Baby Beef

almosthomefarm · #1 01/05/08, 08:31 AM

We have a 3 month old full Jersey bull calf. We are looking into butchering him for baby beef/veal but are not sure at what age to do this. He is still nursing and is on pasture as well.

Can anyone tell me the proper age and/or weight?

Thanks-

Amy

robin f · #2 01/05/08, 09:53 AM

i take my holsteins and ayrshires up to 600lbs, i keep them on ad lib whole corn and soya meal mix. ratio 5 to 1, the only other feed they get is if they eat any of their bedding, hay straw mix, with free access to a mineral lick. this year i'm trying some jerseys, not sure how that will work, but they seem to be growing fast, differant people say 500 lbs is better, after that the feed to gain ratio decreases, i can't say if thats true or not as so far i have not proccesed any at 500. if your calf is on the cow, he should be doing well, have you taped him and what wieght is he now, do you have any pics

almosthomefarm · #3 01/05/08, 10:34 AM

Approximately how long does it take for a bull calf to get to 500 lbs??

Thanks

robin f · #4 01/05/08, 11:06 AM

depends what you feed them, it takes me around 5 months to get a holstien bull calf to 600lbs, i'm sure a jersey will take longer, but if yours is getting lots of milk and good grass so should do well too, the best thing to do is go to your feed store and get a cattle weigh tape and put the tape around him and see what it reads out at,

look at other threads on here, such as ........ is this a good price for a steer, and ......... topside asked me to post some pics.......... both those threads are mainly about growing young calves, some for beef some for dairy

and keep asking questions, thats how we all learn, this is my first time with jerseys lol i may never do it again, or i may be very pleased with the results, time will tell

plus we all feed differantly, and live in differant climates, which sometimes will make a great differance on how we feed

the guy over the road from me only feeds hay and grass, but it takes him 2 1/2 yrs to get his animals ready to kill, ( and then they ain't what i call fat) i can do 5 in that time, to his one. but thats his way and this is my way. he has lots of land, i don't, he can make tons of hay, i cant, he dont buy any feed , i do, i guess what i'm trying to say is, we all do things differant and the way that its best for us