Purchase weaned feeder calves.
Raising your own beef for a restaurant is a small beef farming operation, defined as up to 100 total animals at any given time. To be viable, either the farm and the restaurant are your family businesses, or you are the direct supplier for a specific restaurant or chain. Start your beef farm as a growing and feeding operation. Establish a health program with a veterinarian or agricultural extension service before you purchase calves.
Instructions
Raising Your Calves
1. Containment is usually a corral with attached shelter.
Purchase feeder calves from a reputable breeder. Keep calves in the calf containment area for two weeks to observe them for disease, stress, and maladjustment - and to treat these conditions. Consult your veterinarian or extension service for the proper starter feed and feeding schedule, and make sure the calves have clean water at all times. Clean the containment area daily.
2. Very young calves are castrated and dehorned to prevent injuries to themselves and others.
Vaccinate, castrate, dehorn, and treat any parasites or medical conditions during initial containment. Training is available from your local extension service. A squeeze chute is necessary to safely restrain calves for treatment. You may purchase calves already vaccinated, castrated, and dehorned, but the squeeze chute is still necessary to administer routine veterinary care.
3. Beef calves spend most of their lives on a pasture.
Move your cattle to a pasture. A narrow alley should lead between containment, pasture, and shipping areas. All animal areas must have durable fencing. Provide shelter from mud, wind, and rain. Pasture shelter is usually a roof on poles and a windbreak, in an area with good drainage. The pasture must have accessible feed troughs for supplemental feeding, and water troughs with clean water available at all times.
4. Supplementation is based on quality of feed and location.
Supplemental feed is usually required as cattle grow and pasture is depleted. This is hay or silage. Nutritional supplementation is based on your location (such as areas with selenium-deficient soil) and the quality of feed. Store feed in a dry, dark location that is free of rodents and insect pests, and is accessible to the pasture. Transport feed and remove waste with a truck or tractor. A truck is helpful for transporting cattle as well.
5. The end product of cattle rearing is beef.
Cattle ship to slaughter at 12 to 24 months old. They must be slaughtered at a USDA-certified facility. Determine if you will ship the cattle yourself or hire a private trucking outfit. The agreement between you and the restaurant determines whether you use a slaughter facility that fully dresses the carcasses and prepares certain cuts of meat, and who will pay for the cost of processing the beef.
Tips Warnings
Feeding costs are lower if you purchase calves in the spring and slaughter in the fall. However, calves are cheaper to buy in the fall, accruing the higher expense of sheltering and feeding them all winter. Consider your restaurant's needs and your budget to determine whether to produce finished cattle yearly or seasonally.
A sudden switch to lush pasture or hay can cause fatal digestive upset.
Consult your veterinarian or extension service for adjustment schedules.
The USDA discourages electric cattle prods.
Concentrates (grains) can damage the rumen.
Keep veterinary records for each animal.
Familiarize yourself with federal, state, and local regulations regarding sale for consumption, handling, inspections, and permits, and with beef grades.
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