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Hanging out in the truck while Daddy takes care of cattle. The cattle always love when dogs, children, and small animals come around. They look really cute when they're curious with their head forward, ears pricked forward, and mischievous look on their face.
We have beef in our freezer. This is what we have available right now. In 2 weeks, we will be getting more and have other cuts not listed available again.
Ground beef- $4.25/PKG
Cubed Steak (4 per PKG)- $4/PKG
Chuck Roast- $4/lb
Sirloin- (2 steak/pkg) $8/lb
Ribeye- (2 steak/pkg) $10/lb
Arm Roast- $4/lb
I add that these juices are very flavorful and when you cook them all out, IMO the steak doesn't taste near as good.
https://highkitcheniq.com/freezer-paper-vs-vacuum-pack/
In our experience paper wrap lasts up to 2 years before freezer burning takes over not 12 months or less as this article states however our butchers have always done a layer of plastic and then a layer of paperwrap which helps it last longer than solely paperwrap. There are definite benefits of vacuum seal over paper wrap.
However, paper wrap is definitely better than the plastic tubing if you won't be eating the meat within a year. Also tubing is much more likely to tear and rip. This is what is used at W & W Locker currently.
We bought six kids the same age as our daughter Melissa. These are Boer goats that will help keep the weeds off our pasture and help eat hay we grow. :-)
How do we care for our cattle?
We have two places we keep cattle at. Our house and Adam's parents. Daily chores involve feeding the calves at our house twice a day and checking on the cattle at the other place once a day. At our house we have barrels of feed, a watering trough, and small square bales of hay that we give them. This enables us to ration their feed at a young age which protects them from getting bloated, but when they are bigger they get a self feeder, self waterer, and large round bales of hay to eat from or an all you can eat buffet. We of course check to see if they need fresh bedding and if the barrels or automatic feeders need refilled and we need to grind feed.
All our hay and feed is corn is NON-GMO and naturally raised. We grind our own feed which consists of corn, hay, and minerals. Holsteins and beef eat a bit differently the first half of their life. We feed beef mostly hay with just a small amount of grain and we feed the Holsteins need more grain in their diet during this time but eventually they both eat about the same amount of hay and grain. Occasionally we get a persnickety Holstein that won't eat any hay or we get a beef calf that only wants hay or eats mostly hay. For small calves, we add molasses into their grain but slowly ration it out. Bottle calves are of course given a milk bottle twice a day of 2 quarts of milk and at 2 weeks old we give them the option of calf nuggets and hay. This is needed to start/develop the ruminating process in their stomachs.
Whenever we purchase calves, they stay at our house first to make sure they are healthy and then we also bring all the younger ones to our house to get them up to around 600 lbs before we take them over to the in laws where we feed them out the rest of the way.
We rarely ever have to give any of the calves any medicine and they don't get any vaccinations with us. Our goal is to give them a healthy and happy environment so they don't get sick. A stressed calf is much more likely to get sick than a happy one. Also stress affects nutrient absorption and the tenderness and flavor quality of the meat.
What are we up to on our little farm this time of year?
This time of year on our farm we repair any equipment that needs it, we spread manure we've collected throughout the year onto our hay field, we sell any extra hay we have before it's time to bale our first cutting, and we buy calves. We also cut wood for our outdoor wood burner when weather permits. We also enjoy extra time with Daddy/Adam to just hang out when he is off work.
From Spring thru Fall, when farming and other outdoor projects pick up, we don't get as much time with him though we enjoy watching him farm and helping out where we can.
Here is the butcher appointments we currently have available this year. $2.50/lb hangweight to us and you pay butcher but if you order a whole or get others to go in on a whole with you then it's $2.25/lb hangweight and you pay the butcher. We will of course be doing our best to keep our freezers stocked for those who order in smaller amounts.
Busco/Integrity Meats 2022:
March 27- 2
July 17- 3
Nov 13- 3
Bippus 2022:
May 4-2
Nov 30-3
Mooey is almost 3 weeks old now and he eats a handful of calf feed with his bottle now and starting to nibble hay. The rest of the cattle are doing well too.
He's a vigorous eater and Elijah has natural touch.
New beef calves to eat hay and pasture getting a little Non GMO grain. They love the kids and the kids love them. The red one Maci named Brownie, the one with the spotted face they named Spotty, the one with the mostly white face they named Oreo and the all black one Mirands named Onesly. Two steers and two heifers.
