Thread: a bull that never got weaned one year on

Im no farmer but I raise a few animals for my team each year for our freezers out of my hand reared quiet kiwi crosses that are mostly fresian
I put the nabours hereford/limozine bull over them about two years back and got a pair of bull calves

Iv been waiting for over a year for the mothers to self wean/ kick off their calf which they havent and now the bulls are bigger than the cow mothers
man they grow quick when they have endless food and milk to drink

anyway they last years calves august and september and still nursing. mothers have endless grass to eat so are in fantastic condition as well

my question is will they taste better than just grass fed?
im tempted to try one to see but id like to know if its going to be a major mistake
the only difference is they are still drinking milk but will that make the beef bad in any particular way

iv got a steer that is a year older that could still use a little growing time and basically bulls are a full year younger and basically the same size

they are also a little troublesome bieng entire bulls with horns so im a little motivated to eat it earlier than I should and am wondering if it is going to be similar to a veal type set up

Sounds yum.
I wouldn't know though.

I thought you were going to say it put its ring out trying to mate with mum?

My guess is that since the stomach that used to digest the milk will be long gone so suckling milk will just go straight to the shitter.

Replace the yearling with a weaner pig to suckle, now that will bring home the bacon.

Go for it. We used to run a house cow and the best beef we ever had was the rising two year old still sucking on mum.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

My guess is that since the stomach that used to digest the milk will be long gone so suckling milk will just go straight to the shitter.

Yeah, nah. All the stomachs are still there, but the milk will be going into the rumen (1st stomach) rather than bypassing it straight to the abomasum (4th stomach) as happens in calves. But overall outcome is the same - the milk isn't being digested directly by the bull (the rumen microbes are digesting the milk, then the bull digests the microbes).

I'd be leaving the steer and eating a bull - the steer's eating quality can improve with time, the bull won't. And if the cow's are pregnant (quite likely since they are in good condition) they need a break from milking before the next calf arrives.

Theses are about a month old pictures so he looks even better than this


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Here’s the steer for comparison


And the bull


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Originally Posted by Cigar

Yeah, nah. All the stomachs are still there, but the milk will be going into the rumen (1st stomach) rather than bypassing it straight to the abomasum (4th stomach) as happens in calves. But overall outcome is the same - the milk isn't being digested directly by the bull (the rumen microbes are digesting the milk, then the bull digests the microbes).

I'd be leaving the steer and eating a bull - the steer's eating quality can improve with time, the bull won't. And if the cow's are pregnant (quite likely since they are in good condition) they need a break from milking before the next calf arrives.

I imagine the cow will be in calf with her son sucking and fucking her.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

I imagine the cow will be in calf with her son sucking and fucking her.

Yeah, though apparently suckling has a contraceptive effect, but it's definitely not 100% as one of my Massey lecturers found out!

Originally Posted by Cigar

Yeah, though apparently suckling has a contraceptive effect, but it's definitely not 100% as one of my Massey lecturers found out!

Yeah, I tried that line with the wife and she still got pregnant.

Eat it, yum! Grew up on dairy farm in dairy-beef days. Late cycle cows got AB straw for Simmintel. Calf partnered up with a three titter and sent to back of farm, 2 calves per cow. At 14-16mths they were huge, and quiet. Best one went in the freezer, the rest, and step-Mum, to the works..Best beef ever.

If you are going to eat it you want to kill it before 2 year old 18mths is best before they start working and smashing fences. If keeping for eating steers are better. When processing the bull don't bother with rolled roasts or schnitzel just the main frying steaks mince corned beef etc and If doing sausages you may need some extra fat to go with them

Lol yeah the shenanigans those lectures get up to aye

Originally Posted by Cigar

Yeah, though apparently suckling has a contraceptive effect, but it's definitely not 100% as one of my Massey lecturers found out!

The milk may add a bit more fat to their diet, so you may get a bit more marbling or subcutaneous fat possibly. Bit more protein too so will grow a bit quicker dependant on how much they are drinking. All my homekill lambs have been feeding for at least a year off the ewes since they all run together. Doesn't seem much difference to weaned lambs I've done for the odd mate ( ok all my mates are odd ). Although moos are usually done a bit older than lambs.