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I have 4 horses on a 10 acre pasture and would like to raise a cow or possibly 2 per year. We go thru a side of beef a year and would split the meat with a neighbor for the cost of processing. Just starting out with cattle are there perfered breeds? Once I decide on one I am sure I will have plenty of questions.
Thanks,
Steve
I have had good luck w/ an Angus/Longhorn cross. Lots of folks will tout pure bred Angus, Beefmaster, and such. But the last couple of beeves we had slaughtered were Angus/Longhorn and quite tastey. Breed helps a lot, but how the animal is fed is just important in my opinion.
Their are suppose to be advantages to having crosses over purebreds but if your feeding some out as butcher calves I feel the buying and feeding cost would be more of a concern. I have had good luck with angus, hereford and gelbvieh purebred and crosses.
Crossbreeds are often more robust and healthy due to the "hybrid vigor" factor. Around here black brings more $ in the sale ring for black angus in particular or just mostly black animals. You can't taste the color!
Well fed young beef is going to be pretty good irrespective of the breed. Since you are wanting to manage for carcass quality not max economic consideration of weight gain you would do better to butcher earlier than commercial beef.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
If you are going to throw them in with your horses I would prioritize two things: (1) no horns and (2) from known stay-at-home parentage if possible! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Having chased cows for miles down the river I can tell you that they might be better exercise than most horses however. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Seriously as has been mentioned already, this beef is going to be better than you can buy anyway! Everyone has their little finishing diet rituals... I like to make sure they get some alfalfa every day for at least a month before we do the deed.
Bon appetit!
Elk
Elk, All the stock on our place is pretty docile and except for a bull going through a fence to "discuss" things with a neighbor's bull we don't have many "escapes" but recently... This one brown cow, ole ear tag #40 has showed up in the yard by the house 3 times in a week or so. I finally found out how! The creek beside the house is backed up with water from one of the ponds in the back yard. Due to extreme drought the pond is a few feet below normal and the creek of course is a few feet lower which made a fence that crosses he creek too high to be effective and allowed this "smart" cow to get out of the pasture and access our yard.
The SW 40 acres was pretty well grazed down so we moved the young bulls out of the NE corner, opened up the NS gate on the east side and put the stock on the east 80 acres and that is that. When the heat breaks I'll do some fence mods and there won't be a problem there again. Meanwhile we are just waiting for rain while the climatologists tell us we could just as easily have another 5 years of drought.
What is your thinking as regards the daily feeding of alfalfa? Some say it helps give a yellow cast to the marbling.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
LOL this discussion is bringing back memories of last year when we got real familiar with all the surrounding meadows and woodlands and I got a chance to prove that I can SO track! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Re alfalfa, I just really prefer the flavor it adds. Another thing that I always try to get into critters for a month ahead of butchering is a bit of molasses... wet COB instead of dry grain does it.
Some of the best venison I have ever had has been from the hills above alfalfa fields, by the way.
It all beats the supermarket, doesn't it? [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
Elk
Thanks for the info. I didn't think about the no horn issue. If possible I would like to find a docile breed. I will start talking to the folks local about picking one to start with this spring. I just took inventory of the freezer and still have 137 lbs. of burger and some steaks left.
Steve
Kafir corn or sorghum is a fine feed too. Cut out the middle man's profits making mollasses and feed sorghum.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]