Raising a calf

[Anonymous]

Hi. I've been to this website several times and have read many of the posts. I hope this isn't discussed somewhere else and I just didn't see it.

We bought a calf and have raised it from 45 days of age. She is a Hereford and is doing very well. This is our first attempt at raising a cow, so please bear with me. Currently, she is 5 months old. At what age will she be ready for slaughter? We figured around February 2003. How much meat can we expect from an average Hereford heifer at a year old? Does anyone know of a reputable meat processer in the Phoenix, Az area? I'd like to keep her hide. Some friends of ours had two pigs processed and felt that they didn't get all of the meat that they were intitled to. Also, is a meat processor supposed to give you everything back (including head, liver, heart,...etc)? After all, the owner is paying for the processing and the processor shouldn't make a profit off of the skull, hide and other organs, or is it common practice for the processor to just process the meat and take the rest?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I want to get a head start on this before the time comes. I appreciate all replys. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Can't address the butcher age, the amount of meat depends on the body weight, and condition (fatness) of the heifer. I've alwasy heard about people not getting back all their meat. Most people have no concept of how much they should get back, but they KNOW that it should be more then they do. There is always cutting loss, and the one thing that folks never think about is the amount of skrinkage as the moisture leaves the carcass, in some cases that can be a pretty high percentage of the weight. I suppose there are unscrupulous processors that may swipe some meat, I just have never known any. You can usually negotiate with the processor on what parts you get back, the hide normally goes to him as part of the cost of processing the carcass. Talk to whoever you decide to use before hand, find out what he usually keeps. We've always had the option of the organs and the head, we keep the liver and he usually has someone that will take the other parts as cat food, raven food, whatever food.

dunmovin farms

> Hi. I've been to this website
> several times and have read many
> of the posts. I hope this isn't
> discussed somewhere else and I
> just didn't see it.

> We bought a calf and have raised
> it from 45 days of age. She is a
> Hereford and is doing very well.
> This is our first attempt at
> raising a cow, so please bear with
> me. Currently, she is 5 months
> old. At what age will she be ready
> for slaughter? We figured around
> February 2003. How much meat can
> we expect from an average Hereford
> heifer at a year old? Does anyone
> know of a reputable meat processer
> in the Phoenix, Az area? I'd like
> to keep her hide. Some friends of
> ours had two pigs processed and
> felt that they didn't get all of
> the meat that they were intitled
> to. Also, is a meat processor
> supposed to give you everything
> back (including head, liver,
> heart,...etc)? After all, the
> owner is paying for the processing
> and the processor shouldn't make a
> profit off of the skull, hide and
> other organs, or is it common
> practice for the processor to just
> process the meat and take the
> rest?

> Sorry for all of the questions,
> but I want to get a head start on
> this before the time comes. I
> appreciate all replys. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Last November, we butchered a Limousin steer that was 21 months old. His hanging weight (the day they butchered him) was 864 pounds. The meat we got back was 555 pounds (weighed as we put it in the freezer -- it was already frozen, so whatever that indicates, I do not know.) We had the option of keeping any organs (they asked which we wanted, and they gave them to us the day they butchered.) I asked for the head, and was charged no differently for the keeping of that, however, if I had opted to keep the hide, it would have cost us more. We paid forty dollars for the butchering and 34 cents a pound for the cut and wrapped hanging weight. My folks told me (they have been doing this for about fifty years) that our butcher was very reasonable, even cheaper than what they pay for on the coast. I just called Mom, and she said they figured they lost about half of the "on the hoof" weight in the butchering and aging process. There is someone else on the list, (I think Michelle) who does their own butchering and she will have better information for you.

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