Time cattle go into factory.

jntsnk

Just wondering if cattle go in to factory at about 4pm but are not killed till the morning after. Is there a loss for the farmer rather than going in the following morning.

Sir Guy who smiles

jntsnk wrote: »

Just wondering if cattle go in to factory at about 4pm but are not killed till the morning after. Is there a loss for the farmer rather than going in the following morning.

Theoretically, most if the weight they loose should be gut fill and not muscle mass i.e. carcass weight. If they got dehydrated overnight they might loose some muscle size and weight.

Of course, all Irish beef processors have farmer's interests at heart and would never use an overnight stay to pay less for cattle.

jntsnk

Yes they would have the feed in their bellies alright. I’d wonder if the conditions are suited . There would be more stress on the animal

Hershall

jntsnk wrote: »

Just wondering if cattle go in to factory at about 4pm but are not killed till the morning after. Is there a loss for the farmer rather than going in the following morning.

The fresher the kill the better

tanko

It's far too early, stress alone over that prolonged length of time would knock weight of them.

wrangler

jntsnk wrote: »

Just wondering if cattle go in to factory at about 4pm but are not killed till the morning after. Is there a loss for the farmer rather than going in the following morning.

All they lose is a pile of sh..e, they'd even be better off if they were fasted for two hours before loading

Willfarman

Provided they have access to water and they are first up the line in the morning the difference isn’t going to be big to inconvenience yourself.

orm0nd

Not much experience of cattle but have sent lambs to the factory anything up to 18 hours before slaughter and found very little difference to those that went straight up the line.

I think the time and conditions in transit is a bigger factor than the time in lairage.

Grueller

Ballon meats take them after supper the night before. It's a great job when you are part time and the morning is hard to make work.

wrangler

orm0nd wrote: »

Not much experience of cattle but have sent lambs to the factory anything up to 18 hours before slaughter and found very little difference to those that went straight up the line.

I think the time and conditions in transit is a bigger factor than the time in lairage.

My lambs have been held overnight a couple times due to some boll farmer bringing them straight from the field to the lorry and mine being in the same box on the lorry. It meant that mine were fasted from 7pm on wednesday till first thing Friday morning and tbh there wasn't a lot of difference.

jntsnk

Thanks everyone for the info

Bass Reeves

I would never load cattle at 4pm to be slaughtered the next day and if I did I definately would not fast them for two hours.. There are a few issues with cattle in a lairage over night. Cattle will generally stand all night. The may not dring because of strangeness of surrounding, being in with strange cattle and maybe a different taste to water. You are looking at least at a 1% difference compared to cattle loaded and slaughtered in the same day. I find loading early in the morning cattle are generally on the line by 12-1 pm. A few years ago in the FJ a large British finisher said that no matter how far cattle were travelling for slaughter they were loaded in the morning even if it was 2-3 am in the morning. There was no way he would allow cattle to stand 12-14 hours in a lairage.

Muckit

Willfarman wrote: »

Provided they have access to water and they are first up the line in the morning the difference isn’t going to be big to inconvenience yourself.

Convenience. This is the crux of it. Being able to drop cattle off the night before is one of the main advantages of the factory for me especially being part time.

As a rule l don't do ANY farming in the morning summer or winter unless l am off that day.

Bringing cattle down in the morning would mean getting up earlier, getting cattle in and draughted. Loading. Then time getting there and back. Washing trailer. Getting showered and changed. I have great flexibility in the job and could take a few hours, but it be after tea break and heading towards lunch before ld be in. Totally unworkable. And rushing where no need for it.

But like everything, it's what suits the individual. I don't think animal welfare is compromised either way and the monetary pay off is negligible.

Bass Reeves

Muckit wrote: »

Convenience. This is the crux of it. Being able to drop cattle off the night before is one of the main advantages of the factory for me especially being part time.

As a rule l don't do ANY farming in the morning summer or winter unless l am off that day.

Bringing cattle down in the morning would mean getting up earlier, getting cattle in and draughted. Loading. Then time getting there and back. Washing trailer. Getting showered and changed. I have great flexibility in the job and could take a few hours, but it be after tea break and heading towards lunch before ld be in. Totally unworkable. And rushing where no need for it.

But like everything, it's what suits the individual. I don't think animal welfare is compromised either way and the monetary pay off is negligible.

However there is a bit difference between cattle going to a lairage at 4pm and 8-10pm. In general if going the night before I hop to be loading as near to 9-10pm as possible but I prefer they go in the morning.

Cavanjack

wrangler wrote: »

My lambs have been held overnight a couple times due to some boll farmer bringing them straight from the field to the lorry and mine being in the same box on the lorry. It meant that mine were fasted from 7pm on wednesday till first thing Friday morning and tbh there wasn't a lot of difference.

No way would I leave stock fasting that long. The longest I’d have cattle hungry here would be during a tb test. In exceptional circumstances we might load cattle the night before slaughter other than that it’s the morning of slaughter. That 36 hours of a fast is too long imo.

wrangler

Cavanjack wrote: »

No way would I leave stock fasting that long. The longest I’d have cattle hungry here would be during a tb test. In exceptional circumstances we might load cattle the night before slaughter other than that it’s the morning of slaughter. That 36 hours of a fast is too long imo.

That's the price now for dirty lambs, they leave them overnight till they dry.
Our groups lorry is a long time on the road and the lambs that come off looking the worst is the ones that are full when they load, they put half an inch of s...t on the box first then they lie down in it,

Bass Reeves

wrangler wrote: »

That's the price now for dirty lambs, they leave them overnight till they dry.
Our groups lorry is a long time on the road and the lambs that come off looking the worst is the ones that are full when they load, they put half an inch of s...t on the box first then they lie down in it,

Lambs totally different to cattle. Cattle will not lie down in a truck. no matter how long you starve them when the truck stakes off they sh!t away gooddo

Odelay

Muckit wrote: »

Convenience. This is the crux of it. Being able to drop cattle off the night before is one of the main advantages of the factory for me especially being part time.

As a rule l don't do ANY farming in the morning summer or winter unless l am off that day.

Bringing cattle down in the morning would mean getting up earlier, getting cattle in and draughted. Loading. Then time getting there and back. Washing trailer. Getting showered and changed. I have great flexibility in the job and could take a few hours, but it be after tea break and heading towards lunch before ld be in. Totally unworkable. And rushing where no need for it.

But like everything, it's what suits the individual. I don't think animal welfare is compromised either way and the monetary pay off is negligible.

Muckit raises a very important point about rushing trying to load before work in the morning. Rushing accounts for 80% of accidents. It leads to frustration and taking shortcuts. The cost of lost time (and worse) due to an accident is massive. Just something to think about...

Sheep breeder

Bass Reeves wrote: »

I would never load cattle at 4pm to be slaughtered the next day and if I did I definately would not fast them for two hours.. There are a few issues with cattle in a lairage over night. Cattle will generally stand all night. The may not dring because of strangeness of surrounding, being in with strange cattle and maybe a different taste to water. You are looking at least at a 1% difference compared to cattle loaded and slaughtered in the same day. I find loading early in the morning cattle are generally on the line by 12-1 pm. A few years ago in the FJ a large British finisher said that no matter how far cattle were travelling for slaughter they were loaded in the morning even if it was 2-3 am in the morning. There was no way he would allow cattle to stand 12-14 hours in a lairage.

Most factories now a days take the cattle in the night before and put them through the cmms computer for to have straight to the line in the morning,cattle are killed as per orders for the chills in the factory and overage cattle killed last in the day, need to get carcass chilled for shipping or the boning hall the next morning.

Bass Reeves

Sheep breeder wrote: »

Most factories now a days take the cattle in the night before and put them through the cmms computer for to have straight to the line in the morning,cattle are killed as per orders for the chills in the factory and overage cattle killed last in the day, need to get carcass chilled for shipping or the boning hall the next morning.

Its about 50/50 with intake night and Morning. Some factories even struggle with having enough pens. If i had overage cattle I be trying to leave s late as possible in the day to deliver into factory. Its fairy straightforward putting cattle through CMS most will have bar code readers so its a case of reading tags, scanning bar code on card and hunt them up the line.