# How many cows does it take to feed a family of 6 for a year?



## rubygirl1235

Hi yall! 

My family and I have raised cattle for years i grew up with them but we never really burched them to feed us for a year. And we mostly breed and sold the calfs. Do any of you have any idea how many cows we would have to raise to feed our family of 6 for a year? Would love any replies from yall! 
thanks


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## bgraham

Well, that depends on how much beef you eat and how big the cow is.

We purchased 1/4 of a small cow about 4 or 5 months ago. I think we ended up with about 100 - 125 pounds total. The ground beef ran out last week. Most of the steaks are gone. We still have several roasts and ribs.
We are a family of four and eat alot of beef.

Next time I plan on buying 1/2 instead of 1/4.

I think 1 whole cow should feed your family for a year.

Beth


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## WindowOrMirror

1 beefer is enough provided you eat a 'normal' amount of beef and it's a normal size butcher cow.


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## Callieslamb

My dad alreays had one steer a year butchered for our family of 7. In later years, he would butcher 2 and share it will all, since we were married and had families.


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## springvalley

Well good question . someone else asked it first but, how often do you eat beef , how much at a time, by how many are eating it. A beef will dress out at the butcher at 60% maybe more depending on the animal. When I was growing up a beef would feed our family of 7 all year. And we at beef almost every day, then on the other hand we ate Holstein meat and they are good sized when fed out all the way. So size of animal and amount is your main factors. 
Thanks Marc


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## vegascowgirl

When I was in school a looooooooonnnng time ago, I was lucky enough to win a side of beef from the U of A (AZ). At the time we were a family of four. That side of beef fed us for well over a year. Of course we didn't have beef every single meal either. 1 good beef steer should be sufficient for a family of six.


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## MN Gardener

When we had 5 kids living with us we would get a full beef and have more then enough. We had beef about 4 times a week and had 4 girls and 1 boy. Now that two of the kids are out of the house we only get a 1/2, which isn't quite enough. So depending on the size, I think a full beef would work for you.


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## ErinP

We eat a lot of beef, but 3/4 of a feeder is plenty for our family of four.


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## olivehill

I agree with those who have said it depends. Depends on the size of the cattle, on how much beef your family eats, etc. 

We're a family of four but we rarely eat red meat. Most of our meals are vegetarian and chicken and fish tend to fill in the gaps where there are not. We actually don't eat beef at all, just venison. 2 decent sized whitetails will feed us for a year easily.


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## uncle Will in In.

Pretty hard to get two whole beeves in one freezer. Better to add other things as the freezer gets down a little. A couple hogs and about 50 chickens will keep you all fat and sassy. Worst comes to the worst, you could eat some vegtables. And cherry pie. <>UNK


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## chickenista

It takes 3! 
One to cook..
one to serve..
and one to clean up!


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## ElectricVette

Thanks for asking the question. That's been on my mind as well.

EV


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## Tirzah

My husband and I get half a cow every year. there are just the two of us and we can make it stretch a full year (with giving plenty away to familes). We eat beef at least twice a week.

Factors I would consider:

~What age and sex are the family members? ( we know a family of 6: 3 females & 3 males. They went through 1/2 a cow in less than six months. Not eating beef every day but because the boys were growing boys )
~Would you have mostly ground butchered or steak and roast cuts too? We usually get around 10-15 pounds of italian sausage, 75 pounds ground and the rest, steaks and roasts. Basically what cuts would work best for you and your family and in making it stretch.

I say if you can afford it and have the room, go for 2 whole cows. better to have more than enough than not enough.


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## Evons hubby

One pound of beef can feed a family of 6 for a year.............. If you have lots and lots of beans and taters. If on the other hand you enjoy beef on a regular basis, say 3 times a week, yer looking at around eating up to 4 lbs at a meal, times three is 12 lbs a week, times 52 comes up to around 600 lbs or so for a year. Now, considering a good beef steer will dress out around 70-75 percent, one good 800-900 lb steer otter catch it.


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## feather

We go through 1 beef every 9 months and we are a family of 6. We do tend to have extra roast but we run out of hamburger first. So when we get the next beef butchered I take the roast back to the processor and have them ground into burger. We also go throught 2 hogs a year. But I cook 3 squares a day and we can go through a lb of bacon and an lb of sausage in on meal. We always figure 2 lb of meat per meal for a family of six. Grant it that we also have cook outs and friends over ofter too.


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## Joshie

rose2005 said:


> 1 large cow will be enough, but 2 will be better as it would give you enough to can and use for prepping for the following year!
> 
> We kept 1/2 cow last year and still have a small amount left. But then we also have other meat as we raise feeder pigs, chickens etc.
> 
> Rose


How/why do you can beef?


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## piglady

If you live in the country and have a few acres, get a milk cow. She will provide your dairy needs for most of the year (have to give her a break right before the calf is born). Keep her calf each year and when it's a good yearling to nearly 2, put it in the freezer and that should provide all the beef your family needs all year. Pick up a few feeder pigs to add to the equation and feed them the milk left over from making butter and you'll have more than beef to eat all year. Pick up a few good multi purpose hens and let them scratch in the yard to provide your eggs. Feed them table scraps and more of the milk and you'll provide even more of your own food. Kill the roosters you produce from your own eggs and you'll have chicken, beef and pork in your freezer. Now your talking.


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## Jan Doling

"It takes 3! 
One to cook..
one to serve..
and one to clean up!"

Thanks, chickenista...I now have lettuce up my nose....don't ask!


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## Xiada

We are looking at moving to a small town. The closest big store is 40m away. I am looking at buying from a local farm. We are a family of 5 with 2 more who visit through out the year. Would 1 whole cow and 1 whole pig be sufficient for a year? Hubby is not a fan of poultry but we would have chicken about 1 time a week.


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## Alice In TX/MO

I love old threads.


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## Alice In TX/MO

No. That’s not enough meat.


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## muleskinner2

piglady said:


> If you live in the country and have a few acres, get a milk cow. She will provide your dairy needs for most of the year (have to give her a break right before the calf is born). Keep her calf each year and when it's a good yearling to nearly 2, put it in the freezer and that should provide all the beef your family needs all year. Pick up a few feeder pigs to add to the equation and feed them the milk left over from making butter and you'll have more than beef to eat all year. Pick up a few good multi purpose hens and let them scratch in the yard to provide your eggs. Feed them table scraps and more of the milk and you'll provide even more of your own food. Kill the roosters you produce from your own eggs and you'll have chicken, beef and pork in your freezer. Now your talking.


What she said.

Muleskinner2


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## dmm1976

Tirzah said:


> My husband and I get half a cow every year. there are just the two of us and we can make it stretch a full year (with giving plenty away to familes). We eat beef at least twice a week.
> 
> Factors I would consider:
> 
> ~What age and sex are the family members? ( we know a family of 6: 3 females & 3 males. They went through 1/2 a cow in less than six months. Not eating beef every day but because the boys were growing boys )
> ~Would you have mostly ground butchered or steak and roast cuts too? We usually get around 10-15 pounds of italian sausage, 75 pounds ground and the rest, steaks and roasts. Basically what cuts would work best for you and your family and in making it stretch.
> 
> I say if you can afford it and have the room, go for 2 whole cows. better to have more than enough than not enough.


What size freezer do you put it in?


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## montysky

Xiada said:


> We are looking at moving to a small town. The closest big store is 40m away. I am looking at buying from a local farm. We are a family of 5 with 2 more who visit through out the year. Would 1 whole cow and 1 whole pig be sufficient for a year? Hubby is not a fan of poultry but we would have chicken about 1 time a week.


First welcome to the group, my answer it depends if you have a lot of big eaters or a few that eat like a bird. We are a family of six and a hired hand/friend that shares the noon time meal plus we do share. We use one Heifer/steer ( black angus or baldy) two hogs ( 7/8 berk 1/8 York) plus chickens fish and what I/we hunt deer/elk and barter for lamb, which is way more than we need so do share a far amount of it.


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## GTX63

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I love old threads.


What do you get when you cross a resurrected zombie thread with a cow?


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## dmm1976

OMG I didn't even look at the dates. Lol
Who is responsible for this?


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## Hiro

Boo!!!


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## Danaus29

Old or not, I'm sorry that no one had an answer to this;


Joshie said:


> How/why do you can beef?


How? Follow the instructions in the Ball Blue book of home canning.
Why? Makes the beef more tender and makes meal preparation so much easier when you are short on time. Mmmmm, beef noodles with home canned, home grown beef! Beef stew or beef vegetable soup are other favorites Grandma made when I was a kid.


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## Fridrix

About the main issue, how many cows per family.
So we have a grandmother who has two married daughters. Daughters have a husband and two children. In general, there are 10 people with their grandfather. About 3-4 cows were enough and there was still milk to sell. Still depends on what conditions the cow lives and what kind of breed it lives in


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## ridgerunner1965

when I was growing up in a family of 5 people we would butcher 2 7 to 900lb cattle a year.i remember this cuz I shot them,skinned them and the whole family helped with the cutting up. usually in January every year.

we ate a lot of beef.every day 1 to 2 meals of it.

I remember asking my mom what was for supper one night. she said tbone steak. I said uuugggh,cant we ever have hamburgers!lol


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## blanket

Yvonne's hubby said:


> One pound of beef can feed a family of 6 for a year.............. If you have lots and lots of beans and taters. If on the other hand you enjoy beef on a regular basis, say 3 times a week, yer looking at around eating up to 4 lbs at a meal, times three is 12 lbs a week, times 52 comes up to around 600 lbs or so for a year. Now, considering a good beef steer will dress out around 70-75 percent, one good 800-900 lb steer otter catch it.


 where can I get a 1 year old steer {900 lbs) that dresses out at 75%??????????????? You need to raise a few more cattle or tell me the breed


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## Evons hubby

blanket said:


> where can I get a 1 year old steer {900 lbs) that dresses out at 75%??????????????? You need to raise a few more cattle or tell me the breed


Or perhaps you need to quit throwing away so much in your slaughtering process? Nobody said a steer produced 75% rib eyes. Paunch, tail, blood pudding are good things, as are brains, tongue, liver and kidneys that many people toss out with the hide and hooves. I raised an Angus/charois/brown Swiss mix for about twenty years.


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## shawnlee

I think everyone should eat as much of the animal as possible, even if you cant bring yourself to have a kidney burger, it can be used for sausage or various other creative dishes and it mixes right in. 


I would also say it depends on how much gets wasted too,...….one of my favorite dishes is my turkey soup surprise, I boil the carcass down to a pile of bones, strain out the bones and make several uses of it, soup stock, noodle stock, turkey noodle soup.....


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