Beefing my bull

[Colin]

As my senior bull is now related to most of my herd, I'm thinking of beefing him in a few months time. He's 6 years old. Will the beef be any good, either for home consumption or for a butcher ?

Regards,

Colin

[Saffy]

Well we ate a 4 and a half year old bull we bought from Beryl, it wasn't as tender as usual, I tend to slow cook alot of joints anyway as I can shove them in and get on with work but out of pure - ahem excuse the pun - bull headedness I thawed out 2 rump steaks and fried them just to see if they were edible and had been served worse in restaurants, having said that yours is 6 years old.

Could you maybe see what the meat is like and if it is too tough mince the worst of it? That was our intention but we didn't have to, it was all OK.

Stephanie

[domsmith]

I think you will have to be careful in selling it as prime dexter, but for yourself it should be good. usually a bit lean, and as Stephanie says you will have eaten tougher beef.
we had a cow a month or so back, the shoulder blade was used for steak tartare at a restaurant night we did, it was amazing! the sirloin was tender, but cows have tougher connective tissue, so those silver bits you get in certain cuts will be tougher the older the beast gets.

at worst its mince and stew.

good luck

[goldshaft dexters]

I haven't personally eaten a bull of that age myself but I have been told as long as they haven't "worked" for at least 3 (preferably 6) months the taste is fine. I have put bulls in the freezer at 18 months and haven't noticed any difference to the steers. I have also eaten "old" cows and they are not a problem (taste or tender). I think we (as Dexter breeders) get so used to such good meat that anything is better than other breeds no matter what age they are!!!

[Broomcroft]

We ate a 27 month old, well finished bull that had never been used. The fattier cuts, sirloins etc were great. Rump steaks were simply appalling. Had to throw them away, like leather. I wouldn't supply bull beef to anyone.

Could you send him as a cull bull? Price was around £2 a kilo DW last time I looked (which some months ago). Average sized non-short bull might be up in the 280-300kg range.

We minced a lot of our 27 month old.

[Mark Bowles]

As Clive says, put it in as a cull bull. I would never sell it as you could kill your customer base stone dead with poor beef.
O+3 bull prices for central area according to Farmer Guardian this week is £318.4 pre kg.
These prices are very good now, puts a bottom line price on bulls for sale.

[Mark Bowles]

My last post prices were for bull beef under 30 months. Over 30 months may vary on grade between £1.50 and £2 per kg.

[Colin]

Thanks for the replies, really helpful. Sending as a cull bull at those prices sounds attractive. Last time I measured him he was around 600 kg live weight, so I would think Clive's estimated dead weights would be about right for him.

Now showing my ignorance, as I've not done this before, what does sending as a cull bull actually mean ? Do I book him in at the abattoir as a cull and they pay me ? Or would I send him to market ? And what happens to the beef afterwards, human food chain in pies etc or pet food ?

Regards,

Colin

[Robert & Alison Kirk]

Hi Colin,

I would advise against sending him to a commercial market, you will get very little for him, possibly as low as £100.

Jarretts - a large commercial abattoir in Somerset pay well and you will receive a realistic payment for him within a few days of slaughter.

I don't know of large commercial abattoirs in your immediate area, but you will find lists of abattoirs on the internet.

Best wishes

Alison Kirk
Boram Dexters

[Broomcroft]

We send our cull cows and bulls to a company called ABP in Shrewsbury. They slaughter and butcher onsite. They supply supermarkets and pet food companies etc. To book into ABP you have to be Farm Assured with SAI Global (FABBL) and to open an account and confirm you meet their criteria, so it might be all too much for a one off! Booking in is normally very quick, just days. They will slaughter and email a report to you in about 6 hours with weights etc and you get your cheque within days as well. ABP are national but don't know whether you are near one of their places (not all do beef).

Personally I'd just ask some local beef farmers, where they take their culls direct (i.e. not to market), then give whoever it is a call and ask if you have to be farm assured. Even if you are farm assured, the animal will need to have been on your farm for certain time period immediately prior to slaughter (usually 90 days), and of course be outside withdrawal period of any treatments he may have had.

From ABP, for a 600kg bull, I'd get about £650-700. They do make some charges but these are very small, about £30 etc. A decent bull should grade R.

They will normally have a reduction in price when an animal goes below a certain deadweight, but you'll be well over that by the sounds of it.

http://www.abpfoodgroup.com/contact/con ... -abp-beef/

Re the market, Alison says you might just get £100 but I can't see why. A 600kg bull is a 600kg bull whatever the breed as long as they've weighed it obviously and not just guessing! You could speak to the market and put a reserve on it as long as it's a green market (i.e. you can take it back if unsold).

[fdb]

I can't say I have killed a bull as yet but I have shot and eaten some very old roe bucks. The first one I shot everyone without exception told me to sell or mince as he would be tough as old boots. He was as tender as anything I had ever tried. He was shot well outside of the rut so that may coenside with the bull not working for 3 months theory.