pushing them too quick to finish

[Colin]

Just had two steers done, both 26 months. They have been kept together since they were calves and enjoyed the lush grass we had over the summer and autumn. Both graded as O+3. One was perfect, the other over finished. I was surprised by this. What are the signs to check for if they're becoming over done ?

Regards,

Colin

[Mark Bowles]

If both graded at o+3 then i would say neither were over finished, spot on.

[Colin]

Mark, the trouble is I trust the butcher more than the abattoir. I've had one or two surprising results in the past in terms of the grading. I'm not overly confident in the execution of the grading process.

Regards,

Colin

[Mark Bowles]

Oh dear, i see your point.

[Broomcroft]

What are the signs to check for if they're becoming over done ?

It's impossible to get it right IMO. Some can look and feel the same but you get a call about one being over-fat when it looked just like the other one. Had that twice this year. Also it depends on the butcher. One cannot have enough fat (within reason), others can be more sensitive to it. O+3 isn't fat, we would call that under-finished!

[Colin]

Thanks Clive. Not easy is it. Seems I've done nothing particularly wrong. He was a big framed steer and a very good weight. Normally I would have kept him a couple of months longer if we weren't targetting Xmas.

Regards,

Colin

[littleacre]

ive had a rather in depth talk today with my freind. he still is of the opinion that you must get the grub into them. and says my 2 steers will be ready in march april. . ive checked the paperwork for theese 2 steers and 1 will be 2 in aprill and the other 1 2years old in may. my opinion is they should both go back out to grass in aprill and be left untill sep oct when they will go off. and thus would have (finished on grass) if they are fed a good diet of hay and silage through the winter they will continue to grow on they are in the shed so are not using food to keep warm as such. my way of thinking is keep them going but not to pile on the weight now but wait for the spring grass. , im sorry to say it got heated and i will be taking them back to our place with the other 30 odd cows we have.. . i dont like telling older people than me that they are wrong and hes been around cattle since befor i was born , but they are not commercial cattle . .

[Mark Bowles]

Hi Littleacre, sorry about your fallout, that is yet another instance of the cattle community not really "getting " the dexter. We fall in this dual purpose slot that is filled with other dual purpose cattle breeds that can't make it big, the dexter has now made it big! People still don't understand,as ever we have to fight our own corner which dexter owners are very good at.

[littleacre]

yes i agree mark. im glad i dug my heals in on this. . im sure he will come round to my way of thinking. we have people wait all year for our beef so i dont want to rush things and mess them up