From Bottle Calf to Beef Filled Freezer: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Your Own Beef

By Leeann Ulics Moos

When the Covid virus exposed vulnerabilities in the nation's meat supply chain, it sparked some folks' interest in raising their own, home raised beef. Perhaps you are one of them. Maybe your child is interested in raising a 4-H or FFA bottle calf project. Maybe you are new to the food self-reliant lifestyle and are looking for help getting started. Maybe you are just looking for a less expensive way to fill your freezer. If you have an interest in raising a bottle calf to fill your freezer, this book is for you!
From Bottle Calf to Beef Filled Freezer guides the reader through the process of raising a baby dairy breed calf from the day he leaves his mother cow all the way through to beef safely stored in the home freezer. The easy to follow, step by step instructions are designed to be a beginner's guide, providing the information and tools necessary to make their beef raising project a success. Heck, you might even know the difference between a cow, calf, bull or steer. This is the perfect book for you. Well, I definitely know the difference and you will too after reading this concise, easy to read book. I think you will find it a learning experience you will enjoy!

The book guides the reader through all the steps necessary from project pre-planning to preparing a cut and wrap order for the butcher. Some of the issues addressed include:
• Why raise a freezer beef?
• How much is this going to cost me?
• What dairy breed calf will best fit my beef project goals?
• What supplies will I need?
• How do I plan and prepare for the calf's arrival?
• What questions do I need to ask the calf seller?
• How do I recognize and treat calf health issues?
• Do I need to castrate and dehorn my calf?
• Should I raise grass fed or grass and grain fed/grain finished beef?
• How much and what should I feed?
• How do I decide how to have my beef cut?

This book covers it and does so in a fun and non-intimidating manner!
Step by step instructions are provided to help you estimate the cost of producing your own beef. An estimate worksheet is included that will enable the reader to personally project their own costs. A prepared sample worksheet is also provided as an example. The sample beef cut and wrap order form will help you prepare for the beef cutting questions that the butcher will ask on harvest day.
The author, Leeann Ulics Moos, has over 40 years of experience working in the commercial dairy production and finance fields. Since childhood she has raised much of the beef, pork and poultry products served on her family's dinner table, a tradition her family continues to this day. Her life-long experience is a valuable asset for folks interested in raising their own meat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098387464

Book preview

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© Leeann Ulics Moos.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 978-1-09838-745-7 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-09838-746-4 (eBook)

Table of Contents

Preparation for the Journey

Why Raise a Freezer Beef?

Let’s Do a Little Planning

What Kind of Calf Should I Get?

Time to Make a New Friend

Getting Ready

The First 60+/- Days

Let’s Get Started on This Adventure!

Calf Health Issues

A Few Body Parts We Need to Address

Transition Time

Putting on the Weight

Planning Your Trip to the Finish Line

Feeding to the Finish

A Few Final Steps

Processing

What to Expect From Your Butcher?

How Do I Want My Beef Cut?

Good Bye

Cost Estimate Form

Sample Cost Estimate

Values Used for Sample Cost Estimate

Estimating Butcher Costs

About the Author

Acknowledgment

Introduction

Hello, there! My name is Leeann Moos. Yes, that’s my real name. I got it many years ago when I married a man whose last name is synonymous with the sound a cow makes. My husband, Jonathan, grew up on his family’s dairy farm. He was well acquainted with long hours, early mornings, and middle of the night emergency phone calls long before we met.

On the other hand, I grew up on a small farm with horses and a walnut orchard. I have always had a love for cattle, and at the age of nine, I became a proud member of my local 4-H club. 4-H nurtured my love of cattle and other livestock. It taught me how to raise meat for the family freezer and became instrumental in many of my life choices, most of which have centered around the dairy industry.

Well, enough about me. Let’s get to the reason you are here. You probably live in a rural or semi-rural area. I’m also guessing that you have an interest in raising your own dairy breed bottle calf. By that, I mean a baby calf that is being fed milk whose mother was a dairy breed cow. You might be new to raising your own beef, let alone raising a bottle calf all the way through maturity and harvest. You probably have envisioned a freezer full of beef in your near future. You are not alone. I’m guessing the empty meat counters of 2020 got the attention of a lot of folks and inspired them to not get caught unprepared when the next (fill-in-the-blank-here) crisis occurs.

I realize raising a bottle calf from day one to finish may seem like a daunting task. It may even seem a little intimidating. If you are new to calf-raising, know that there is definitely a learning curve. Here is where I come in. I’m hoping that this little book can walk you through the process step by step. My goal is to make growing your own beef less intimidating. It is my prayer that this book will help you through that learning curve.

Chapter 1

Why Raise a Freezer Beef?

First, let me start with the beef sold at your local grocery store. Most, if not all, of the beef sold at grocery stores is healthy and tasty. Saleable meat must be inspected by USDA inspectors in a USDA-inspected plant. Vital organs and the carcass are inspected to assure that the animal was healthy and represents a wholesome product. By law, all meat sold through USDA-inspected plants must be free of antibiotics.

I believe that farmers have an ethical responsibility to do the right thing for their animals. After my many years of dairy farming and working with farmers, I think they would all agree. Think about it: their livelihood depends on their animals performing their best! Happy animals perform better. I suspect animals and people have a lot in common that way. Like people, livestock occasionally get sick and when they do, responsible farmers treat them. Sometimes the appropriate treatment includes antibiotics.

At some point you have most likely taken an antibiotic prescribed by your doctor. After a while it is totally gone from your body, right? Your body processes and disposes it off. The bodies of animals do the same thing. To ensure antibiotics never enter the human food supply, very extensive trials and research have been done to verify how long the drug stays in an animal’s system. That is called the withdrawal time. Every antibiotic sold has this withdrawal time listed on its label. It is against the law to sell any livestock containing drug residues for food processing! All meat processed in USDA-inspected plants must be free of antibiotic to be sold. The inspection process assures that every animal passes that criterion. In the rare circumstance that an animal