Tape measure - weight

[alisonb]

I have been using a tape measure to give me an estimation of an animals weight for some time now and it has proved to be relatively accurate when comparing it to actual scale weights. It seems to be more accurate on younger animals though.
I culled a cow this week (fertility problems) and when I got the weight from the butcher the difference between tape weight and actual weight would have been a lot different. Here are the details -
Tape weight - 880kg (1936 lbs). Chest measured 2.23m (87,80")
Slaughtered weight (cold carcass) - 378kg (832 lbs)
That's about 43% of live weight. I usually expect a % closer to 50%. She was in very good condition, could fat have made a big difference or is the tape measure not very reliable would you think? When measuring a big animal should one allow for about a 50kg (110 lb) error margin?

 

[ANAZAZI]

In my fathers days we killed a freemartin with some 65 kilograms of waste fat. Hanging weight about 200. Very good beef anyways. Dairy cows that has been really thin and came back in late lactation can look normal and be really fat internally. I trust measuring tapes so far, I can not say if they are accurate for really large animals, maybe not as it is not uncommon that really large cows have a hanging weight that is smaller than the owner expects?

 

[dun]

I have been using a tape measure to give me an estimation of an animals weight for some time now and it has proved to be relatively accurate when comparing it to actual scale weights. It seems to be more accurate on younger animals though.
I culled a cow this week (fertility problems) and when I got the weight from the butcher the difference between tape weight and actual weight would have been a lot different. Here are the details -
Tape weight - 880kg (1936 lbs). Chest measured 2.23m (87,80")
Slaughtered weight (cold carcass) - 378kg (832 lbs)
That's about 43% of live weight. I usually expect a % closer to 50%. She was in very good condition, could fat have made a big difference or is the tape measure not very reliable would you think? When measuring a big animal should one allow for about a 50kg (110 lb) error margin?

We used to use a tape for bigger animals and found that if I used the weight for the heaviest conditioned animal it was within 10-20 pounds. My tape had 3 body condition weights and was expressly for beef animals. The tape of the same sor for dairy animals was never very accuarte. The calf wight tape that you put around the coronary band was within about 5 pounds +/-

 

[SirLoin]

The tapes for dairy cattle that I've seen are breed specific, is yours? Most tapes for beef cattle are not.

 

[dun]

The tapes for dairy cattle that I've seen are breed specific, is yours? Most tapes for beef cattle are not.

The one I had had Jersey and Guernsey on one side and Holstein and Brown Swiss on the other. All I ever used it on for dairy cattle was Holsteins

 

[SirLoin]

Those are the ones I have seen. I know the beef tapes are fairly accurate. Some tapes say the animal should be off of feed and water for 12 hrs too. If not, you can over estimate your weights.

 

[alisonb]

I should have mentioned that the animal was a Holstein Bonsmara X, the body more inclined to that of a beef animal. The measurement was taken in early morning before feed. My tape is not breed specific so I'm assuming it is intended for beef breeds even though it has been pretty accurate on Holstein cows and other larger animals previously. Another detail that influences weight is transportation of the animal, she was shot and loaded on the farm.
This time round the error margin was rather big. I will get in touch with the butcher on Monday and find out about the fat, because she was rather fat . Thanks for the replies.

 

[alisonb]

Well, got feedback from butcher. He reckons no large amount of fat was trimmed off carcass. He said that the front quarters were huge and that animal had a very wide chest. I don't question the integrity of the butcher so must put it down to the wide chest and perhaps my antiquated tape measure.

 

[pdfangus]

ONE GUESS IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER.