Butchering Corrientes

[gcreekrch]

Feed it butcher it and report back. Keep track of the kill charge and meat yield. Please check back with a full report.

If you have been here on the board for any length of time you were aware that threads do not always stay on the straight and narrow. If you do not want OPINIONS do not ask questions.

Don't forget how much feed went into it. And factor in age, an worn out, four year old roping steer is still cow beef and will have the same eating quality regardless of any preparations before or after it is in the freezer.

30 some years ago I ended up with a bred, purebred longhorn heifer in a trade deal. She calved, kicked the calf when it tried to suck and broke its neck. We turned the heifer out on range with the herd and she came in fat as a pig that fall. We butchered her after a month on grain and were very dissatisfied in the meat quality. Every steak had about four thin strips of meat interspersed with a strip of gristle and a nother of fat. One was enough for us. Maybe Corrientes are much better…… apparently cheap is better.

 

[greybeard]

Long ago, longhorns used to be known for just (exactly?) that kind of stringy beef.

 

[libertygarden]

Corrientes live long lives and aren't bothered by coyotes during calving season. I don't know much about the meat taste, but I've wondered more than once if some of the meat I get at the supermarket didn't come from Corriente.

 

[tex452]

Corrientes live long lives and aren't bothered by coyotes during calving season. I don't know much about the meat taste, but I've wondered more than once if some of the meat I get at the supermarket didn't come from Corriente.

Of course it does, there's lots of Corrientes in Texas, they have to go somewhere.

 

[libertygarden]

I think it goes to the Mexican meat markets because their t-bone steaks are not terribly expensive but very tough.

 

[Ebenezer]

Ebenezer, I know from previous posts that you've brought a lot of valuable discussion to many different threads on here but I can't help but note a bit of antagonizing sarcasm in that post. I'm the first to admit that I don't know squat when it comes to cattle which is why I'm here reading and engaging with folks that do. I started this post to see if a corriente steer was worth feeding to put in the freezer on the cheap. Yes it has snowballed a few different directions but the main goal of the thread is still about meat in the freezer. If you have knowledge to bring to the table then by all means please contribute.

I just have knowledge of the local markets. If I were to get serious about ET and wanted cheap keeping recips, I would surely consider some corriente cows if I could find some calm and free of disease. I can see the advantage of a small cow that calves easily. From the discussions that I have read, it seems that the meat is not a high end product. The market will not pay much for them. I do not rodeo. So, yes, I am being a bit sarcastic. You nailed it.

 

[Pnw Farmer]

Feed it butcher it and report back. Keep track of the kill charge and meat yield. Please check back with a full report.

If you have been here on the board for any length of time you were aware that threads do not always stay on the straight and narrow. If you do not want OPINIONS do not ask questions.

Yes I'm fully aware that threads veer off course, my questions pertaining to something another member said have been the cause of most of the off topic discussion. The original point of this thread though was not asking people what their opinions were on the matter, it was for information in regards to carcass percentages. I asked for usable data for possibly making an informed decision and what my reasoning behind the request entailed, nowhere did I say "tell me what your thoughts are about eating a Corriente". There's plenty of opinions about that already on here but nowhere did I find a thread with actual carcass numbers.

 

[50/50Farms]

Getting away from their calving efficiency and their low cost and their other attributes, getting back around to the topic, everyone I've ever known that has eaten them has been eating retired roping stock. They said the ground is tasty and the steaks are tough. If I butchered a pure one down I'd cook anything solid Mexican style. @Little Joe is feeding out a half longhorn and @BFE might have beefed some. The Yoke S ranch says theirs are tender, I don't know because I'd have to be pretty hung up to buy custom beef from Iowa.

 

[Dave]

If what you are truly interested in is cheap beef. Go to the sale barn and buy 800-900 pound heifers that are crippled. Not terribly crippled but have one bad leg. The feedlots don't want a cripple and they are too small for the kill buyers to pay too much interest. Depending on condition you can kill them right away or put into a small pen and feed for a short time. Bottom line is that will be the cheapest beef you can get. Breeding any kind of cow and raising her calf up to slaughter will be the most expensive beef you can get if you track all the real costs.

 

[Pnw Farmer]

Don't forget how much feed went into it. And factor in age, an worn out, four year old roping steer is still cow beef and will have the same eating quality regardless of any preparations before or after it is in the freezer.

30 some years ago I ended up with a bred, purebred longhorn heifer in a trade deal. She calved, kicked the calf when it tried to suck and broke its neck. We turned the heifer out on range with the herd and she came in fat as a pig that fall. We butchered her after a month on grain and were very dissatisfied in the meat quality. Every steak had about four thin strips of meat interspersed with a strip of gristle and a nother of fat. One was enough for us. Maybe Corrientes are much better…… apparently cheap is better.

An old, worn out roping steer was not the intended animal, the ad that peaked my interest had 15-19 month old animals listed that had not been roped. Put out on grass come April\May, depending on the spring, 6 months on good grass, 2 months of peas then slaughtered. That puts them in that 2-2.5 yrs old range. That's when we've butchered our Jerseys and we've been happy with their size. I appreciate the input of your experience right up until the last sentence, being cheap, waiting for the right deals to come along, horse trading services because we're on a tight budget is what's kept my head above water and given me the opportunity to purchase the occasional nice item over the years. You're entitled to your opinion of what I'm inquiring about but please don't belittle my idea just because it's not something commonplace in your region.

 

[50/50Farms]

An old, worn out roping steer was not the intended animal, the ad that peaked my interest had 15-19 month old animals listed that had not been roped. Put out on grass come April\May, depending on the spring, 6 months on good grass, 2 months of peas then slaughtered. That puts them in that 2-2.5 yrs old range. That's when we've butchered our Jerseys and we've been happy with their size. I appreciate the input of your experience right up until the last sentence, being cheap, waiting for the right deals to come along, horse trading services because we're on a tight budget is what's kept my head above water and given me the opportunity to purchase the occasional nice item over the years. You're entitled to your opinion of what I'm inquiring about but please don't belittle my idea just because it's not something commonplace in your region.

Do you own your own grinder at home?

 

[gcreekrch]

An old, worn out roping steer was not the intended animal, the ad that peaked my interest had 15-19 month old animals listed that had not been roped. Put out on grass come April\May, depending on the spring, 6 months on good grass, 2 months of peas then slaughtered. That puts them in that 2-2.5 yrs old range. That's when we've butchered our Jerseys and we've been happy with their size. I appreciate the input of your experience right up until the last sentence, being cheap, waiting for the right deals to come along, horse trading services because we're on a tight budget is what's kept my head above water and given me the opportunity to purchase the occasional nice item over the years. You're entitled to your opinion of what I'm inquiring about but please don't belittle my idea just because it's not something commonplace in your region.

We started with less than nothing so I know where and what you are talking about. 45 years of making decisions have made me quite opinionated about what works and what costs money. You just fill your boots with your own decision though. Seems most of us have to pee on the hot wire ourselves and think we can reinvent the wheel.

I am out now unless you pm me a question sometime. You asked specific questions at the start and I gave answers from experience. Sometimes other's opinions are not what we want to hear to support our ideas.

 

[Pnw Farmer]

Do you own your own grinder at home?

We do, it's not commercial but pretty heavy duty. Eats it pretty fast, the hamburger crew is usually twiddling their fingers more often than not. 2nd grind takes more time as we're feeding it directly into the burger bag through the stuffer attachment. If they're tough steaks I'm not opposed to grinding a whole animal. We use lots of burger.

 

[50/50Farms]

We do, it's not commercial but pretty heavy duty. Eats it pretty fast, the hamburger crew is usually twiddling their fingers more often than not. 2nd grind takes more time as we're feeding it directly into the burger bag through the stuffer attachment. If they're tough steaks I'm not opposed to grinding a whole animal. We use lots of burger.

Then here's what I'd say: if the math works then try it and be ready to grind.

 

[Pnw Farmer]

Then here's what I'd say: if the math works then try it and be ready to grind.

I still don't have the numbers I was originally looking for, only one sort of answered was live weight. Sounds like 6-800 lbs would be a reasonable expectation?

 

[50/50Farms]

Mature?

 

[mwj]

Get over yourself. You are getting answers, just not the answers you want.


As I said earlier ,just do it and quit looking for somebody to hold your hand. I did not see any good eating examples on this thread and you have a big grinder so all your out is your time and money.

 

[Warren Allison]

I still don't have the numbers I was originally looking for, only one sort of answered was live weight. Sounds like 6-800 lbs would be a reasonable expectation?

Yes, 800-900 would be a reasonable expectation if you got a weaned Corr steer and fed him til he was 2. I don't know where to find % yield for one like that. I think most people who have eaten a Corr is because it was aged out or if younger, was injured. I don't know anyone who takes weanlings and feeds them out for slaughter. I would say probably about the same yeild you get from jersey steers. I will have some born in October, and I am thinking about keeping 2 and trying them out just to see. We'd normally wean these in April, but I'd leave them where they are til about 1st of November (on Kudzu which tests 24-26% protein) then put them up and feed them out til they are 800 lbs.
Each year, we have had 2-4 cows that got missed when we had the black bulls in, and they got bred by our Corr clean=up bull. One year we had 10 out of the 120, and last year we hade zero. We normally keep any Corr heifers and sell the steers at weaning to team ropers for $200. If we weren't 3000 miles apart I'd send you a couple. But, like I was saying, put $50-$100 with that $200, and buy a heavy -bred Corr cow for $250-$300. If it was bred to a Corr bull, then you'd have a Corr calf to wean and feed out. If she was bred to a beef bull, then you'd have an even better one to feed out. Then breed her to your Angus bull every year.

You have been attacked by 6 of the group known as the Hateful Eight on here. That is what they do... browse the threads for comments that they can respond to with smart-ass, sarcastic rhetoric. No one pays them any attention. What little bit of knowledge a couple of them do have, is negated by their hateful comments and personal attacks.
I found some articles about Corriente for beef, but none I have read so far says anything about the yield. I will keep looking.

Corriente cattle: A unique breed | Farm Progress

Slideshow: North America’s oldest cattle breed offers low inputs and higher profits from grazing.

www.farmprogress.com

Here is a list of ranches that sell Corr beef. You might could email some of them and just ask whatt the yield is that they are getting.

The Corriente | North American Corriente Association

Corrientes are raised primarily for sports cattle while preserving the natural attributes of these durable animals such as high fertility, early maturity, trouble-free calving, and foraging efficiency, as well as disease and parasite resistance . . .

www.corriente.us

 

[Pnw Farmer]

Mature?

2-2.5 years old was the range I was thinking at butcher time.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Thanks for the input Smokin, it's not really a business model per se, we have some friends and family that can't afford a fed out beef animal with all the costs associated with it so we just help them butcher their own animal they buy from us. We charge enough to cover the cost of the animal, feed and medical costs and squirrel away a little for the kids. Some like the experience of home butchering but it's mostly just something we can do to help neighbors out. Something about the sense of community when we get a half dozen folks together having a meat cutting party appeals to me, I feel like that's something that once was common has been lost to the pages of history

I like your goals and admire what you are doing