advice please

[brierpatch1974]

I am looking for some cattle for home beef use. What breed would be best for me? I have 15 acres of pasture along with about 5 acres of fenced in woods. Also at what age is it best to butcher beef?
I know I need a smaller breed do to not mcuh land space. But how much land do the Highlanders need. I am really interested in them. Or any breed that I have the space for to maybe butcher 2 a year. I am located in West Virginia. Thanks for the advice.

BP

[brierpatch1974]

anyone with ideas for me? lol Please ?

BP

[Dutchie]

I am partial to Dexters. They only need about an acre per animal, their beef is very lean and they eat shrubs as well as grass.

[farmerdan]

Red Poll are good dual animals. I have a few red poll x hereford cross if you're interested. I'm in SW Michigan.

Dan

[Christiaan]

I raise Highland on my 3.25 acres. One cow with calf and usually a steer. You could obviously raise quite a few more. Highlands also like to browse so they would be very happy in a woodlot. Not familiar with WV, but if you have year-round grass production and a good rotation system you would not have to supplement with hay. Our grass is dormant from Nov/Dec to April/May so we feed local hay, roughly two to three tons for the trio. No grain is needed unless you like to grain finish for the last two months before slaughter. Highlands do take a bit longer to grow so slaughter is usually at 24 to 30 months. This older beef gives, IMHO, much more flavor to the beef. Highland are small, generally docile, have great looks (love those horns!) and are about the easiest livestock to raise that I've ever had.

[momanto]

As We Inherited Our Herd Of Mixed Breeds With A Reg.hereford Bull, I Dont Know About Dexters. I Do Know We Got Rid Of Any And All Cows With Horns. With Our Full Sized Animals, The Ones With Horns Knew They Had The Advantage. We Mostly Bucket Train Our Cows, Only Having Horse Roundup About Once A Year. Mainly To Round Up That Remnant W/horns.