In a previous posting Mark, you stated that you preferred Long-legged bull calves for beef rather than Short-legged calves. The Short-legged calves produce just as much meat as the Long-legged ones do, don't they? And without the extra weight in the leg bones, they would give a higher bone-out percentage. Which is what counts, isn't it?
Not that I have many Short-Legged Dexters myself. Most of them are Long-legged.
A Question for Mark - Bone-out % in Short vs Long legs.
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Mark Bowles
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Generally the non-shorts can go longer without adding fat, ie 28 to 30 months and therefore produce a larger carcass, i find short legs can finish earlier and therefore not get the size thru age.
No doubt others find the opposite, but we are on good fertile Soar valley grassland that may contibute. We also dont feed concentrate to the steers.
Lets hear from other finishers.
Mark
No doubt others find the opposite, but we are on good fertile Soar valley grassland that may contibute. We also dont feed concentrate to the steers.
Lets hear from other finishers.
Mark
Mark Bowles
Linford Dexters
Webmaster
Linford Dexters
Webmaster
Maybe you could breakfeed your Short-legged Dexters, in a separate group from the Long-legged ones, so that they don't run to fat so fast? Although, on small properties, I can see that being a problem, rotation wise.
You're right about the Short-legged Dexters keeping their condition though. One of ours never seems to lose weight, even during winter, when there is less grass available. I hope we get a heifer calf from her this year. Her genes suit our hill country well.
NZ Farmers often make use of electric fences and give their animals a limited amount of feed per day. It helps to conserve feed and makes it easier to control the condition of their animals (and their paddocks). Especially during the Spring flush, if some of the cows are later calving than the rest of the herd. That way they don't have calves arriving which are too big because it's Mum had too much good grass during the end of her pregnancy.
The only animals we give concentrates to, are the ones (usually Mums) who are looking a bit poorly and maybe need a bit of a boost when they're nearing the end of rearing their calf. But I'm looking at selling those ones to a farmer on a better piece of land than we have. He's got plenty of lush grass on a flat piece of land, so it's easier for the older cows. All the rest of our stock are purely grass fed, with hay during the winter. They also get salt licks and molasses when needed, if the quality of the grass isn't so good. But generally they're a healthy bunch.
You're right about the Short-legged Dexters keeping their condition though. One of ours never seems to lose weight, even during winter, when there is less grass available. I hope we get a heifer calf from her this year. Her genes suit our hill country well.
NZ Farmers often make use of electric fences and give their animals a limited amount of feed per day. It helps to conserve feed and makes it easier to control the condition of their animals (and their paddocks). Especially during the Spring flush, if some of the cows are later calving than the rest of the herd. That way they don't have calves arriving which are too big because it's Mum had too much good grass during the end of her pregnancy.
The only animals we give concentrates to, are the ones (usually Mums) who are looking a bit poorly and maybe need a bit of a boost when they're nearing the end of rearing their calf. But I'm looking at selling those ones to a farmer on a better piece of land than we have. He's got plenty of lush grass on a flat piece of land, so it's easier for the older cows. All the rest of our stock are purely grass fed, with hay during the winter. They also get salt licks and molasses when needed, if the quality of the grass isn't so good. But generally they're a healthy bunch.
Inger
NZ
NZ
Ive mentioned this before on this website, so sorry for repeating myself(!) but on my statistics it is generally the small non-shorts ie the non-existent medium dexters that perform best and give the best value of meat. It is not just how much meat you get off a carcass, it is how much "valuable meat" as opposed to mince and stew etc.
The main reason I don't usually use short legged steers is because the butchering costs don't significantly alter considering the smaller weight, so the overheads are higher.
It would be a huge advantage for breeders to share more of their information regarding the weights they achieve and the diet given, so that a more informed decision could be made about the type of bull to use/length of back/height etc. We have in the past had a DCS council member whose job is "Beef Promotion" although I don't know if it still exist this year.
What exactly has been done to promote Dexter Beef by the Society? This isn't a dig at the DCS, it is just that I would like to know incase there is something that may benefit me with my beef sales.
Penny
The main reason I don't usually use short legged steers is because the butchering costs don't significantly alter considering the smaller weight, so the overheads are higher.
It would be a huge advantage for breeders to share more of their information regarding the weights they achieve and the diet given, so that a more informed decision could be made about the type of bull to use/length of back/height etc. We have in the past had a DCS council member whose job is "Beef Promotion" although I don't know if it still exist this year.
What exactly has been done to promote Dexter Beef by the Society? This isn't a dig at the DCS, it is just that I would like to know incase there is something that may benefit me with my beef sales.
Penny
From my experience, I would tend to prefer to kill shorts at 20-24 months, and longs at 24-30 months, on an all grass diet. Last year we had one of each & the short finished earlier at about 22m, the long at almost 30. This year, circumstances meant that we kept a short steer over winter, when he could have gone before, and if anything he has stood still, if not lost some condition, and now needs a bit of spring grass to bring him back up before going at 30m, whereas his long companion looks much better for running on longer. I haven't had any steers running too fat (perhaps because of the grass-only feeding) though.