Finishing Youngsters

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:29 am

Hi

I have a hole in my production caused by changing my calving. To try and fill the hole I am buying in but also want to consider finishing younger for about 15-20 animals because otherwise I'll have nothing and then too many all at once. Normally I finish at 22-26 months (non-shorts).

Have you ever finished Dexters early, i.e. maybe as young as 18 months, or whatever age? If so, how did you do it and what results did you get deadweight/carcass quality? Did pushing them to finish early create too much fat?

I know how people do it with other breeds, but I need to know with Dexters if at all possible.

I MUST have a good finish, really lean meat would be a disaster for me. Maybe it's not possible.

PS. These are all non-shorts.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1260261131

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:03 am

We had a steer which we killed at 17 months - straight off grass no pushing, I admit very little fat but he ate wonderfully , the BEST flavour ever and so tender. It didn't matter that there was hardly any fat.

Stephanie

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:32 pm

I have finished dexters both steers and heifers with beef nuts. I had no problem with the steers but heifers tended to lay on a lot of fat.
You should keep an eye on them to ensure they do not put too much fat on (muscle is hard to the touch fat is soft). I would start with one kilo night and morning and see how they go. If that is too much then cut back a little, if they seem to be doing ok then increase a little, all down to stockmanship really.

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:34 pm

Sorry Clive, the biggest steer was 19 months when killed and hung weight was about 260 kilo's

Tim Watson · Post by **Tim Watson** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:28 pm

Clive, what weight would you be expecting at 22-26 months?

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:32 pm

i have just finished an angus cross dex at 20 months. o+4l 202kgs. we needed an extra beast and he was the only fat one. he had a share in a few kgs of rolled balrey once a day for the last month. never tried a aa*dex so this will be interesting.
i would have preffered to keep him until spring but he had a fat cover and looked somewhere near. i think we could have grown a bit more 30kg a side more by spring.

dom

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:27 pm

"never tried a aa*dex so this will be interesting." dom - please let us know what the beef is like if you can. Got 40 cows due to my Angus in March so really interested. I keep telling people I've got an Angus so that I can improve their beef by adding Dexter. They always smile because they think I'm joking, but of course I'm not, as we all know.

Tim - My average deadweight is 220kg at 24-26 months for a steer. With heifers I seem to do the opposite of the main stream in that instead if sending them early before they put on fat, I make sure they are just kept with cows on very medium quality feed that keeps fat at bay, but then send them late 27-28 months. Seems to work but I haven't done many heifers till lately, been keeping them or selling them for breeding. Prefer to do that if I can except poor ones.

From a deadweight of 220 you'll get about 130 kg (very roughly, varies greatly) of the most fantastic beef you've ever tasted in your life. That's about £1,500 worth of beef at shop prices. And when you've done your own beef, if you do, it'll taste even better because it's home grown and you know exactly where it came from and what it ate.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1260304429

Pennielea · Post by **Pennielea** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:37 pm

My aim is to hit the target of O3 regardless of age. As you will see I can do that by 18 months. These are my last 9 killings which are in the notebook. All are steers except 1
18 mnths 168 kgs deadweight O+3 Non short
17 163 O 3 Non short
18 192 O 3 NS
23 234 O+4 Dex/Irish Moiled cross
18 201 O+3 NS
14 150 O+3 Short

18 247 O+4l NS
16 133 O 3 Short
I calve in spring ,allow the calves to suck until Christmas when they are weaned over the holidays. They receive a calf starter ration for three weeks to tame them and reduce stress. That is all the concentrates they receive. They live outside with a run into shelter and access to big bale silage and then finish November/December off summer grass. I used to keep them past 22 momnths to collect the second subsidy (that was probably before your time Clive!) but they were always too fat.

Ian

AlisonKirk · Post by **AlisonKirk** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:29 am

Just picked up a heifer from the abattoir this morning - slaughtered three weeks ago at 19 months of age......92.18kgs beef delivered direct to the chef.

Heifer reared on grass, housed last week September, back clipped, wormed & fed red clover / ryegrass silage.

Alison Kirk
Boram Dexters

pudser · Post by **pudser** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:38 pm

We are not long farming Dexters and have just slughtered 2 steers both 2 years of age. Carcass weight was 120 and 140 kg. Both were short and well finished. I much prefer looking at shorts but would prefer to see non shorts hanging as carcass weights averaging 220 kg are a much more attractive financial proposition

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:28 pm

Quite a variation in the figures! Many thanks for responses, I'm glad I asked. That's given me the confidence to do some younger ones to fill the gap in my output. Never done it before, just stuck to what I know, scared to go outside the box. So I'm going to pick the ones that just look more well-fleshed and give it a go.

We've just changed to spring calving Ian. We were almost all year round. 90% of the herd are now due this coming March-April and I'm going to aim for April-May next year. This should reduce my forage requirements considerably according to the experts, hope they are right! But of course it means I get all my steers tighter together which is the downside for me, but I can't keep calving all year round. Mind you, I'll have 50 calves and 600 lambs all due at the same time, but makes sense to get it all over with and being up late with the lambs will mean I can keep an eye on cows more easily.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1260390716

AlisonKirk · Post by **AlisonKirk** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:46 am

Clive - We calve some 32+ cows in the spring over a three week period (sometimes 7 in one night!); the remainder autumn calvers with one or two during the summer months. We did have a very poorly cow this spring & she was down for about four days after calving - the calf had suckled initially, but then had to pinch off everyone else, so close calving does have its merits. A happy end the calf found its dam when she finally got up and thankfully got together themselves. A bit of luck there, I think.

By starting to sell at an earlier age you will save on fodder. The beef flies out, so don't worry too much about having animals much the same age - as you are only too aware the beef sells itself.

Happy Christmas to you and Caroline

Robert & Alison Kirk
Boram Dexters

jem · Post by **jem** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:52 am

From a deadweight of 220 you'll get about 130 kg (very roughly, varies greatly) of the most fantastic beef you've ever tasted in your life. That's about £1,500 worth of beef at shop prices. And when you've done your own beef, if you do, it'll taste even better because it's home grown and you know exactly where it came from and what it ate.

Clive, who is your market and how much do you charge per lb for a mixed box?

I only sell to friends and family and an example mixed box is:

Cut Qty Weight
Sirloin Steak 2 x 2 steaks 1 lb 7oz
Rump Steak 2 x 2 steaks 1 lb 10oz
Feather Steak 1 x 2 steaks 12oz
Top Side 1 1 lb 13oz
Silver Side 1 2 lb
Top Rump 1 2 lb 9oz
Top Rib 1 1 lb 11oz
Rib 1 3 lb 5oz
Shin 1 1 lb 6oz
Skirt 1 1 lb 7oz
Mince 7 8 lb 5oz
Chuck Steak 2 1 lb 14oz

This box was a total weight of 28 lb 3oz which I sold at £3.75 per lb, giving £105.70

What would you sell this box for (friends & family price!)?

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:24 pm

Jem, We would charge £10.50 per kilo (£4.75 / lb?) for a standard mixed box, friends and family. 8 boxes per animal, usually around 16 kilos per box. In practise, we split boxes up because they're a bit big. That includes a fair share of everything but no offal and it excludes fillet.

I've worked out that the average price for Dexter beef amongst those that show their prices on the web (but only counting those that I know they are kept up to date) is around £11.65 per kilo (£5.30 / lb?), plus delivery charge if mail order.

But I have seen prices down to £6.50 a kilo (and recently) which is probably below the cost of producing it.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1260530893

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:14 pm

PS. The average I worked out of £11.65 / kilo is NOT box prices, it's and average pick and choose price.