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freezer beef ?'s

R

R A

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
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Location
Missouri
I just started eating my extra roosters I've raised and WOW are they good....not even meat birds. My first garden was last year and my hog should be done tomorrow. Upping my gardens and getting meat chickens and a few turkeys this spring. Anyway I can't imagine how a home raised beef will taste and will be doing that....thought I might start ironing all that out. Any info on that would be appreciated!

Does it really matter whether heifer or steer?

Grass, hay, grain??? all of it and at different times?

Do you pick the best one...middle one....worst one?

How old to butcher?

Info - They will be mid to late march born calves/April. My steers have been around 650 in the sale barn ring at 7 months....that's all I can go by on weights. I can dry lot it or have it on grass. I don't know what else to put here to help show my situation???

I think it would be good for me to see how my calves feed out and taste also if doing this will show that any.

Thanks!
 
You are asking a loaded question, as each of us have an "ideal" taste in mind. Myself, I like corn fed Longhorn for everyday eating. For company, I like corn fed Limmy. Truth be told, I would just as soon eat a yearling virgin bull, corn fed of course.
I put mine on full feed, self feeder, with corn. Good doing critters, weighing 600 plus, about 180 to 220 days. All the corn, and grass hay they can eat.
Longhorns, I try to wait until they are full yearlings, then it still takes 200 plus days.
Just my opinion, but I have people asking for beef all the time, so I must be doing something right.
 
LazyWP said:
You are asking a loaded question, as each of us have an "ideal" taste in mind. Myself, I like corn fed Longhorn for everyday eating. For company, I like corn fed Limmy. Truth be told, I would just as soon eat a yearling virgin bull, corn fed of course.
I put mine on full feed, self feeder, with corn. Good doing critters, weighing 600 plus, about 180 to 220 days. All the corn, and grass hay they can eat.
Longhorns, I try to wait until they are full yearlings, then it still takes 200 plus days.
Just my opinion, but I have people asking for beef all the time, so I must be doing something right.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah, this is just like my welder, small square baler problems, everything I get into situations......I just don't have one single thing to go on..... :D
 
Like LazyWP said, everyone has a different opinion on this so it all comes down to personal preference. I believe corn should only be eaten on the cob, and never be made into whiskey of beef!
I prefer a younger cow that didn't raise a calf and came in in the fall in good shape. Hay and possibly some barley for a while. Hanging time seems to be the key ingredient, the longer you can leave it on the hook the better the result.
 
we always picked the one that would drop the price on the others.. finished it on corn and butchered when we had time...

the last two I had were grass fed only and I wouldn't recommend them..
most of the cuts were fine except the steaks..
steaks all tasted a bit greasy to me.. they did grill nice.. just didn't pan fry well.. so rain or shine,.. we grilled them..

no matter how you do it it will taste better ... knowing you raised it..
 
we milked both Holsteins and Jersey's. We fattened the dairy strs. along with our beef calves, and we usually butchered a Jersey steer for home use.

City kin would come to visit and would rave over the great beef Mom would fix. They said "you sure can't buy beef like that in the store." Fifty or sixty bu. ground ear corn ( I shoveled most of it) will usually make most bovines tasty.

Oh and yes, Mom was a great 'Cook.'
 
If you get a first calf hf that didn't rebreed and let her get in good shape on grass then put her in and grain her. I like to see them filling out in the brisket area and bulges of fat showing beside the tail head. Again just like buying PB bulls. Everybody says they don't want fat but it sure makes some tastes in my opinion.
Or like somebody else said, something that would make the rest sell for less.My guess is you don't lose many ears to freezing down your way.
 
Like most have said, I used to keep a "discount" type of animal for our own use. However a long time ago, I had a complete change of heart and decided that if I'm raising it, I'm keeping the best for our house and have been doing it that way ever since.

We keep the late summer calves, feed a growing ration through the winter, turn them back out on grass for the summer and increase the grain corn to them toward fall until they're finished like BMr said. Makes for nicely marbled steaks and roasts and they usually end up at about 1450 at around 15 - 16 months. The pasture they go on is rotationally grazed legume/grass mix, so it packs some punch.
 
The last several times we have used either open replacement heifers or 2 year old replaement heifers that lost their calf. Give a little extra beef flavor IMO.

Last ones were pushed hard on corn for 90 days and it sure made them good. Even the minute steaks are good without dressing them up.
 
R A said:
I just started eating my extra roosters I've raised and WOW are they good....not even meat birds. My first garden was last year and my hog should be done tomorrow. Upping my gardens and getting meat chickens and a few turkeys this spring. Anyway I can't imagine how a home raised beef will taste and will be doing that....thought I might start ironing all that out. Any info on that would be appreciated!

Does it really matter whether heifer or steer?

No. Better to kill a heifer because they are worth less on the market than a steer. Why kill something that could fetch a premium?

Grass, hay, grain??? all of it and at different times?

Hay and grain. Hay keeps everything together and dry so it's not flying out that back end as fast as it's going in.

Do you pick the best one...middle one....worst one?

We always feed and butcher a heifer that didn't breed or that lost it's first calf, or was a poor first-time mother. Something that is young, but is also a disappointment. They are easier to eat than 'pets'.

How old to butcher?

We butcher from 18-30 months after they have been on grain (barley) for at least 90 days.

Info - They will be mid to late march born calves/April. My steers have been around 650 in the sale barn ring at 7 months....that's all I can go by on weights. I can dry lot it or have it on grass. I don't know what else to put here to help show my situation???

I think it would be good for me to see how my calves feed out and taste also if doing this will show that any.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
Hanging time is critical to good tasting tender beef, I think Silver already mentioned that. And that's ONE THING you won't get buying beef in the store.

Older beef has more flavor.

Guy we know used to say "marbling is an old cow disease." Used to be hard
to get younger cattle to marble, but that may have changed.

Nothing wrong with eating a heifer, dry yearling or 2-year old, that's what most ranchers do. We like corn fed.

When you have your hamburger ground up, I'd advise you not to go for the
'leanest' burger. I like burger to 'sizzle' in the pan. Real lean burger is like eating
wild meat burger, IMO. Seems to me it just sits there and then scorches. :P

Good luck! Come back and ask us how we like to have our meat cut up. Now
that will be interesting and we might get some new ideas out of the answers!
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
If you get a first calf hf that didn't rebreed and let her get in good shape on grass then put her in and grain her. I like to see them filling out in the brisket area and bulges of fat showing beside the tail head. Again just like buying PB bulls. Everybody says they don't want fat but it sure makes some tastes in my opinion.
Or like somebody else said, something that would make the rest sell for less.My guess is you don't lose many ears to freezing down your way.
Click to expand...


I have to agree- a first calver that doesn't get rebred is the best-- Fairly good sized cuts- and old enough to present a beef taste....
As far as how fed out- that's to the individual....Personally I like them fat coming off grass- and then put on barley/oats a month or two- and like my old Vet used to say "if there is any question/doubt-- feed them another month or two... :wink: ...
 
Our local locker buys excellent corn-fed beef cattle from smaller area feed lots. We take older open cows to the locker and trade for this corn-fed young fat beef. This system has worked very well for over thirty years, and gives a wonderful supply of great tasting beef. It also eliminates the hassle and inconvenience of feeding chores connected with fattening our own beef. By using the "barter system" (trading old cows for young fat beef), it is also quite user friendly in the tax department.
 
Soapweed said:
Our local locker buys excellent corn-fed beef cattle from smaller area feed lots. We take older open cows to the locker and trade for this corn-fed young fat beef. This system has worked very well for over thirty years, and gives a wonderful supply of great tasting beef. It also eliminates the hassle and inconvenience of feeding chores connected with fattening our own beef. By using the "barter system" (trading old cows for young fat beef), it is also quite user friendly in the tax department.
Click to expand...

That would be handy . :D Feeding one or two is alway just as much chore as feeding a hundred it seems. :?
It's not cheap getting a animal processed anymore but it is nice when you find a good butcher and eat you own beef. :D
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Soapweed said:
Our local locker buys excellent corn-fed beef cattle from smaller area feed lots. We take older open cows to the locker and trade for this corn-fed young fat beef. This system has worked very well for over thirty years, and gives a wonderful supply of great tasting beef. It also eliminates the hassle and inconvenience of feeding chores connected with fattening our own beef. By using the "barter system" (trading old cows for young fat beef), it is also quite user friendly in the tax department.
Click to expand...

That would be handy . :D Feeding one or two is alway just as much chore as feeding a hundred it seems. :?
It's not cheap getting a animal processed anymore but it is nice when you find a good butcher and eat you own beef. :D
Click to expand...

I think the last one we had done was over $400. And they cut the steaks too
thin,,, :x Beef was delicious tho. We have a friend whose WIFE feeds
them every day. :D
 
Sent ya a PM RA. :D

We have finished beef for ourselves and customers for over 15 years. I enjoy feeding calves and feel our system works well. There are lots of way to do it and i know you'll find a way that suits you.
 
Like everyone else has said, raising your own is good and there are many ways to do it. We raise and sell four or five sides of beef a year and our customers love the quality and flavor of home raised beef. We background three to four steer calves (heifers work fine) on good grass hay through the winter, then in the spring turn them out on grass with the recipe cows and other cattle we are going to AI, this way they mark the in heat cattle ( serves to purposes) in the spring and have lots of grass to eat. In Sept we pull them off the grass and feed them free choice hay and some grain/ grain byproduct for 45 days then butcher, 18 to 19 months old 1200 + or -lbs. It works great for us. good luck
 
Yeah, we feed ours too.. Here it's 46 cents to cut a wrap meat. So prolly $2.46 to $2.52 for a quarter or half.. Usually it's calves that are just to small to sell so we keep them and run them over the summer and then we feed them through the summer and take them to town the following first of the year. We have two really, really good places to take ours. One is in our very hometown and the other is Chuckwagon Meats in Arthur Nebraska.... They do an awesome job...
 
katrina said:
Yeah, we feed ours too.. Here it's 46 cents to cut a wrap meat. So prolly $2.46 to $2.52 for a quarter or half.. Usually it's calves that are just to small to sell so we keep them and run them over the summer and then we feed them through the summer and take them to town the following first of the year. We have two really, really good places to take ours. One is in our very hometown and the other is Chuckwagon Meats in Arthur Nebraska.... They do an awesome job...
Click to expand...

Has anyone tried going to Mullen? I know there are quite a few critters from South Dakota going down there. There are times where having the USDA inspector would be beneficial to selling meat. All of ours is sold on the hoof, then divided at the locker.
On top of your 46 cents, you have to throw in the kill fee also. I think its $25, or $50.
 

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