'nother question!

[Carrie]

Morning all,
Now for today's Cattle 101 question. I've been reading the "prolapse" thread and keep seeing comments about eared cattle. Don't know of any breed that doesn't come with ears, so what does this refer to? As always, thanks for your willingness to share with a dummy like me!

 

[Ryan]

Eared cattle refer to cattle with Brahman influence. Brahman's have rather large ears, which can be seen in their descendants.

 

[Carrie]

Boy, you guys are quick today. Thanks Ryan! Why would you get docked at the sale barn for eared cattle?

 

[sidney411]

Buyers dock for 'eared' cattle at the sale barn for a number of reasons. One being that they supposedly do not flesh out as well as a bos inducus breed of cattle will.

 

[txag]

Buyers dock for 'eared' cattle at the sale barn for a number of reasons. One being that they supposedly do not flesh out as well as a bos inducus breed of cattle will.

sorry sidney, but did you mean they don't flesh out as well as bos taurus? eared cattle are bos indicus-influenced.

 

[Campground Cattle]

Buyers dock for 'eared' cattle at the sale barn for a number of reasons. One being that they supposedly do not flesh out as well as a bos inducus breed of cattle will.

sorry sidney, but did you mean they don't flesh out as well as bos taurus? eared cattle are bos indicus-influenced.

Another problem is the feedlots are North and Brahman influenced cattle don't tolerate cold as well.

 

[Beefy]

another reason they dock eared cattle is because they can.

 

[dun]

another reason they dock eared cattle is because they can.

Persoanlly I think that's the biggest reason. No matter how a carcass grades there is a pretty good market for it. And there are a bunch of feedlots in more temporate climates then the "north"

dun

 

[Caustic Burno]

Most of the feedlots are to the North and the northern buyers do not like the brahman influence cattle due to they do not do well in colder climates as stated. Just because there are a few small southern feedlots doesn't mean there buyers are sitting at the salebarn.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Cattle/Background.htm

 

[TheBullLady]

I have to agree 100% on the "docked because they can". We've fed out our earred cattle before, and they do remarkably well in the feedlot

 

[sidney411]

OOps! I got my names mixed up, sorry! I didn't say that they DIDN'T do as well in a feedlot situation, I said that they are "SUPPOSED" to not do as well. That is one of the excuses I have heard of why buyers dock them, which goes back to 'because they can'. I have nothing againg them, I run a few myself and they are fat butterballs right now, but in the winter they sure do thin down.

 

[txshowmom]

I have to agree 100% on the "docked because they can". We've fed out our earred cattle before, and they do remarkably well in the feedlot

Agree 110%

 

[hillbilly]

There are plenty of markets for eared cattle [Nolan Ryan, etc..] and there are plenty of feedlots in Texas.
I can't imagine they dock eared cattle in the south?
Up here, sure they dock them, our calves are headed north.
I've only eaten one Brangus and it was not fed out properly, but I won't eat another.

Hillbilly

 

[txshowmom]

I've only eaten one Brangus and it was not fed out properly, but I won't eat another.

Then blame the feeder, not the breed.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

In addition to mid-west weather related issues and other things that have been mentioned, the docking is also because of the fact that Brahmans, and those with heavy Brahman influence, tend to be less tender and do not marble as well as British cattle, so generally speaking they are not going to grade as well as British calves, even if they are as fat as a butterball. The acceptable percentage with buyers & feeders seems to be no more than 25% Brahman influence, and that's based on the shear force/tenderness studies done years ago at the MARC. That being said, I understand that there are plenty of Gerts and Brangus that will grade Choice. In some of the recent bull test reports I've seen a lot of Brangus whose IMF percentage is surprisingly high compared to many of the similarly sized/aged straight Angus on test at the same time. Probably a fair percentage of Beefmasters will hit Choice too, under the right conditions and fed properly and long enough (especially L Bar 5502 calves). Anybody with a sizeable operation that raises real quality "earned" influence cattle and that feels the docking at the typical sale barn is significantly unjustified needs to get access to and use ultrasound equipment, and also needs to look into the possibility of retained ownership to capture the real monetary value of their calves. And it is also important to give proper attention to issues such as how long it takes to finish to Choice or any other target grade, feed conversion capabilities, etc. -- as well as knowing what your target customer wants and profitably feeding to meet that target. All of the above just IMHO.

 

[txag]

I've only eaten one Brangus and it was not fed out properly, but I won't eat another.

Then blame the feeder, not the breed.

we've had brangus/hereford carcass show steers grade prime.

 

[hillbilly]

I've only eaten one Brangus and it was not fed out properly, but I won't eat another.

Then blame the feeder, not the breed.

we've had brangus/hereford carcass show steers grade prime.

That calf would have been 13/16's British.
Anyone that would tell you that braman influanced cattle will marble like brits, has lost it.

Hillbilly

 

[ollie]

Anyone that tells you that x breed of cattle, be it hereford,angus,brangus charolais, etc. will do anything:marble , grow, milk, whatever,is either being very general or dosn't know anything .There are small variation between breeds but there are huge variations within each breed.

 

[Ryder]

Anyone that tells you that x breed of cattle, be it hereford,angus,brangus charolais, etc. will do anything:marble , grow, milk, whatever,is either being very general or dosn't know anything .There are small variation between breeds but there are huge variations within each breed.

Very true. But this is often misunderstod.