How long do you grain a cow before slaughter?

Answer 1

Feeders refer to calves and yearlings, both steers and heifers, that are carrying more weight and/or finish than stockers, which are ready to be placed on high-energy rations for finishing and slaughtering. Thus, feeder cattle on a grain diet generally take 3 to 4 months (7 to 8 months for calves) to reach Choice grade and be ready for slaughter.

Answer 2

Most feeders/finishers are slaughtered at around 18 to 24 months of age, however finisher cattle are slaughtered according to a particular target finish weight they have to reach, not by their age. This is because there are variations in how cattle are finished due to their breeding, genetics and sex. Continentals will take a shorter time to finish because they tend to reach target weight much sooner due to their high growth rates, and may be ready for slaughter by the time they are 12 to 18 months of age. British-type cattle will take longer because they are smaller and tend to gain in more fat than muscle when on a finisher diet. British-breds also have a slower growth rate than Continentals do, and may not be slaughtered until they are past 18 months of age. All in all though, finishers are slaughtered at a target weight of around 1400 lb. Generally grass-finished cattle and cattle raised for personal consumption are slaughtered at a lighter weight than those cattle finished on grain.

Answer 3

Feedlots finish cattle on grain for three to four months prior to slaughter. If you are fattening your own cattle for slaughter it would depend if you want to have beef that is primarily grain-fed, a mix of grass and grain-fed, or just grass-fed. With grain-fed you would probably copy what the feedlots do with their cattle: put the animal on a primary-grain diet. Grass/hay-grain-fed mix would mean feeding the animal hay or allowing it to graze good-quality grass while at the same time supplementing with grain, and graining them for around 4 to 6 weeks. Grass-fed beef requires no graining at all.

Answer 4

Most cattle are on a feedlot for the last 3 to 4 months of their lives.