# question about dress-out percentages



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

I know that average dress out for a steer is 40-45% of live weight. what would be the dress out percentage for a holstein?
we have come into a 1000 pound holstein cow halfway through her first lactation. I wonder how much meat we will get if we ship her now? she would be all hamburger.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I just took in a jersey steer. Slaughtered/hanging weight is 641 lbs. dressed, they said to expect 80% of that weight.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

that would be 512# of meat. I dont believe that.
when we take in a beef steer that hangs at 800#, for the school, we pull the tenderloins and have the rest put into burger, it is usually around 500# of 80/20 burger. I am very curious to know. please post the useable meat weight when you pick it up.
thanks.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

I thought I read somewhere here on HT recently, that you could expect a 50 - 65% dress out? Think it was in one of the stickies in here on the cattle forum :shrug:


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

For a grass fed only cow, made into hamburger, expect package weight to be in the 33%range of live weight.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

33% that's a LOT of "lost" meat ... holy smokes ...


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

CrashTestRanch said:


> 33% that's a LOT of "lost" meat ... holy smokes ...


Not really. Hide, hooves, intestines, head and brain, bones, udder, probably most of the organ meat (heart, liver, lungs). It all adds up.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

so we can expect only a 33% ROI ....

time to make a LOT of sausage/hotdogs outta the leftovers ...


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I am not sure if the question is about my numbers or someone elses. So I will explain anyway and if you weren't discussing mine totals- it's fine to ignore this. Maybe I'm not posting the right terminology? I don't know a live weight. They slaughtered and then sent us a weight of the two separate halves. They said for me to expect 80% of that total weight. And it would be around 480 lbs. Mine is not being all made into hamburger and I will be bringing home a few pieces of the bones. I wish I knew how much he weighed on the hoof.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

A Holstein cow has very little muscle. Muscle = meat. That's why she would make such a low percentage of her live weight. Seems like a waste to kill her while she's still in milk??


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

It seems we forgot that this meat contains a LOT of water, and depending on how long it was hanging, temperature and humidity, we will end up with a LOT LESS beef than what we went in with ... thank you ALTON BROWN and his episode on BEEF aging etc ....


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

calieslamb your numbers are on "hanging weight" and most of the posters are figuring on the hoof or "live weight". for live weight a holstien will only do around 45% and a top grade "beef" cow will do around 70%, I don't know about grass fed I think its in the 55% range for a good cow. keep in mind grass fed cows take longer to finish and can excede the 2 year mad cow rule that the bones have to be cut out and disposed of so that ruins several steaks.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

let me clarify a bit.
we came in to this holstein cow, live weight at 1000. we weighed her. we will ship her before freezing temps hit. meat is why we took her. I have a buyer already. I dont do milk cows. I hate milking cows (thats why I have goats).
besides, she'll only lose weight once the temperature drops, we dont have a cow barn. anyway, the price was right. 

I am trying to figure out what the meat weight will be so I can figure if we profit, or break even on her. she was silage fed mostly, some grain, I am sure. she was on a milk line. We need the meat, our demand exceeds supply right now, and this particular buyer doesn't care that she wasn't grass fed, since it is all going to be burger anyhow.

33% is probably accurate for a holstein. we shipped a half holstein that had all the dairy characteristics. she hung at 662. we pulled the tenderloins and her hamburger weight was 334. That cow was bigger than this holstein, but alot bonier.


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