FBG_Ag78 said:

---

After the extremely cold weather last week you oughta think about postponing the kill date at least a month. That calf used the fat in the marbling to keep warm and it hasn't had time to build it back up yet.

---

Perhaps, but he gained weight that week. I had him on a pretty fat ration and a good shelter.

We started dabbling in feeding/selling calves and shares of calves to people for butchering at a local processor last year when prices at the auction started getting criminal. By this spring we'll have sold & slaughtered around 25 or so.

Some things we have tried and learned so far:

-You can still get high quality and economical beef by slaughtering at much lower weights than typically customary. Last year none of our calves weighed over 700 lbs and this year none of them will weigh much over 850. Meat taste and tenderness was comparable to what you'd get at the HEB prime counter - coming from a group of meat snobs that only buy from the prime counter anymore.

-Be patient when acclimating the calf to feed. Don't plan to start feeding any later than 5 months before slaughter - more would be even better. This gives you time to start low and slow in getting the rumen used to the high calorie grains like corn. Move up the ratio of corn even a bit too fast and you will be fighting acidosis- which can pretty well ruin the quality of the animal if it's bad enough. Had it happen to one of the 5 we started with and he lived but never grew right afterwards.

-Feeding a blend of cracked or rolled corn, cottonseed meal, and cottonseed hulls has worked well and relatively economical compared to some of what they sell at the feed store. We start them on a 60/20/20 ratio at 0.5% body weight and step them up every 2 to 3 weeks by half a percent body weight until we get to 3%. Then we change the ratio to 70/15/15 for about a month at 3% body weight. After that we let them eat free choice. Has worked a lot better than the initial group that we rushed. No issues at all.

-We could probably push ours to gain more if we jumped up the corn content closer to 80% once they've acclimated to free choice. We'd rather save the hay for the herd though and keep them on the 15% cottonseed hull diet - really keeps their hay intake to a minimum.

-We charge about 6.25 a pound boxed weight for our beef to those we sell to - that includes all meat cuts as bone in. We give them equal shares of all roast, rib, steak, etc. cuts. Most people don't bat an eye at that. We are probably shortchanging ourselves because we end up with only a $500 per head profit over what we could have sold that calf at auction for at the beginning of the process. That's after feed cost and the butcher are paid. Or maybe I'm just greedy, but that's a lot of work and risk for only $500 / head. But it has helped and we haven't lost one yet.

-We still have much to learn. I enjoy these threads and definitely take note of what others are doing. I'd imagine the me 5 years from now will laugh at what I thought and did now. That said, this is a very rewarding endeavor. Kudos to you who have had the nerve to try it.

flashplayer said:

---

We started dabbling in feeding/selling calves and shares of calves to people for butchering at a local processor last year when prices at the auction started getting criminal. By this spring we'll have sold & slaughtered around 25 or so.

Some things we have tried and learned so far:

-You can still get high quality and economical beef by slaughtering at much lower weights than typically customary. Last year none of our calves weighed over 700 lbs and this year none of them will weigh much over 850. Meat taste and tenderness was comparable to what you'd get at the HEB prime counter - coming from a group of meat snobs that only buy from the prime counter anymore.

-Be patient when acclimating the calf to feed. Don't plan to start feeding any later than 5 months before slaughter - more would be even better. This gives you time to start low and slow in getting the rumen used to the high calorie grains like corn. Move up the ratio of corn even a bit too fast and you will be fighting acidosis- which can pretty well ruin the quality of the animal if it's bad enough. Had it happen to one of the 5 we started with and he lived but never grew right afterwards.

-Feeding a blend of cracked or rolled corn, cottonseed meal, and cottonseed hulls has worked well and relatively economical compared to some of what they sell at the feed store. We start them on a 60/20/20 ratio at 0.5% body weight and step them up every 2 to 3 weeks by half a percent body weight until we get to 3%. Then we change the ratio to 70/15/15 for about a month at 3% body weight. After that we let them eat free choice. Has worked a lot better than the initial group that we rushed. No issues at all.

-We could probably push ours to gain more if we jumped up the corn content closer to 80% once they've acclimated to free choice. We'd rather save the hay for the herd though and keep them on the 15% cottonseed hull diet - really keeps their hay intake to a minimum.

-We charge about 6.25 a pound boxed weight for our beef to those we sell to - that includes all meat cuts as bone in. We give them equal shares of all roast, rib, steak, etc. cuts. Most people don't bat an eye at that. We are probably shortchanging ourselves because we end up with only a $500 per head profit over what we could have sold that calf at auction for at the beginning of the process. That's after feed cost and the butcher are paid. Or maybe I'm just greedy, but that's a lot of work and risk for only $500 / head. But it has helped and we haven't lost one yet.

-We still have much to learn. I enjoy these threads and definitely take note of what others are doing. I'd imagine the me 5 years from now will laugh at what I thought and did now. That said, this is a very rewarding endeavor. Kudos to you who have had the nerve to try it.

---

This is all interesting but for what OP is doing by feeding out just one steer would highly recommend using products from a feed store. They'll help guide him in the products of grower/finisher which have balanced formulas for protein, fat, and fiber - but also include vitamins, minerals, etc.

I don't disagree. My first two bullets still apply even to his situation though. The rest was for others who may venture in with an interest in changing their operational strategy and are looking for more cost effective feed blends like we did.

flashplayer said:

---

I don't disagree. My first two bullets still apply even to his situation though. The rest was for others who may venture in with an interest in changing their operational strategy and are looking for more cost effective feed blends like we did.

---

Agree completely. And I found you other info interesting and should be helpful for others. We play around with our formulas and make lots of our own feed.

Planning to start working on our pen this weekend. Have a pretty good idea of how we want to do it, except for the shelter. Was thinking a 3 sided metal "lean to" type shelter, but don't have any idea what size to allow for it. Will possibly have 2 steers in at a time.

How big would y'all make the shelter? Figure it doesn't have to be overly large, just a place for them to get out of the weather when needed to lay down.

Also, what size gate would y'all hang? 8ft good enough?

I thought this was a handy little information sheet on this topic, even if it is from Arkansas.

Raising Calves for Slaughter

Wagyu or GTFO!

In all seriousness this is pretty cool. And who cares if a butcher is available when there is a big meat shortage... I'm sure you'll find a way to get your meat.

My family has fed steers out for,years.. this year my brothers had two of them ready to go in March / April but couldn't get them processed until mid June... they were GIANTS when they got to the slaughter house... something like 1400 - 1500 lbs each ... past prime ! But they taste good !

My brother lives in the Georgetown area, he and his wife are both Aggies, and he found a guy in that area that has a mobile slaughtering service. I don't know a lot of the details, but apparently he has a trailer/equipment etc.

I could ask him for the guy's info if you are interested.

I bet that guy is staying in steady business and making a small fortune right now.