ready I would lock them up and grain them. How much and for how long really depends on the condition of the animal. That is kind of difficult to give advise on over the internet. But to start free choice hay and 10-15 pounds of grain a day.
Another option is to sell grass fat beef. That can actually get as much or more of a premium in your neck of the woods. The 3 year old heifer might fit nicely into this category.
I will PM you some other local tips.

Dave

 

[lmp570]

GREAT post Bez... i agree 100%.

just to comment on the price of beef around here... the most ive ever got was a 1 yr. old steer at $1.25 per lb. and he was the best looking animal ive ever raised. wish i wouldnt have banded him at birth

 

[Jogeephus]

GREAT post Bez... i agree 100%.

just to comment on the price of beef around here... the most ive ever got was a 1 yr. old steer at $1.25 per lb. and he was the best looking animal ive ever raised. wish i wouldnt have banded him at birth

If all we got was $1.25/lb hanging weight, I'd be getting out of the cattle business and fast or did you misread the Dave's reply?

All too common on the board. Sigh

 

[lmp570]

i guess were talking about 2 different things (sorry im still learning)... what do u mean by hanging weight? when i said i got $1.25 a lb. thats when i drop the culls off at the slaughterhouse stockyard, go home and wait for the check in the mail. what am i missing?

 

[Jogeephus]

i guess were talking about 2 different things (sorry im still learning)... what do u mean by hanging weight? when i said i got $1.25 a lb. thats when i drop the culls off at the slaughterhouse stockyard, go home and wait for the check in the mail. what am i missing?

You are right, they are two different things. Hanging weight is with the hide and entrails removed. This is also called selling it on the rail. You were quoting prices on the hoof. When I quit learning, they'll be shovelling dirt on me. :lol:

 

[GoodValley]

Hello friends at Cattletoday,

Thanks in particular to the person who IM'd me with good local info.

I have an update to report. Keep in mind I live in an area where most homes are fairly expensive and very few people are doing farming of any type.

I got in contact with a butcher, he said he has 40 years experience and in addition to offering services slaughtering he has a storefront meat shop. He said grass fed angus, without grain, is getting $2.95/lb these days. That is $2.95 after the hyde and guts are removed, and it's the hanging weight of what's left. He said if I choose to grain the animals and fatten them up over the course of a month or so, they will gain about 100 lbs (I think he said 100) and they will be a bit heavier on the scale as a percentage of what they weighed before the hyde and guts are removed. He said $2.50/lb is market these days for grain-fed. He said grass-fed beef is desired by naturalists who want the beef for it's omega-3 quality more than the fatty taste of grain fed.

So I put out a sign on the main road. It said Grass Fed 100% Natural Black Angus, 3 Available. By the end of the day I had a lady come look at the cows and verbally commit to both steer, and today she said she believes she wants the third cow as well. $2.95 is not a problem she said. She was raised with beef cattle (farmer girl) and liked what she saw. I had a few other calls, one guy wanted to wheel and deal and offered $2.40/lb.

How do those prices sound to you all?

 

[Dave]

I would jump all over that $2.95 hanging for grass fat steers. In fact if you run out and need more I can have a trailer load there in about two hours if traffic isn't bad.

 

[GoodValley]

Dave,

I thought about the same thing. I may contact you. I made a big sign that looks great and I have loads of frontage on a main local arterial/highway. I can email you my address, it's a joke to think anyone out here still farms anything, so the novelty of it draws a lot of attention, not to mention so many people these days want local beef. My son is growing up among all of the software brainiacs here but he's brilliant with animals and helps me out a LOT. After I unload these three and get paid (looks like next week a butcher will come get them), maybe we can work something out if that price is good. We keep 3 or 4 of your cattle here and I put out the sign and show them. Not a bad deal I guess.

 

[somn]

GoodValley,

I am south and west of Olympia. You are in a lot better beef selling area than I am. There is no shortage of potential customers up there.
My bulls are angus. The cows.....well it is the rainbow coalition out there. At least one of every color. But the calves are all black or black baldies.
To get them ready I would lock them up and grain them. How much and for how long really depends on the condition of the animal. That is kind of difficult to give advise on over the internet. But to start free choice hay and 10-15 pounds of grain a day.
Another option is to sell grass fat beef. That can actually get as much or more of a premium in your neck of the woods. The 3 year old heifer might fit nicely into this category.
I will PM you some other local tips.

Dave

Dave I'm not doubting your knowledge here I've read enough of your posts to see you have it however I think you might need to clarify the 10 to 15 pounds of grain. The 10 to 15 pounds would be after you worked them slowly up day by day. Starting them off at 10 to 15# of grain per day with them previously fed grass only will surely cause founder or acidosis.

 

[GoodValley]

I forgot to mention that the butcher suggested the $2.95 which is the price the buyer pays, but that I have to pay the butcher fee which is, as I recall, $0.44 per lb.

I wonder how I should expect payment from the buyer. As she told me that she will take all 3 animals, that adds up to quite a lot of money. I am usually a bit uptight about the money side of transactions, knowing that sometimes things can go awry. If this lady says that she wants them, then the butcher takes them away and slaughters them, and she changes her mind for some reason, I am left holding the bag. Is it customary to require a deposit before the animals leave the farm? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Dave]

For someone you don't know taking three animals at once I would require a deposit. I know for some people in that part of the world that isn't much money but you don't want to be left holding the bag. So that is $2.95 a pound hanging weight with you paying the proccessing. Not as good but still not bad.

It looks like you are going the grass fed route but if you did feed grain somn is right. You want to work up slowly on the grain. Some times the devil is in the details and with my speedy typing (cough, cough) I forget a detail or two. One of the good things about this board. If you forget a detail someone else will surely catch it.

 

[dcara]

Just to reduce another uncertanty you might verify that both butcher and customer are thinking the same processing method (i.e. bone-in or bone-out). Bone out butcher's fees are typically higher and the carcuss yields less. Some customers prefer it and some others don't.

 

[Bobg]

GoodValley,

The way I do mine is the buyer pays me for the hanging weight and then pays the butcher for the cut and wrap. From everything that my butcher tells me that's the only way to do it and not get in trouble with the state. I'm in eastern WA so it should apply on the west side too. Your lucky getting $2.95, I'm pretty much topped out at $1.80 hanging weight. Don't think I'm going to be doing it much longer if I can't make much more.

Bobg