What to do with yearling bulls

[Cannon_Farms]

I have a friend with two almost yearling bulls that he just never got around to making them steers. I have never heard it was ever too late to castrate then butcher a bit later but he had some one tell him that the meat would be bad and very tough.
I have never allowed a bull to become a bull as soon as the litter feller gets home its off with them so I can not advise them.
Bulls like most male animals are a dime a dozen so I dont think he would be able to sell them except at an auction as they are nothing special. I drool when I look at them though, if they where steers I would have already put them in my freezer.

[tinknal]

At a year old the beef should be fine. You CAN castrate them but the risks of severe bleeding and infection are greater when they are older. If they are in good condition I would butcher. If not in good condition I would pour the grain to them for 30 - 60 days and then butcher them.

[sammyd]

cut em and let em grow for another year.

[Callieslamb]

I just had one done a couple months ago at 9 months. I did it becasue he was getting to mean to be in a pen with. The vet put a HUGE band on him. Worked like a charm - it just cost $50...... OUCH!!

[Cannon_Farms]

They are in very very good condition and about the size I normally do mine, granted I loose some meat but I only have so much room in the freezer.

That question is leading to this one, is a bull ever not a good idea to eat? I wont eat buck goat or deer meat because of the flavor, dose the bulls have a different texture or taste as well?

[linn]

You can band them yourselves. The set is expensive, but at $50 per animal, it would soon pay for itself.

[Allen W]

Butcher them they will be good eating if in good condition.

[springvalley]

At a year I don`t think I would worry much about them being of bad taste. I just did a two year old jersey, and while he does taste different than the steer, he does not taste bad. So go ahead and enjoy, don`t spend the extra money on the Vet.>Thanks Marc

[Onthebit]

I just sent a 4yr old bull to freezer camp and his meat is absolutely delicious. He was a working bull too and grass fed. Of course he was a Dexter and they are world renowned as gourmet. I don't know about commercially bred bulls though........

[ufo_chris]

There was another tread on here about eating Bulls and older ones too ,sorry you'll have to do a search don't remember where it was.
I remember though just about everybody said Bull meat is fine and most the time you can not tell the difference,especially if they are this young.

[Molly Mckee]

Someone convinced my nephew that bulls would grow faster than steers and there was no difference in the taste of the meat. They were Angus-dairy cross bulls, grass feed with thirty days of grain. They tasted so bad my daughter (she bought a half and is frugal to the point of cheap) took it to the back of their property and feed it to the coyotes. I tried some and it was horrible.
There is a good reason why steers bring a much higher price at market.

[sammyd]

the secret is to cut them at around 600 pounds according to our neighbor who ran a large feeding operation behind us for years. The gonads let the animals grow a big frame and then when they lose them they fill it out.

[Terri]

My husbands uncle found out that the local buyers only docked a bull $5 at the local auction house. He never castrated another calf.

That WAS 30 years ago in Tennessee: your own local prices might be different.

[Cannon_Farms]

At the auction house I grew up around (daddy was a cattle hauler on the weekends) they would just castrate them as they where being loaded on the trailer and the cattle dogs where all there waiting for that weekend treat. Never got used to the squishy sound they made as they popped.
Im sending those good folks a like to the thread and hope we will be having a beef cookout soon