Is he a steer or did I miss one?

[townfarmer]

This is a bull calf that was born in June this year. When he was a month old I put a rubber ring on him and at the time I was pretty confident that I got both of them. To me, he now looks a little "bullish". Compared to his peer group he seems to have a shortish neck and is a little more muscular. I don't know whether it's possible to tell by the look of him at this age.

Is it possible he's still got one hidden up somewhere??

Andrew

 

[dun]

If you aren;t 100% sure you got them both, of course it's possible he still has one. Only way to find out is to grope him and see if you can feel it

 

[angus9259]

You can't tell by looking at them in the field.

 

[Isomade]

If you aren;t 100% sure you got them both, of course it's possible he still has one. Only way to find out is to grope him and see if you can feel it

:nod: gotta grope him.

 

[SirLoin]

If you aren;t 100% sure you got them both, of course it's possible he still has one. Only way to find out is to grope him and see if you can feel it

Anyone know a TSA agent? :lol:

I end up with a stag every few years. If I could, I would raise nothing but stags. They are the best of both worlds IMO. They grow faster than steers, and are better marbled than bulls. The first one I ate because I did not want to sell it to customers, thinking it might not be tender. I was wrong. It was tender, and meatier than the steers I was used to.

I just picked one up from the butcher that we are eating ourselves. It is slightly less tender than a steer raised the same way, but the average consumer could not even detect the difference in a steak dry aged 3 weeks.

 

[purecountry]

Townfarmer, you're from Australia, I thought you people had that technique mastered!! Crocodile Dundee had the grope down to a science. ;-)

 

[AllForage]

Had a galloway calf a few years back that had a retained testicle. You could feel it up tight against the belly, but wouldn't drop. Vet said not worth taking it out and he would be sterile anyways because it could'nt regulate temp. Anyways, after I marketed him his legacy lived on with two unexpected calves.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Just looks like a nice MG steer to be honest. He doesn't look any bullish than other MG steers I see. I don't see a crest or any excess neck hair. Is he acting like one?

 

[whitewing]

By the looks of the fur coats those guys are wearing, must be some serious cold down there from time to time.

 

[townfarmer]

Townfarmer, you're from Australia, I thought you people had that technique mastered!! Crocodile Dundee had the grope down to a science. ;-)

I think next time they're in the yards I'll do just that. No small talk just grope "Dundee" style.

Had a galloway calf a few years back that had a retained testicle. You could feel it up tight against the belly, but wouldn't drop. Vet said not worth taking it out and he would be sterile anyways because it could'nt regulate temp. Anyways, after I marketed him his legacy lived on with two unexpected calves.

Thank you. That answered my next question whether a partially castrated steer could impregnate a cow?

Just looks like a nice MG steer to be honest. He doesn't look any bullish than other MG steers I see. I don't see a crest or any excess neck hair. Is he acting like one?

You may well be right. We had ten calves this year and all were bulls now steers. Compared to the other nine he really stands out looking much more masculine. I haven't noticed him behave any different to all the others.

By the looks of the fur coats those guys are wearing, must be some serious cold down there from time to time.

He gets his hair from his Mother. She's pure Scottish Highland.


Andrew

 

[djinwa]

I posed the same question about the steer below a couple years ago. I asked the butcher to look and he saw no testicles. I attributed the look to good feed, as his mom is half jersey. Perhaps your cow is feeding your guy well, plus good muscling genetics.

 

[townfarmer]

I posed the same question about the steer below a couple years ago. I asked the butcher to look and he saw no testicles. I attributed the look to good feed, as his mom is half jersey. Perhaps your cow is feeding your guy well, plus good muscling genetics.

Thanks for that. That's handy to know. I couldn't find a link to the thread about your "bullish steer".

Andrew

 

[Chris H]

I will add that groping may not tell the whole story. If he had one undescended testicle then it could still be tucked up inside. Yes, it is possible for a stag to breed. They're not very fertile, but it can happen.

I think he's just a stout steer, though.