Bulls v Stores

kealar

Anyone finishing bulls to beef,its something ive been thinking about for awhile,normally we buy in weanlings this time of year hold them for 2 winters and finish them off the grass with meals the folowing summer,but i think keeping them over 2 winters dosent leave you with much,..would the system change much finishing bull weanlings?? Any thoughts??? thanks.

UPCS

We have always finished bulls, between 14 and 15 months with carcass weights of 370kg to 430kg, U and E grades so hopefully this will be helpful.

krazyklown

is there much extra work to this - we ended up with a bull this year by mistake and his growth rate compared to the others really makes you wonder about castration at all. How easy are they to handle? (i know this is a very variable question, but are they much harder to handle?) its been decades since there was a bull on our farm last and we are very wary and maybe overcautious around him....

F.D

We are thinking of buying white head bulls from a relation of mine, was considering getting them squeezed, winter them and finish them off grass next summer but might just keep them entire and try and finish them in the shed this winter, only thing with the price of meal going up it could cost a good bit to finish them in the shed, but looking at the way the prices are dropping there could be better prices earlier in the year rather than when the flood of cattle hit at the same time coming into the autumn, so hopefully that would make up the difference

blue5000

FD if you are doing bulls you have to
make sure you have an outlet for them,
Keep the groups small, 6 in a pen
Never let them mix
Whiteheads/AA are the easiest breeds to finish
watch out for lameness, straw bed/rubber slats do help
also proper level of minerals esp zinc in the ration.

I used to do bull beef, not finishing any cattle now except cull cows.

F.D

Just wondering what diet would you have to feed them, i have good quality silage and barley straw, what sort of ration and how much would you want to feed with it ?

UPCS

It all depends on the breed you are working with, we have not had any problems with docitility ours would be very quiet, and thats why we get good DLWG.