what age/weight to slaughter?

[jwhisperj]

Hey there, this is a silly question but I am looking at taking in some Holstein steers. They are free and weigh about 600lbs. They are 9 months old. I don't know what weight you slaughter them at. I really don't know much about this breed but since they are free I thought why not huh?

I am interested in sticking one in my freezer and maybe selling the other at a sale? I haven't been able to find any info on this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have pasture and hay, I am willing to feed grain if needed and also have minerals. I would love any info you are willing to part with.
sorry so short got to run. ;-)

 

[somn]

If it was me I would feed them shell corn and 1.5 pounds of 40% protein pellets with 22% from urea per day. (Using 400 grams monensin and 250 grams tylan per ton as the drug in the pellets.) I would let the calves get adjusted to the corn slowly then when they have adjusted to the corn I would make sure that they have feed in the bunk all day long everyday until slaughter. Maybe some free choice hay. The best carcass you will get from a calf fed holstien will be a 1000# carcass. That will come from a 1600# live animal. If all you really want to do is grass feed the steers my suggestion would be to find a better breed for grass. A holstien ain't it.

 

[jwhisperj]

somm,
Thanks so much for the info. I will definitely take you up on feeding corn and protein pellets. I understand that this is not the breed to be pasture fattening but they are free and this is my first time. I am more interested in shorthorns.
Thanks for a good carcass weight estimate. How would I go about weighing such a large animal? Would a weight tape that I use on my horses work for a rough estimate?

 

[hillsdown]

jwhisperj check your PM's.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

There are cattle weight tapes available.

Years ago, we raised a bottle holstein to butcher. Meat was surprisingly good. Not very dark red, more of a lighter color. In this case we butchered him too young, about 700#.

I would be extremely surprised to see one hang a carcass over 55% of live weight, and 50% is probably more predictable. They are not engineered for carcass performance. We fed ours a 16% "dairy textured sweet feed." Co-op brand.

 

[somn]

There are cattle weight tapes available.

Years ago, we raised a bottle holstein to butcher. Meat was surprisingly good. Not very dark red, more of a lighter color. In this case we butchered him too young, about 700#.

I would be extremely surprised to see one hang a carcass over 55% of live weight, and 50% is probably more predictable. They are not engineered for carcass performance. We fed ours a 16% "dairy textured sweet feed." Co-op brand.

Well you would certainly be surprised then because a calf fed holstien fed properly will yield as well as any beef breed and grade as well as any beef breed and they will do it consistantly unlike most the crossbred mongrels of todays beef. If you would like I can get you a number to IBP and they could give you a unbiased look into the yielding and grading results of todays calf fed holstiens.

But most times when people come here and state that a holstien steer will only yield 55% or less usually it is a great indicator of how little they understand the breed itself and how to feed them. Most times their history with the breed is they had one once they threw it out on grass and then killed it weighing 700 pounds. And said it wasn't any good and the meat was light pink. Well what did you expect you killed a calf.

 

[kscowboy]

Somn , Ive got 7 holstein and a couple angus holstein crosses sitting at about 850-900 lbs now , they have been putting on approx 75-90 lbs per month on pasture / free hay , and a daily supp of range cubes and corn. Approx 5 lbs per head , 2/3 cubes , 1/3 corn. My question is this , Id like to have them finished by April / May timeframe and have questions about the additives monensin , tylan , rumensin. what do these actually do , and can they be added / administered without a bulk mixed feed. I think the min order on bulks here is 3 tons and it may be worth it to do that but I 'll have to get a wagon or build a room to store it in my barn. Any opinions welcomed , thanks in advance

 

[FarmGirl10]

Around our area they want Hostein steers to be sold in the weight range of 1300-1700 lbs live weight. Although, someone already said that putting them on pasture is not the best idea for a Holstein, I have to disagree with that. OVer the summer we put some 250# steers out in the pasture (but still fed them grain) and they grew faster then the ones that were in the barn getting the same amount of grain with as much has they wanted. The ones that weren't pastured still are atleast 150 lbs. lighter than the ones that were on pasture.

 

[jwhisperj]

Thank you guys so much for all the information.
Turns out it was a misunderstanding about age and the ones I will be getting are only a few days old, the guy has a 9 month old heifer for sale and all the steer calves are newborns! I have taken notes on finishing for when the time comes and am very excited about bringing these little guys home! I am getting the place all ready for the little buggers and I will be keeping you updated!
They will be coming here in about a week.

The man I am getting them from is currently giving them milk replacer and some free choice medicated cob and hay, then once they hit about 400# I will start them on some cracked corn or barley and free choice hay and pasture. Then to finish them I am thinking of barley or corn free choice, good hay and pasture. Oh and of coarse protein pellets, salt, and minerals throughout. How does that sound?
I will be putting up photo's of the new gang members!

Thanks again for all your help, you guys sure are nice folks!

 

[shorty]

Holsteins will take a little more feed and time to finish but they will turn out nice if fed right , I'd take holstein calves for free anytime.they should finish at 18 months or so and be about 800 lbs hanging. It sounds like what you want to do should work

 

[jwhisperj]

Thanks shorty.

 

[somn]

Somn , Ive got 7 holstein and a couple angus holstein crosses sitting at about 850-900 lbs now , they have been putting on approx 75-90 lbs per month on pasture / free hay , and a daily supp of range cubes and corn. Approx 5 lbs per head , 2/3 cubes , 1/3 corn. My question is this , Id like to have them finished by April / May timeframe and have questions about the additives monensin , tylan , rumensin. what do these actually do , and can they be added / administered without a bulk mixed feed. I think the min order on bulks here is 3 tons and it may be worth it to do that but I 'll have to get a wagon or build a room to store it in my barn. Any opinions welcomed , thanks in advance

Tylan is for prevention of liver abscesses, monensin helps improve feed efficiency, control of coccidiosis, reduces bloat, and increases forage digestability even seen claims that monensin has a positive effect on mineral absorption. I can't honestly tell you if it actually does help with minerals or not but I will vouch for all the other claims I listed. You should be able to go to any feedmill and have both products mixed together into a pellet with protein and then bagged so it can be hand fed along with your daily grain or whatever you had in mind. Kent Feeds makes a pellet so does Farmland, and Golden Sun, and Land o Lakes and Purina. The combination of monensin and tylan was and still continues to be one of the best things that ever happened to the cattle industry.

 

[kscowboy]

thanks somn , i'll check with my mill , i appreciate the help !

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

There are cattle weight tapes available.

Years ago, we raised a bottle holstein to butcher. Meat was surprisingly good. Not very dark red, more of a lighter color. In this case we butchered him too young, about 700#.

I would be extremely surprised to see one hang a carcass over 55% of live weight, and 50% is probably more predictable. They are not engineered for carcass performance. We fed ours a 16% "dairy textured sweet feed." Co-op brand.

Well you would certainly be surprised then because a calf fed holstien fed properly will yield as well as any beef breed and grade as well as any beef breed and they will do it consistantly unlike most the crossbred mongrels of todays beef. If you would like I can get you a number to IBP and they could give you a unbiased look into the yielding and grading results of todays calf fed holstiens.

But most times when people come here and state that a holstien steer will only yield 55% or less usually it is a great indicator of how little they understand the breed itself and how to feed them. Most times their history with the breed is they had one once they threw it out on grass and then killed it weighing 700 pounds. And said it wasn't any good and the meat was light pink. Well what did you expect you killed a calf.

I am aware that I didn't do it right. I've raised a number of feeder calves in the years since. If you read my post you would see that I DID NOT just throw him out on grass. He had sweet feed from the time that he was able to eat.

I was not basing my statement about hanging weight on personal experience, but on what others with experience told me.

They will gain quickly, but they do not convert as efficiently as many beef breeds. I agree that the nations cowherd is mongrelized.

I never drylot when I am feeding. The feeders run on about an acre, and are fed several gallons per day of Tindle Sweet 12 or Southern Style, with extra corn added toward the end. I feed hay as well. I have a list of satisfied customers, so I must be doing something right. I like to think the Hereford link has something to do with it...

No offense taken or meant, just wanted to clarify.