Bull calves versus steers

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Sat May 16, 2009 9:27 pm

14 months is the youngest. he was chunky but small. he would have been better left for another 4 months but we were desperate for stock

most of our customers who bought it ordered for this next one

i have to admit both these young bull were finished on cake.
at 14 months he was 128kgs dead. this last bull was smaller at that time and has just killed at 228kg 4-5 months with 110kg + weight increase.
i started to cut it yesterday and i have to admit it has too light fat cover

dom

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sat May 16, 2009 10:27 pm

Over the years we have killed two entire bulls for beef. Both were used for breeding once and slaughtered straight off grass, and the main problem was lack of fat cover. Burnside Panjandrum was born 25/07/93, killed 15/06/95, liveweight 290kg, deadweight 148kg. Burnside Brigadier born 05/03/02, killed 28/06/04, weights lost, but heavier than the first one.

The only heifer we have ever slaughtered was twin to a heifer, but did not settle when AI'd, and after a few times trying I decided that she was going to be too big to be a good dexter anyway. She was born 02/07/90 and killed 12/02/92 330kg live, 199kg dead, and probably the best for taste and tenderness we have ever had.

Duncan

catomell · Post by **catomell** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:59 pm

Thanks Duncan,
As far as taste and tenderness, I have to be honest and say that the best that we have slaughtered was in fact an OTM cow, who had calved once, and refused to take after that. She was definitely the nicest, most tender beef that we have ever eaten. Having spoken to a number of beef farmers in this part of the world (North Devon), they have all told me that it used to be common practice to calve a cow once, then slaughter it for meat if it was in the slightest way lacking. They have all told me that the hormonal input is what added to the flavour of the meat. Is this just an old wives' tale? - I would like to think not, having tasted beautiful Dexter meat from a lovely cow - albeit one who flatly refused to get pregnant a second time - perhaps her first calf put her off for life!!

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Tue May 19, 2009 12:21 pm

We're presently eating a barren 3yr old heifer who turned out to have a cyst in one of her ovaries. Which would be why she failed to get in-calf for the past two seasons. She behaved like a bull and grew to 500kgs. Her fat cover was adequate and we got 167kgs of meat back. The fillet steak is very tender. We haven't had the chance to try anything other than ox tail and the fillet yet, but I'm really looking forward to the rest of her. Shame we didn't get a calf out of her, as she's the last of that female line, but we do appreciate her meat.

boydd · Post by **boydd** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:04 pm

We leave all our bull calf ( that we fatten) complete unill they are 6 months old, this gives them a more "bully" head and by getting the vet to do this we are sure we have had the castrated and havnt left a "stone up" we also found that they tend to weigh better.... works for me

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:46 pm

Anyone who was interested, the bull we killed a month or so back was cut up and sold at the weekend.

everything sold on saturday, comments rained in..... it was fantastic! very tender very tasty, but lacking in a bit of fat.
a french restaurant had the ribs and sold them, each rib was a roast for 2 and carved at the table. the chef phoned up on tuesday to ask for more information about this "Dexter" it was really good.
its his boss who does the ordering and he was already in the know

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:23 pm

How old was the bull and how was he finished?

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Thu May 28, 2009 1:01 pm

18 months heavily finished on cake and silage.

i think the weights are on an earlier posting on this topic

dom