Grass-fed cattle are also considered “finishing” cattle until they reach 1000-1200 pounds. Once they reach their target weight, they are considered “finished.” These are called “finishing” cattle, and they are fed and taken care of until they reach around 1000-1200 pounds, which is usually around 18 months old. Remember, the goal here is to grow and put on muscle. The calves are not force-fed, but are allowed to eat just about as much as they want. For the most part, these farms house their calves outside, sometimes on pasture and sometimes on concrete, with plenty of access to hay, water, and grain. The term “feedlot” has gotten a lot of negative press, and it is not all deserved. This can be done organically or non-organically. The “conventional” system is grain-fed in a feedlot. Raising Beef CalvesĬalves that are being raised for meat can be raised in one of two ways, grain-fed or grass-fed.
Beef animal age full size#
By this time, she has grown to full size and is capable of giving birth and taking care of a calf. Typically, a heifer is bred when she is around 15 months old, which means she will have a baby when she is around 24 months old. When a heifer is just over a year old, she has reached puberty and can be bred. Heifers do not have the same problem, so they do not need to be spayed (in fact, this is almost never done on a cattle farm, except in very strange medical situations). The hormones that a bull produces as it reaches puberty give a bad taste to the meat. If a bull calf is going to be raised for meat, it must be castrated. Many cattle farmers are trained and capable of performing this procedure on their own animals without veterinary supervision. Often, but not always, a veterinarian will perform the castration. If a bull calf is going to be castrated, this usually is done at just a few weeks of age. We sell our cross-bred calves and our Angus bulls, but keep our Angus heifers to grow our herd.
On a cow-calf farm, the calves are separated, and then usually sold to a feedlot. On a beef cattle farm, the calves will stay with their moms until weaning, around 4-6 months old.
Their number one job is to have a healthy baby around 9 months after they get pregnant (just like people).Ĭalves are just darn cute, and there’s no way around it. Let’s talk about the life stages these animals go through. The second is to raise animals to the right size so they can be sold for meat. The first is to have new calves every year to sell or keep to grow the size of the herd. There are two main goals of having beef cattle.
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