The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: Helen Wiltshire Horn on June 11, 2014, 06:06:41 pm
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I sent my first steer to the abattoir last week. He was a short Dexter and very nearly 30 months old. I was quite surprised at how light the carcass was. Dead weight was just over 130kg. The butcher who is hanging the meat says the carcass looks good quality and has a covering of fat and he was fed hay over the winter and the odd bucket of beef nuts over the past few months (he actually described it as "like Kylie Minogue - small but worth looking at!"). What do you find average? I am tempted to try a non-short next time but have heard confiicting reports about how much extra meat you get. Also, if dead weight was 130kg how much actual meat will I get for my freezer?
Helen
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crumbs, that a low amount of meat for 3 yrs work.
shetlands are much bigger weight wise but still small easy cattle.
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You should get about 65% of the carcass weight back for the freezer. I have 2 carcasses currently hanging that where 26month old long legs that came in at 182kgs and169kgs on the hook.
Dexter tongue for dinner tonight!!
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Shygirl - I was just so put off larger cattle with my Belted Galloway and want to stick with Dexters as I find them small enough to fit in my tiny trailer and easy to handle. When I have a bit more time on my hands and more "cattle confidence" I might investigate different breeds.
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Depends on how much his live weight was. Some strains of Dexter are particular miniature. If, for example, he only weighed about 250kg live, then 130kg dead isn't bad.
Incidently I've never had anything like a 65% killing out percentage from a Dexter - that would be an exceptional result from a continental breed.
I find Dexters great for home consumption as you're not snowed under by a mountain of meat.
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Depends on how much his live weight was. Some strains of Dexter are particular miniature. If, for example, he only weighed about 250kg live, then 130kg dead isn't bad.
Incidently I've never had anything like a 65% killing out percentage from a Dexter - that would be an exceptional result from a continental breed.
I find Dexters great for home consumption as you're not snowed under by a mountain of meat.
For clarity,65% of carcass not liveweight
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Sorry ShaunP - you did say that - I read it too fast.
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So it sounds as if 130kg isn't too bad. He was on the petite side so I am tempted to try non-shorts next time. That said, 80 or so kilos of delicious beef sounds pretty good (plus the fact that my husband is curing the hide). All a very interesting first for us.
Helen
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So it sounds as if 130kg isn't too bad. He was on the petite side so I am tempted to try non-shorts next time. That said, 80 or so kilos of delicious beef sounds pretty good (plus the fact that my husband is curing the hide). All a very interesting first for us.
Helen
How did you get your abattoir to agree to give you the skin back? (or is it home slaughter?)
My Shetland cattle are going off soon and I'm not able to get the skins back because apparently you need to be licenced to collect them :(
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Our abattoir (STM, Henfield, West Sussex) salted it shortly after skinning it, and we collected it the next day. They are allowed to release them to you provided that the cattle came from you, and provided that you will be sending it on to a licensed entity for finishing the tanning process after you have salted it for a couple of weeks.
We investigated it, and there are limited people that carry out the process. First it needs to go up to Holmes Hall, and then it gets sent down to Pittards in Exeter. You will need to get a number from Pittards, and they will charge for their work and the Holmes Hall work. For a Dexter hide the price is £149 plus VAT. The chap at Pittards is very very helpful - Robert Painter - 01935 474 321. If you contact him, he will email you an explanation of how to do the initial curing with salt, and answer all your questions.
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im planning on keeping our hide too. what time of year is best to slaughter if keeping the hide? obviously not in moult but summer or winter coat?
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I don't know about best time of year as am new to this but his summer coat looks pretty handsome. The abattoir nicked one piece of the hide but it is a small repair job and it looks really impressive as a rug, especially the tail!
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That's interesting about the tanning.
I think £149 sounds pretty reasonable compared to what it costs to get sheepskin cured.
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So far the hide is drying out really well and looks great. There are a few bits where my husband didn't trim off enough fat but I gather it will be ready to go to the tannery this week. If it works out ok I will try and upload a photo of the finished product.
Helen
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Shygirl, there is a young lad in Lybster who will tan yours for you, he regularly does calf skins and dingwall are easy to deal withabout ggetting skins back.
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Shygirl, there is a young lad in Lybster who will tan yours for you, he regularly does calf skins and dingwall are easy to deal withabout ggetting skins back.
thats great, winter coat or summer? does the thick fluffy shetland coat bear well as a floor rug?
the last time i tried to tan a sheepskin it was the bluetongue era and i wasnt allowed so will try for definite this time.
i also have a goat to do but as we havent slaughtered a goat before it might take a while to get the courage to do that - or even get enough meat on him for that matter. :'( :'(
do you have contact details for the tanner, please?
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The Antlers B&B, lybster. Just between occumster and lybster you will see a sign for Caithness cheese and sheep skins. Lads name is Graham, he's the son of the householders and he does the tanning now.
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The Antlers B&B, lybster. Just between occumster and lybster you will see a sign for Caithness cheese and sheep skins. Lads name is Graham, he's the son of the householders and he does the tanning now.
thanks, i will take note of that for when the time comes, :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Got one on the hook now at 169kg was 24mths NS. Not a large animal but well shaped. Hoping for 130 back.
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At this point no one will ever know but it sounds like your Dexter steer could have benefited by way of having been finished to a higher degree? A bucket of nuts from time to time or now and again, really won't cut the mustard with finishing an animal.
By contrast, even a small daily ration of beef nuts, say 1kg, over a period of perhaps 90 days, along with good grass could have given you a higher yield of muscle. Hay, will provide maintenance and little else as a rule.
As for the figure of 65% I think there may be some confusion? Some continental cattle ore even some modern beef breeds which have been improved by better selection might achieve 65% as a killing out percentage [ie carcase weight, on the hook, as opposed to the live weight].
I would have thought that many cattle, in particular dairy x or traditional old gp breeds will not kill out much over 50)%.
However, I don't know if 35% of bone would be a fair representation in terms of meat to bone yield; I would be curious to know if in fact that might be the case? logic would suggest that it depends entirely on the quality of conformation and level of finish. Older breeds tended to lay down visible patches of fat at the later stages and few butchers were happy about that.
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If people wanted their steirks finished on mass produced high protein crap, I'm sure they would. For me, its grass or hay and I get small but perfectly formed, slow grown beef. Otherwise I might as well shop at the butcher.
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If people wanted their steirks finished on mass produced high protein crap, I'm sure they would. For me, its grass or hay and I get small but perfectly formed, slow grown beef. Otherwise I might as well shop at the butcher.
With you on that!!!!
I have the returns recorded for mine on several sheets of paper and will post next week,