Shipping Out (pics)

[topside1]

From time to time folks ask about raising dairy steers for beef, how long does it take, how much do they weigh, hanging weight, hanging time, percentages? Well for those who are interested these two boys are heading to the slaughterhouse tomorrow morning. Both are 100% Holsteins, the little one is a bull and was raised on grass and Jersey milk only (1-3 Gallons per day) his entire life. He is exactly 4 months old. The bigger one is 1 year old tomorrow, bottle raised using the standard methods, nothing special, and weaned at 8 weeks old. I will post their live weights tomorrow afternoon...Enjoy your last sunset boys,,,,Topside

[Tobster]

I look forward to updates. Thanks Topside.

[farmerjon]

Whens the steak roast?? How come you are sending the little one so soon?

[topside1]

The little bull will be butchered for veal...

[gone-a-milkin]

They look delicious to me.

[LizD]

He's (vealer) filled out nicely; nice and long ... lots of chops there!! Let us know the weights, liz

[topside1]

Thanks Liz, I've been dumping the milk down him for several weeks now...."Vealer" has been a good old boy....Weigh-in tomorrow...

[Dairymaid]

Here's a picture of one of our butcher steers. His day is coming in about a month or two. he is 3 years old. We wait until they reach full maturity before butchering, just for our preference.

This is Bert, I have a picture of a 5'5 person beside him for size comparison. (Wasn't sure what else I could put by him to show you how tall he is. lol.) She is leaning slightly, but not much.




And here's a full body picture.



His gentics are tall gangly and goofy looking. His mother was the same way. Most of our Jersey "beeves" are more blocky.
We had another steer we butchered that was just a wee bit bigger than him, and his hanging weight, was 1,100. He was grass fed and yes, he was 100% jersey.
Raising dairy steers for butcher is great. It's all we eat. if one starts them right, and keeps them on good grass...the results can be suprising. Good for you topside for trying it out! Happy eating!

[LizD]

Yes we raise our Dexters (grass only) to 30 months before butchering. At 36 months and over we lose part of the spine, t-bone bone, for bse testing. It's even touch and go at 30 months depending when they produce their back molers L

[Cheryl aka JM]

Thanks for this thread. I'm really looking forward to the updates. I'm raising my first steers ever right now~ a holstein and a holstein jersey cross. Since this is the first time I've ever raised any cow~ I don't have any exp to draw upon.......I've really been wondering about what age, what size, and what to expect at butcher. Any information anyone wants to share would be nice!

So topside is butchering at 1 year~ and a few others are butchering at 3 years. What are the pros and cons of each? I understand the obvious pro of butchering before feeding through winter but 2 years is quite a bit of time so there is probably more to the consideration than that.

And what is this about bse testing and back molers?

Thanks!

[topside1]

Well the boys are probably in the skinning room by now. Weigh-in on the "Vealer" was 289 pounds. Weigh-in on the yearling was 890. Cheryl, if I had my choice the steer would have stayed on the farm another 4-6 months. My decision was based on my nearly bare freezer selves. Timing is everything, will post dressed weight and hanging weights if available. The little bull will only age for three days, while the steer will be aged for 21 days...Topside

[gone-a-milkin]

21 days will be perfect.

[Cheryl aka JM]

Weights at 289 for Vealer and 890 for the yearling are total weight (meaning all the parts still in the cow)? This is called "Hanging weight"? (yes~ thats a question!) and after the head, skin and guts are removed is called the "dressed weight"? Have I got that right?

[topside1]

The first weight is live weight, this slaughterhouse charges by the live weight pound. Hanging weight is both sides hanging rough. Dressed weight is when both sides are trimmed of excess fats, skins, bone fragments, the carcass is still hanging and is then considered dressed for processing. Most dressed weights are roughly 45% of live weights...Topside

[LibertyWool]

Interesting that your slaughterhouse charges by live weight. Mine charges by hanging weight plus a kill fee. I have a date next month and have been trying to remember if it is 0.35 or 0.55 per lb hanging weight (that is for cut and vacuum packed). What do they charge in your area when they do it by live weight?

[topside1]

Liberty, all the houses in my area charge by the live weight, never asked why. I really like the idea because I can unload and witness the animial on the scales. We pay .22-.24 cents per live weight pound, $20 dollar kill fee, vaccume packing, the usual stuff..topside

[mary,tx]

Topside, you are getting a good deal on processing. Ours charged $20 for years on the slaughter fee, but has gone up to $50, and is up from .35/pound a couple of years ago to .40/pound last time we were in.

When you double the processing price, it adds considerably to the $ in the beef.

[mary,tx]

We don't get vacuum packing, either, that is just wrapped once in butcher paper.

[Harmony Goats]

Our butcher just charges the dress weight. I know for pigs its .35 per pound of meat and .45 for cured meat. So roughly for a pig it's about .40 a pound. I belive it is the same price for cattle the .35 per pound. I know goats and sheep no matter what size they are is a $50 flat fee and they even butcher deer. They just do the butcher paper and have it frozen solid when you get it, but you can also watch them cut the meat and package it right in front of you. I have been really pleased with them. It is a father and a son that process the meat. They have someone else that butchers the animals for them, and the butcher site is about 2 miles away from where they process the meat.

[BoiseCougar]

I recently had two jersey steers sent to the slaughter house. The pricing is on hanging weight. .45/lb plus $86 kill fee, I used a mobile kill guy. This butcher double vacuum seals and has the top reputation around here in the south west part of Idaho.