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Columbia City, Indiana | Do you have any dairies close by? If so, you should look into purchasing a few 3 day old bull calves. Your kids get a big kick out of bottle feeding. The tricky thing is that they can become attached, so they need to be reminded regularly that when the calves get big, they will be gone and that the reason we raise livestock is for food. You can probably get the calves cheap and for the cost of a few bottles and a couple of bags of milk replacer you can start raising your own meat. If you don't want to bottle feed, I'd probably get bigger calves that will be ready for processing sooner. If you start now with a baby Holstein, it'll probably be close to 2011 harvest before you can enjoy a home raised steak. Colored calves grow much faster, convert feed more efficiently, and produce much better meat, IMO. Some people prefer Holsteins, though. | |
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Raising ones own meat?
