[neilep (OP)]

What a load of bullocks !!.............LOL !!

[Karen W.]

LOL LOL!

[Karen W.]

Dear Bovine Beefburger Eaters,

This is Heather:
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Nice isn't she ?....notice how cow shape and non steak-like she is looking.


She's showing a bit of tongue because she's just found out that today she becomes Minced Beef !!

How long would Heather live if left to live a full cow life ?

I can't remember the last time I saw a feral/wild cow !!

This is the greatest picture!

[SquarishTriangle]

Domestic cattle can reach ages of 20+, however since they are mainly bred and grown as production animals, it is not profitable for them to be maintained to those sorts of ages. It takes a lot of money to feed each cow and in order to keep the farm business sustainable, they are usually slaughtered before the potentially profit (quality/tenderness of meat) to be made from the animal is exceeded by the costs that need to be put into it.

But potentially yes, Heather could reach 20 or so.

Old age comes with its own problems (as you may have noticed)...tumours, neurodegenative problems, decreased reproductive ability, decreased lactation (for both calf and production), the list goes on...

Dairy cattle aren't actually excluded from meat production. About 60 percent of dairy cattle end up (in some form) on our dinner plates.

Hmm...only eating the bulls seems peculiar. Doesn't that mean the beef industry is only operating up to a maximum 50 percent efficiency?

[Karen W.]

Thats so Odd.. maybe its just us goofy northern Californians.. LOL They keep the females going for milk around here and breeding the males are generally butchered.. although I know with the milk diary that is only because they keep the females to milk.. and the male calves are usually sent to the slaughter house for butchering right after birth which is so sad! veal..... Usually only a day or two old.. We have tried to rescue a couple but it is difficult because they do not allow the males to nurse at birth.. because they are taken right after.. so if you choose to take them home it is pretty much a necessity to get some of the first colestrum filled milk to feed the new male or usually they die without their moms antibodies to help them along! It really is very sad!

[SquarishTriangle]

Here's what I was reading:

“Does the ‘quality’ of cow and bull beef from dairy cattle really matter since cows and bulls are made into ground beef?” The answer is simple – YES! Quality matters because not all cow beef is manufactured into ground beef. Yes, approximately 56% of a cow or bull carcass is utilized as trimmings and some of those trimmings will be used to produce ground beef. However, 44 % of each cow and bull carcass, according to the 1999 National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit (NMCBBQA-1999; Roeber et al., 2000a), will be utilized as whole muscle cuts and/or 100% visual lean product to provide steaks and roasts.

Roeber DL. Meat quality and dairy veterinary practice. Proceedings of the Minnesota Dairy Health Conference. College of Veterinary Medicine. University of Minnesota. May 2003.

Here we generally castrate the male dairy calves and grow them up into bull beef...and then slaughter them.

I suppose they would probably package the colostrum up and sell that as well, if they weren't letting the calves have it. What do you do with your rescued calves (...after they grow up) Karen? I assume you have a big paddock for them. Hand-reared male dairy calves are the most aggressive once they start to grow up a bit...I'll put my hand up for learning that the hard way. lol

[Karen W.]

We have taken in a few because I have a really soft heart, but it takes lots more then a human mama to help them. We have failed in each attempt even with the vets intervention to try and save the calves.. They just needed more time with mom... One calf just seemed to thrive then would suddenly lapse back and be come weak.. we lost them all by about 3 weeks one at almost six, but to a larger predator we suspected a mountain lion cause he drug the little guy off and all we found were remnants... it was way sad!

Yes I have a couple acres for animals but they really need a lot more space... Those calves are so adorable!..

[Karen W.]

We have taken in a few because I have a really soft heart, but it takes lots more then a human mama to help them. We have failed in each attempt even with the vets intervention to try and save the calves.. They just needed more time with mom... One calf just seemed to thrive then would suddenly lapse back and be come weak.. we lost them all by about 3 weeks one at almost six, but to a larger predator we suspected a mountain lion cause he drug the little guy off and all we found were remnants... it was way sad!

Yes I have a couple acres for animals but they really need a lot more space... Those calves are so adorable!..

One I wanted to raise for beef but after my brotherin law butchered Sherman I just could not do it!

After that I was just we were just on a mission to raise them as pets... LOL.. they are really cool animals.. I have never been around real aggressive bulls although I have seen them.. our experience with my daughter working on the dairy , we were exposed to heffers and cows mostly.. She did however do lots of artificial insemination so we rarely seen a bull. They take them at 1 day old for slaughter.. unless you try to save one... The vet said our biggest problem was getting the calves enough collestrum filled milk to provide them with antibodies they needed to survive! And it was not possible each time to get enough.. even with the fortified special milk from the vet we failed it was very depressing and sad!

[SquarishTriangle]

Mmmm...yeah that's a problem. Coupled with the fact the calf only has around 24 hours to absorb the antibodies in the colostrum. So even if you managed to get enough colostrum, it'd be difficult to ensure the calf is still able to absorb adequate amounts of it to help its little immune system along. (not really going to volunteer to steal a calf straight off its mother either...)

[Karen W.]

NO It was said.. They would gather the little bulls the day they were born and take them to the slaughter house.... I hated it... but they would never let the bulls nurse I just did not understand that.. what would it hurt to let them live and grow up... Why do they do that???

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Carp- 100 years- gives a whole new meaning to carpe diem!

What is "carpe diem"?

[Ophiolite]

Carp- 100 years- gives a whole new meaning to carpe diem!

What is "carpe diem"?

Seize the day.

Note: since, before your post, this thread was last active in 2007 we appear to have an example of (very well) aged beef.

[evan_au]

What is "carpe diem"?

It is a Latin phrase from the poet Horace around 23BC.
- A modern translation might be "YOLO".
- I first became aware of the phrase from the film "Dead Poet's Society" (1989), starring Robin Williams
- It was also used by the US poet Walt Whitman (who seems relatively unknown outside North America...)

See: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/carpe-diem-poems-making-most-time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpe_diem

[alancalverd]

Good (well, less worse) news for bull calves: there's a growing UK interest in rose veal. Bull dairy calves get to skip around for 6 - 8 months before becoming steaks and burgers. Happy and delicious.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

What is "carpe diem"?

It is a Latin phrase from the poet Horace around 23BC.
- A modern translation might be "YOLO".
- I first became aware of the phrase from the film "Dead Poet's Society" (1989), starring Robin Williams
- It was also used by the US poet Walt Whitman (who seems relatively unknown outside North America...)

See: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/carpe-diem-poems-making-most-time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpe_diem

So, in other words, "live your day to its fullest"?