Few heifers

jap gt

Hi lads bit of advice needed, i already have a few sheep that a local butcher buys from me, its just more of an interest than anything, im toying with the idea of keeping a few heifers for fattening, maybe 8-10, would i be better off sticking with hereford and angus,

Basically any advice on when to buy etc

Who2

jap gt wrote: »

Hi lads bit of advice needed, i already have a few sheep that a local butcher buys from me, its just more of an interest than anything, im toying with the idea of keeping a few heifers for fattening, maybe 8-10, would i be better off sticking with hereford and angus,

Basically any advice on when to buy etc

You'd be best ask the butcher, they all have different requirements so it's hard to say, most would rather the traditional breeds but some don't.

jap gt

Who2 wrote: »

jap gt wrote: »

Hi lads bit of advice needed, i already have a few sheep that a local butcher buys from me, its just more of an interest than anything, im toying with the idea of keeping a few heifers for fattening, maybe 8-10, would i be better off sticking with hereford and angus,

Basically any advice on when to buy etc

You'd be best ask the butcher, they all have different requirements so it's hard to say, most would rather the traditional breeds but some don't.

Its most hereford he kills, but takes angus aswell when he can,

Is 1 quick finish than the other, i have use of roughly 20 acres and a shed etc its just getting started i need a few pointers

Who2

jap gt wrote: »

Its most hereford he kills, but takes angus aswell when he can,

Is 1 quick finish than the other, i have use of roughly 20 acres and a shed etc its just getting started i need a few pointers

Buy in spring at 350 to 400 kilos and having them hanging up by the end of the year. Meal on grass for the last six weeks and you'll probably be better sticking with suckler bred animals first. The dairy ones can be too hard finished and you might end up wintering them if they aren't gone by the end of the year. You'll need to have your costs well worked out because a couple of quid spent the wrong way might leave you out of pocket.

White Clover

Butchers around here (south) prefer to kill Angus and Hereford at between 420 and 450kg live weight. They are quite happy to take cattle that are 50% Holstein as apparently the marbling in the Holstein beef is very good.

orm0nd

Who2 wrote: »

Buy in spring at 350 to 400 kilos and having them hanging up by the end of the year. Meal on grass for the last six weeks and you'll probably be better sticking with suckler bred animals first. The dairy ones can be too hard finished and you might end up wintering them if they aren't gone by the end of the year. You'll need to have your costs well worked out because a couple of quid spent the wrong way might leave you out of pocket.

unless she's an utter screw any 400 kg hex dairy offspring will be well fit for butcher end of sep.

we had a few at 340 kgs last april that we missed the sale of, killed them the week of the ploughing , think they averaged 275 kg d/w

Never wrestle with pigs

The beef from a Holstein has more of a lamination of fat trough the beef rather than marbling that you see on aa or he beef. Looks the same when it's cut into stakes but when you see it hanging there is a big difference.

White Clover

Never wrestle with pigs wrote: »

The beef from a Holstein has more of a lamination of fat trough the beef rather than marbling that you see on aa or he beef. Looks the same when it's cut into stakes but when you see it hanging there is a big difference.

Interesting, would it be wise to judge the cuts as opposed to the carcass? Or would that be a naive way of looking at it.

Never wrestle with pigs

What I mean is that because the fat is a lamination of tougher fat rather than a marbling of soft fat it may look very similar when it's cut but the quality is very different.