# processing a 6-8 month old steer



## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

I got me a new book ( country wisdom & know how), Well i was doing some reading and they have a section on home processing. The book mentions processing a 6-8 month old steer. This kinda threw me off kilter becuase it has been burned into my head that a person should wait untill the steer is 2 yrs old before proccesing. 
In the book the 6-8 month old steer is called a baby beef, Says its more tender than your average beef and if its feed good you should get 55-60% back in meat. 

My question is, What are your opinions or ideas. I have never heard of processing a steer at that age so its new to me. And i'm sure you could get that much back in a beef calf but not a dairy calf? 

Thanks folks, Tim


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Well the only thing that comes to mind is Veal, and yes a 8 month old calf is going to be tender. If the freezer is empty, and so is your tummy, a baby beef is going to be yummy. Going to be easier to handle also, and cut up and package. > Thanks Marc



I`m editing this to say that veal back in the day was kept on milk only and no outside exercise. That was why the meat was pale, but it sure tasted good. A calf raised outside on grass with it`s mom is going to be so much better.


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## earthkitty (Mar 3, 2011)

springvalley said:


> If the freezer is empty, and so is your tummy, a baby beef is going to be yummy.


Oh Lord, LOL.

I have neighbors who do this with two calves every year. Buy in early spring and butcher late fall.

That book is a good one, by the way.


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## MARYDVM (Jun 7, 2004)

I'm in AZ, and pay for every mouthful of feed the cattle eat. I put last year's Dexter X Mini Jersey steer in the freezer at 9 months of age. I just called the local guy to come and do this year's steer at 8 months of age. Both of these guys are/were small stature, but very chunky. Raised by a cow milking 2-3 gallons a day with hay and a little grain. Really great beef, not at all like veal. It works well with the amount of freezer space I have.


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## bigbluegrass (Jan 11, 2011)

I see nothing wrong with it. Some people might say it is a waste, since your animal hasn't produced the maximum amount of beef it can. The longer you wait, the more beef you will get per animal up to about 2 years of age - but the more feed you have to come up with. The bigger they get the more they eat, so you would have to weigh what that extra beef is worth. I would try it if conditions were right. If I have enough grass and feed, I would wait. If I was short on feed and didn't want to winter an extra animal, I would try it.


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## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

RW kansas hogs said:


> I got me a new book ( country wisdom & know how), Well i was doing some reading and they have a section on home processing. The book mentions processing a 6-8 month old steer. This kinda threw me off kilter becuase it has been burned into my head that a person should wait untill the steer is 2 yrs old before proccesing.


Processing meats, whether pork or beef, is based on weights, not age. Typically, it takes 18 months to 2 years for a beef calf to reach slaughter weights.

]quoteIn the book the 6-8 month old steer is called a baby beef, Says its more tender than your average beef and if its feed good you should get 55-60% back in meat. [/quote] 

It isn't so much as feeding it "good". It it's fed "properly" you should get 60%. Any less and someone is stealing some meat off the top. Typically, in a feedlot situation, they will have cattle on full feed, meaning they will feed as much as a calf will clean up. They usually get to around 25 to 30 pound of feed before they level off. Once they level off is when they usually slaughter. 

Even if it's a grass fed beef, and kept fleshy, you'll still get 60%. If you don't then the calf wasn't getting enough good grass.


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## kycrawler (Sep 18, 2011)

we have done it before with jersey bull calves when the freezers were low, start them early in the spring get them on grain and pasture and butcher when the snow flew they are really bony at that age but the meat is good and you dont have to winter them over


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## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

I will have to get a few dairy calves and try it sometime, Hopefully i mite be able to get a few in a couple months. Thanks for the input everybody, I learned something new the last few days


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

We once proccessed a 7 month old Jersey steer who was still on his dam, getting all the milk he wanted and all the grass he could eat. He was DELICIOUS.....and one less mouth to feed through the winter. Of course getting all that milk, he was almost as big as his mother at that age.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Cattle haven't always been feed to the weights we do today. When there were still small local and regional slaughter houses a lot of lighter weight animals were slaughtered.


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## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

Allen W said:


> Cattle haven't always been feed to the weights we do today. When there were still small local and regional slaughter houses a lot of lighter weight animals were slaughtered.


Part of that was due to nothing more than genetics. Today's cattle are bred to be bigger, for one reason. 

In this part of the country, there are still a lot of small regional slaughter houses.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I took college classes in agriculture. At 2 years of age a steer becomes less feed efficient, and so it is very cost-effective to slaughter before he stops growing.

You can slaughter a steer at 10 years of age, but by then he would have eaten a LOT of feed and you will have expensive beef. Apparently, if you feed past age 2 the cost of beef per pound starts going up, and so age 2 is considered an excellent age to slaughter.

Backyard producers, of course, slaughter when they wish to. If he belongs to a homesteader, a steer who is an escape artist is going to get slaughtered a LOT younger that a fellow who just sits back and gains weight!


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## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

Terri said:


> I took college classes in agriculture. At 2 years of age a steer becomes less feed efficient, and so it is very cost-effective to slaughter before he stops growing.
> 
> You can slaughter a steer at 10 years of age, but by then he would have eaten a LOT of feed and you will have expensive beef. Apparently, if you feed past age 2 the cost of beef per pound starts going up, and so age 2 is considered an excellent age to slaughter.
> 
> Backyard producers, of course, slaughter when they wish to. If he belongs to a homesteader, a steer who is an escape artist is going to get slaughtered a LOT younger that a fellow who just sits back and gains weight!


Terri, feedlots go on neither weight nor age. They base it on the feed consumption. When a calf is still growing they will continue to eat more and more. Feedlots will put the calf on full feed, when he stops increasing his intake, they've maxed efficiency and are then slaughtered. If it is a typical beef breed, yes, it usually is less than 2 years.


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## Dreamfarm (Dec 10, 2011)

Does the flavor change much...(get better) if the steer continues on grass after he reaches his max weight? Assuming he has only been grass fed of course. I mean if you have grass and flavor gets better..it wont cost anything to wait to improve flavor.


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## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

Dreamfarm said:


> Does the flavor change much...(get better) if the steer continues on grass after he reaches his max weight? Assuming he has only been grass fed of course. I mean if you have grass and flavor gets better..it wont cost anything to wait to improve flavor.


If he's reached max weight, butcher him. That frees up grass for the next animal.

Personally speaking, I don't think the flavor improves. None of our cattle ever see grain, except once a year to get the calves coming in so they can be sorted, sold, or weaned.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

PaulNKS said:


> Terri, feedlots go on neither weight nor age. They base it on the feed consumption. When a calf is still growing they will continue to eat more and more. Feedlots will put the calf on full feed, when he stops increasing his intake, they've maxed efficiency and are then slaughtered. If it is a typical beef breed, yes, it usually is less than 2 years.


Thanks!


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## jolly rabbit (Apr 30, 2012)

most sites i did my research on also stated 12-18 months is good time for slaughter,(pertaining to dexters)


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> Terri, feedlots go on neither weight nor age. They base it on the feed consumption.


Perhaps some do, but a lot of them go simply based on what their usual feed time-frame is--thirty days, sixty, etc.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

jolly rabbit said:


> most sites i did my research on also stated 12-18 months is good time for slaughter,(pertaining to dexters)


JR, can you please share the source of that information? I'm interested because, raising Dexters, our experience has been 27-28 months for longs and less than that for the shorts.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

_ If he belongs to a homesteader, a steer who is an escape artist is going to get slaughtered a LOT younger that a fellow who just sits back and gains weight! _

Yup. We butchered DC (D_mn Cow!) a couple weeks ago at 10 months and he's still hanging. He got through fences the sheep couldn't get out! He tastes very good, and is tender, but not much fat. I thought he'd be fatter because he was a Holstein and didn't have any pointy bones showing. When we petted him, he was sleek and filled out. Photos I've seen of Holsteins were pretty boney.
Anyway, I no longer have to lead him back from the neighbors while the traffic waits and laughs!
Kit


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

springvalley said:


> Well the only thing that comes to mind is Veal, and yes a 8 month old calf is going to be tender. If the freezer is empty, and so is your tummy, a baby beef is going to be yummy. Going to be easier to handle also, and cut up and package. > Thanks Marc
> 
> 
> 
> I`m editing this to say that veal back in the day was kept on milk only and no outside exercise. That was why the meat was pale, but it sure tasted good. A calf raised outside on grass with it`s mom is going to be so much better.


Its called Rose Veal. A calf left with the mother to eat as much milk as it wants and still be able to graze and play at will. The meat of such an animal is VERY hight priced in some parts and is supposed to be the best of both worlds.

I havnt tasted it but have heard people raving about it.

Right now we are shopping for a house cow/calf pair to do this very thing!


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