Raising a Calf for the freezer for yourself

[cattlegirl56]

What is good a feed a calf that you are going to butcher for yourself? Should they be cut or left a bull? We butchered 1 but didnt cut him and feed sweet feed. The meat had a wang taste to it. Dont know if that is because of what we feed him or because he wasnt cut.

 

[Jogeephus]

Prefer corn myself. At least the last four weeks.

 

[c farmer]

We only butcher steers, tried a bull once and thought that it had a funny taste.

 

[mountainranch]

cattlegirl,
We feed our angus steers sweet feed for at least 2 months prior to butchering, and give him free choice hay. We have the butcher age him for 14 days. It's some of the best beef we've ever ate. You will get differing opinions, but we don't cut, but band our bulls at about 2 weeks of age. Banding is quick and easy if done while they're young, and we've never had any problems.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

Most recommend a 90 day feeding and I try to feed at least 80. I've successfully butchered intact bulls a couple of times with no problem. They were both 15 months or less old. I sell most of my beef, and if there was a problem, my customers would have let me know it.

I feed a sweet feed that has a lot of corn in it, and add more corn toward the end of the feeding time. I like at least ten days hanging.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

AGE of bull is the biggest factor in taste/texture. If left a bull, you definately want to harvest him by 15 months of age (this is the standard recommended age - but will vary from breed to breed). The more sexually active he is (this includes self ejaculations) the stronger the taste & the coarser the meat.
Very little difference in taste from one type of grain to another (big difference between grain & grass or grain/grass). Biggest factor in WHAT kind of grain is COST. Whole shell corn is the cheapest & safest (healthwise) to feed. But, if you want to feed straight shell corn, you don't want to start out with sweet feed. It's hard to get them switched over once they've had sweet. You start out with shell corn + a protein pellet (and of course hay). As they grow you feed less pellets & more corn. The younger they are finished, the more tender they will be naturally. But hanging for at least 14 days will generally insure a pretty tender beef.

 

[MikeC]

What is good a feed a calf that you are going to butcher for yourself? Should they be cut or left a bull? We butchered 1 but didnt cut him and feed sweet feed. The meat had a wang taste to it. Dont know if that is because of what we feed him or because he wasnt cut.

I haven't found any difference in taste between bulls an steer beef. The bull beef will be leaner slightly though.

"RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Data on the bulls and steers slaughtered at
the University of Idaho are presented in table 1.
Although bulls and steers were essentially the
same age (18 to 19 months), bull carcasses had
lower (P<.01) marbling scores and quality
grades as compared to steers. Most research,
including the summary by Field (1971) has
shown similar differences. However, taste panel
scores for flavor, juiciness and overall satisfaction
of broiled top round steaks were not
significantly different between bulls and steers.
Panel members were able to detect a slight
difference (6.1 vs 6.6) in tenderness, however,
the difference was not statistically significant.
Shear values also indicated that bulls were
slightly less tender (P<.05) than steers. The
range in shear values between bulls (6 to 14 kg)"

 

[Susie David]

Agree with Jeannie, the age of the bull is the determining factor...see a past post on "Sam The Bull Leaves the Farm" he was better than most steers and onlt received a light corn ration.
This past year we only grass finished our freezer steers and got the best reveiews from our customers.
IMO the final product is influenced by how the animal is raised, the quality of the diet and no matter how you raise the animal poor processing can ruin the flavor. Use a well respected butcher, we farm slaughter our freezer beef and hang from 10 days to two weeks depending on the carcass.
And thats just my two bits worth...asked for or not....DMc

 

[cattlegirl56]

thanks for all the help!!! It sure helps a lot. :welcome:

 

[ANAZAZI]

Bull is good,tastes the same grows more.

 

[grannysoo]

Bulls only at our place. The ones that we are going to butcher get their own seperate pen with no females. Never a chance to breed.......

Eat them while they are young.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

I use a well-respected butcher shop with Amish workers in Chouteau, OK. Thompson's Butcher Barn. They vacuum pack, have digital scales and a computer generated printout of all my info. Clean and courteous.

Genetics do matter, but they are only the starting point. Docile cattle tend to produce better quality meat.

 

[starbaby]

we had a 3 yr old cow who had had 1 calf, she left that calf to die inpasture. we bottle fed her. that cow never had anything to do with it. we butchard her, mom, was awful meat. anyone know why?

 

[KenB]

we had a 3 yr old cow who had had 1 calf, she left that calf to die inpasture. we bottle fed her. that cow never had anything to do with it. we butchard her, mom, was awful meat. anyone know why?

;-) She could be called rotten to the core.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

Did you feed her for a couple or three months before butchering?

Again, it starts with good genetics, and continues with good management.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

we had a 3 yr old cow who had had 1 calf, she left that calf to die inpasture. we bottle fed her. that cow never had anything to do with it. we butchard her, mom, was awful meat. anyone know why?

What was she eating? Did she get hot or stressed when you killed her? Maybe she was sick and that is why she abandoned her calf??? Lots of possibilities.

 

[I luv herfrds]

We keep back steers only. start feeding them even before they are weaned, they catch on quicker that way. we feed oat hay, grass, alfalfa and ground barley. In the spring when the grass is up good we turn them out to pasture. In the winter we lock them in and feed them all they can eat. we butcher twice a year and sell what we don't eat.
They also have free choice mineral and salt.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

we had a 3 yr old cow who had had 1 calf, she left that calf to die inpasture. we bottle fed her. that cow never had anything to do with it. we butchard her, mom, was awful meat. anyone know why?

If you mean you butchered the cow after she died from calving, might be many things. Stress from calving, hormones, lack of condition.
If you mean you butchered the bottle raised calf, than that is probably because it was fed wrong, harvested too soon???

 

[deenranch]

At one year of age a bull's meat turns to red meat. Which means less marbling or less tender. Anyone who is familiar with ultrasound can tell you this. I have kept bulls, steers, and heifers for the freezer. We usually eat heifers now. Not as much meat but the steers make you more at the salebarn.