Are bulls good for butchering ?

[CountryFried]

This bull was born last fall to my father. He never got around to castrating him. Now he needs to get rid of him, since he has a heifer he doesn't want him to breed. The bull is a angus, the heifer a jersey. He's offered it to us for a freezer beef. We wondered if there is anything wrong with fattening him , and taking him to be butchered ? Does it make a huge difference if he had been made into a steer first ??
Thanks,
Sherry

[commomsense]

Yes,he would make good beef. The meat would be alittle tough.

[wilderness1989]

I butchered an older registered Texas Longhorn bull and ground it all into hamburger....it was the best hamburger I have ever had.

[Ken Scharabok]

A generality: If you process an intact bull before about 18 months of age it will basically be like a steer. Older than that their hormones kick in and beef may become a bit tough and not as flavorful. Old cull bulls generally end up in processed meat products (e.g., baloney) or pet food.

Old joke on sending an old bull to market - he is going to work for Oscar Myers.

Have heard it enough to where I am more or less a believer how cattle are killed is as important as where. If you put down a beef animal with their head in a feed bucket chances are it is going to be tenderer to start with than one which is loaded and hauled to a processing facility where they immediately smell 'impending death' and the adeline (sp?) kicks in to affect the meat.

[travlnusa]

In the past, I had bought an intact bull at about 10 months old. Brought him home, steered him, feed for 4 months, butchered him.

All was well.

[ozark_jewels]

We have butchered and eaten Jersey bulls since we started raising Jerseys 18 years or so ago. We generally buy a quality Jersey bull calf as a week old bottle calf, raise him and use him to breed for a couple years, then butcher him before he can really think about acting up too bad. The meat is excellent. We kill it on the farm with grain in his mouth and I think that helps with the tenderness and flavour(no stress). We make sure to have a new bull growing up to take his place before we butcher the older one.
Steaks may be a bit tough, but not always. The roasts and burger are delicious. We also butchered a yearling Jersey bull this past spring(like you said, didn't get around to steering him). The meat is excellent!

[CountryFried]

Thanks very much !! This helps ALOT!

Sherry

[dezeeuwgoats]

A friend of mine has an old miniature jersey bull she is trying to sell - he's oversized, and not registered. Would I be able to make hamburger out of him successfully, do you think?

How much is a fair price per pound to offer?

thanks;
Niki

[Rick Allen]

We recently butchered a Jersey/ Highland-Angus bull that was 16 mo old. We ground it all to be safe. The burger is very good and very lean, does not shrink when cooked, and there is little grease to drain from the pan. I expect its very healthy with a fat content more like chicken.

The butcher told us that it is hard to fatten a bull until well after he is fully grown. Most of what he eats will be converted into muscle. Our butcher has processed several fattened bulls that were 2500 lbs plus with plenty of marbling and were tender as well. The amount of feed it would take to get them to this point, at 24 months old or more, probably makes this pretty pricy beef and that is why its usually not done.

If you make steaks with him now and they aren't tender you can always grind them up later but this could be a pain and it would be difficult to mix with the rest of the frozen burger. If I were you to be safe I'm make all burger except the tenderloin. Because your bull is young the meat should be OK. If you don't want your beef this lean another option would be to slaughter another animal like a older cow with plenty of body fat and mix the burger together with your bull. No matter how you do it this bull should be well worth the processing cost.

[CountryFried]

Thanks for your comments !

[Carol K]

If the steaks are on the tougher side, just casserole everything in gravy. No sense in worrying about it, try it, I wouldn't get it all ground though. Winter casseroles with mashed taters and veggies, what more could you ask for? Go for it.

Carol

[rman]

You shouldn't notice the difference if he is under 17-18 months. After that he might be just a bit tougher and gamey but even then that meat will beat the heck out of tofu.

[dezeeuwgoats]

Thanks for everyone's responses - I actually started another thread with my question and forgot that I had asked here.......The bull I'm asking about is OLD - five years + is my guess.

Niki