Steer Weights

carole · Post by **carole** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:09 pm

Just out of interest does anyone else get a grading for their carcasses, we have just sent our first steer (grass fed only) off having sold him to a local speciality butcher and he received a grading of O+ 4L which our butcher was very pleased with (for a dexter).

Pennielea · Post by **Pennielea** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:28 am

Most Dexters slaughtered in N.Ireland are graded even for home use as we nearly all use the same abbatoir who give us the grading without charge. The target is to get fat level 3. Yours at 4L would be a little over fat for most of our customers without some trimming. The secret is to get to know what the grading will be before you send them in. That comes with experience or good advice from and experienced finisher. Some people never learn and do not ask which is why some are sent in at fat level 5 !

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:00 am

My last two killed were 264kg live, 136kg dead, O+3 and 220kg live, 112kg dead, O+2. These were 27 and 26 months old, never tasted anything but grass and hay.

Duncan

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:40 am

We have only sent one so far it was for our own use and very young, so we were a bit afraid there would be too little fat but it was a 3 and perfect - lesson learned. :laugh:

Stephanie

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:21 am

The one we sent in this year was graded O4L and that was because I thought she looked a little ''unfinished'' so gave her some barley in the last month I had her (she was 29months old when she went in). The meat was fantastic but I obviously didn't need to give her the barley so lesson learnt for next year.

carole · Post by **carole** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:51 pm

just as well I'm not selling to your customers then, joan
and to a very well respected butcher in cornwall

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Penny · Post by **Penny** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:30 am

Yes, the important thing is to know your customers.
The huge majority of mine like a good covering of fat, whether on the joints or steaks etc, and it has taken me some time to stop the butcher from trimming to what he thought was how it should be.
I have a very high level of customer contact, as everything is sold in individual cuts, so am very aware of my customers preferences. It is only the restaurants who prefer slightly leaner carcasses.
The celebrity chefs certainly prefer an animal with good covering.
As to the amount of meat back, it is hard to get a clear picture as so many butchers are involved around the country ( world!). Some who will trim to a different amount ,and produce mince with trim that others would make only sausage with. It is only comparisons between different types of dexter all fed the same way and butchered the same way at the same place which will give an indication of just how well certain types do.
A lot more needs to be done on the genetics, both for the amont of beef produced and the taste.
Penny

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:59 pm

Duncan, have you got your weights mixed up.
264 AND 220 for the ages you indicate for liveweight is very small. I would expect a non-short steer to weigh 200kg at 12 months.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:16 pm

Hello Mark,

bear in mind I am trying to breed non carrier Dexters to be traditional short legged size, and that the size of a Dexter bull and cow was traditionally no heavier than about 400kg for a bull and 360kg for a cow. I was a bit surprised how light the 220kg one was, but he had to go. The other one I am quite happy about the weight of. If we wish to retain the true Dexter character and all its advantages we must beware increases in size, which have wrecked many breeds in recent years. Look for instance at the difference between the traditional Aberdeen Angus and the modern, and the same for Shorthorn and Hereford. The modern version of these breeds may well be commercial, but they are not the same breed. Especially in the case of the Angus they are trading on the past glory of the name. As many of us know tasting panels are very likely to put Friesian Holstein beef above Angus in blind tests. The two most valuable characteristics of the Dexter are the size and the quality of the meat. We must not sacrifice either for a fast buck.

I know that it makes the killing charges per kilo dearer the smaller the animal is, but we will lose much of the Dexter if we allow the size to creep up. This has already gone too far. Bulls are now allowed to be 4 inches higher than they were in the mid 20th century. In fact the minimum height for a bull today for the breed standard is only 2 inches less then the former maximum.

Duncan

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 6:37 am

We probably breed a similar type to Duncan.
The two we took to the abs yesterday have had lucerne & grain since they were weaned because we can't carry them over another year.
The 15 month old steer weighed 212 kgs, and the 13 month old bull weighed 202 kgs.
Margaret

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:08 am

Wow what a difference in figures. I've just taken a 25 months old non-short, but he was a short'ish, stocky non-short, well within the UK breed standard height-wise at least, and he came out at 228kg deadweight!

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:32 am

That's about 445 kg liveweight. 980 lb. Any idea of P8 fat or eye muscle area, Clive?
PS, we don't have such luxuries as a scanner.

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Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:00 am

Unfortunately no such figures. According to my stats he would have been about 430kg liveweight. He was very well finished, technically no doubt over-finished but that is what our butcher wanted. You could probably say that maybe 50kg is due just to the finish on him not the size. He was exceptionally square set and broad chested. He was also finished on clover-rich/med-high sugar leys for 12 months so he had a lot of bulk from within not just on the outside.

I've just bought a weight-band so I'll try and get liveweight figures before I send the next two, which are bigger but will probably not be as much deadweight.

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:16 am

From looking at this thread it seems that there will be huge differences in what we can each expect as a breeder weight wise in our finished Dexters dependent on :-

Whether they are for home use or sale and whether they are short or long legged or are non carriers of the traditional short legged size, fat level required, another important factor and choice we are making is age at slaughter. This is without the added variable of making the right decision when to do the deed!

Far too many variables to expect much correlation of figures, it is going to be a different outcome for most of us.

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:41 pm

The variation in boned-out is even more Stephanie. My range on one farm is between 85 to 158kg of meat (no offal, nearly everything boned), but you would never have thought they could be so different had you seen the two animals. Also butchers differ considerably with their weights. Two identical cloned animals sent to two butchers could be 10% or more different in deadweight, which is not good really. The two weights I have just quoted are accurate because they are mine.