Any cattlemen out there?

self | 12/3/2013 | TheRhinelander

[TheRhinelander]

Any cattlemen out there? I'm thinking about raising one for meat. It would be more like free range veal as I'd get it in April and slaughter it in October.

Any experience? Is this a good idea? I'm trying to avoid hay which is expensive. Is that long enough to get good weight? Anything to watch out for?

[Springman]

Ping.

[lee martell]

I can only dream about doing something that adventurous. Meanwhile, I do like those Cattlemen Restaurants and that Supper Menu.

[smokingfrog]

1. Buy a freezer.

2. Buy a side of beef & have it cut to your specifications.

[TheRhinelander]

Will do. I raise chickens but that’s as far as I’ve gone. Lots of places that raise cattle here and I plan on talking to them too.

[elkfersupper]

Raising one is not economical.

Raising 300 or so might be.

Sure, you can control what it's fed, but that guarantees nothing.

in any event, you will wind up with something that cost you $30 per pound that is not worth a fraction of that and doesn't taste any better than what you could buy at the grocery store.

Leave the beef cattle business to the people who do it on a large scale.

[TheRhinelander]

I’ve also considered that. I need to work out the costs.

[Wings-n-Wind]

Don't tell the EPA....
OOpsss too late...

HIDDEN COSTS: Flatulence fee$....
... & all that BS...

[TennesseeGirl]

When I was a kid I loved veal. Then, I found out veal is calf meat. Ugh! Lol, I know; I know. Funny, I don’t mind eating an adult cow. I just can’t kill and eat a calf.

[IMR 4350]

Probably wont be big enough to start feeding on his own in April, you would need a cow and calf.

You might have to take the calf off the cow before October because he could get too big if you have good grass and a good momma cow.

Get a bull calf and cut him young, he would be more than ready for the freezer by October.

[Billthedrill]

It will depend on your forage whether you'll need to augment with feed before market. I think TTR has it right - the people I know locally who only raise one head are usually 4H kids. And oh, my, do they do a good job!

I am not a cattleman, er, cattleperson, BTW. My neighbors raise them. One in particular had the biggest, toughest looking cows I ever saw last year. He called them "Bison".

[tiki]

If it is already vaccinated when you get it you shouldn’t have any vet bills. I would buy one of those molasses buckets because it has vitamins and some extra protein. How old is it going to be when you get it?

[RandallFlagg]

[mabarker1]

sounds like you aren’t familiar with animal husbandry.

He wants to Raise it and Eat it, not Marry it;)

[Bullish]

[Ditter]

If you buy an animal in April, keep in next to your house and plan on killing it in October, your kids and your wife will have made a pet out of it by then, given it a name and they will refuse to eat it. Not only that, they will never forgive you for killing Suzie.

[mrs. a]

One word of caution - let the kiddies name it something like “Sir Loin” or “Barbecue” and not “Buddy.”

[freekitty]

I would recommend Semimetal cattle as they are really tender; but they have changed the breed so much. So I would go with Angus. Ask yourself, can you really eat something you have raised from calf to slaughter?

[mrs. a]

You beat me to it...

[Rio]

You can get a “feeder” calf at the local livestock auction in the Spring. Get angus or hereford. Stay far away from dairy breeds. Steer or heifer doesn’t matter much. Steers may grow just a little faster.

It’s best if you can graze the animal all summer. Hay is expensive - at least it is here.

You will end up with better beef than feed lot beef. It will be leaner and taste better. No funky growth hormones.
It will cost more as your animal will be smallish when you process it (and the feed costs if you have to buy feed).

I save money by doing the cut-and-wrap myself after paying the mobile butcher to slaughter the animals and hang them for two weeks in their locker. Got the instructions on YouTube. It’s a whole-family operation to cut up a cow and get it in the freezer. The dogs profit nicely from all of the bones.

[TomGuy]

That would be my suggestion for someone unfamiliar with raising cattle.

==

I had a ‘city’ friend one time who got the brilliant idea of planting a garden in his back yard. He found out it took a lot of work and upkeep, even though it was only about 15’x15’. It still had to be hoed, weeded, watered, etc., and I ended up doing most of that.

The next spring, he said he might try again. When I told him he would be on his own for the next one, he decided it wasn’t such a brilliant idea after all.