Where to buy half a cow?

Not sure this is the right place so forgive me if not. We just moved to Weatherford from mansfield and I'm looking for someone local or within 30min to purchase 1/2 a cow processed. This will be our first time so any advice would be very helpful. Thanks in advance...

x1

My advice would be not to do it. You can buy the cuts you like when they are on sale, and come out much better price wise. One example is a chuck roast that I got at HEB for $1.88 a pound.

Any meat market will typically sell whole/half/quarter cow. My local market sells blank angus @ $3.29, butchered and wrapped to your likings.

A google search revealed Hayes Farm might be your best bet:
Hayes Farm
7580 Bennett Lawson Rd
Mansfield, TX - Tarrant County
(817) 477-1661

But I'm from south texas, so I don't know anything about these people.

Hamiltons in Weatherford can hook you up.

Thanks for all the input

don't call it half a cow, you sound like you're from Dallas

sorry, nevermind

For most people you are better off buying the cuts you like at the super market. Plus you get it fresher. Eatting half a beef is going to take awhile. Plus you are going to pay for and get a lot of cuts that you may not like. A few years ago I traded a calf for a cattle lease. The owner of the place wanted to get it butchered. He found out it wasn't as good as he had thought.

Good advice..... or go in halfs with somone buy a calf from market and have it butcherd

Is that $3.29 for what you bring home or for the half before it's trimmed, and cut?

Black angus huh... they got the gade sheets and blood results layed out to look at.... if you want some of the best meat buy by grade not by breed

I don't pay $3.29 per pound for any cut of beef I buy except boneless tenderloin steaks. Kroger had boneless top sirloin steaks on sale last week for $2.99. You can do almost anything with the boneless top sirloin.

The supermarkets run ad specials every week below their cost. It's called lost leaders. They take a loss on those ad specials.

I was hoping that price was for a high choice or prime cut

Why would you want high choice or prime on pot roast, or ground beef? Even round steak?

My dad slaughtered a heifer this time around. MMM MMM that was some good cow.

What does Hayraker call 1/2 a cow?

Survey says: A SIDE OF BEEF!

I dnt.... just saying that better be what it is for that price fella

What's the market price for a 1,200 pound corn fed steer?

$128 per hundred

So, you would be paying $750, plus the cost of butchering, and wrapping, for a side of beef. No thanks. I can buy a lot of tenderloin steaks, and chuck roast for that amount. That's about all I ever buy except hamburger meat.

How much gas do you think you use everytime you go to the store?

Also has a lot less hormones and drugs when you buy it the way the OP is looking for.

Buy what you want because everyone has an elbow and opinion...

Good discussion...
Right now we are feeding 5 including 3 teens so there's no issue with eating that much beef. Part of the reason is as 'booger' stated, getting fewer hormones and looking for grass fed beef PLUS I want the food security of having a stocked freezer.
We moved out to where we did specifically for some acreage and a water source (well) and next up is a Generac 20KW propane genie...

I dont want to sound negative but most feeder calfs that are planned to go to market will have plenty of hormones and meds put in them...it happens way before they hit market not after they are butcherd.... but theres no worry in that i have been around it for a long time and have eaten plenty of calfs we raised that lived the same life... i can tell you that fresh cut meat that you have done yourself will taste much better than any regular bout store meat... alot of dark cutters go big stores and whatnot..... if i were you i would find someone who raises cattle and see if they will sell you a steer at market price or just above it so your being fare to him since he coulda held on to that calf and made a little more.... 600lbs to 900lbs will be plenty more than enough. If you would like to do something of the sort let me know and i can see what i can find in your area...

BINGO!! I was just trying to keep the conversation going. We killed our own beef when I was growing up. My dad would sell some of it from an Icebox in the bed of his pickup truck. It was grass fed, but we never grilled steaks.

We are considering a home grown steer for our freezer. If you have the room and facilities, check out the dairies and farmers in the area for orphans. Holstein steers = Veal pama every night!!

Lots of people in your area that direct sell cattle for freezer beef.
They sell a whole beef or can split one with a another customer that also wants 1/2 a beef.
A finished calf will weigh 1000 to 1200 pounds
Most sell for around 2.50 to 3.50 a pound on the hoof.
Hanging weight will be around 65% of live weight, before cut and trimmed.

This is why you should not believe everything you read on a forum;

Dnt know were your getting that from but it sure wasnt a local auction barn...

The 1000lbs steers have been going for 120-130per hundred the last few months at all our local auctions.... I wouldnt be set out to buy a 1000lb animal anyway...if you were looking for a half anyway just buy a whole 600-700lb range steer... they have been going for 1.15 to 1.62 a pound...

We were tempted to take one of those 500# black deer this season. Shoot, we have been feeding them corn, so it would be an even trade.

I said finished(fattened) calf
If you don't care about the quality then yes go to the auction and buy a calf

Thats what i figured you were talking about and yeah they are a good bit higher

It's worth the drive to go to Fischer's in MUenster, call ahead, they will have it butchered, wrapped, and either frozen or fresh however you want it to travel when you get there...

^ Yep. That's where I would go too. Nice drive, good bike roads. Great sausage too.

I'm getting ready to butcher some beef! We've recently had 4 cows & a calf (& one cow ready to drop) show up on our place. They got in through a bad spot in the fence. Two of them have ear tags, the others don't. We've contacted all of the neighbors & they don't belong to any of them. They are WILD as hell, probly more spooky than most of the deer around. We're trying to trap them in the corral & get a closer look at them, see if they're branded etc. Once we've exhausted all attempts to ID them, well then I think there may be a calf or two on the menu. Thinking about taking down one of the big ones & grinding the whole thing up into hamburger meat. Bout to buy a bigger freezer

Both statements are correct
Feedyards selling fat cattle for 1.25- 1.30
Home raised freezer beef varies depending on the whether it's natural, hormone free, corn fed, angus and etc etc etc

Suck it oxner. That was exactly what fat cattle were trading for that day

This is the place I get young chicks and eggs from. They've got a big range of different meats. Be forewarned, it is a slaughter house so the sights, smell, and SOUNDS come with it all. Few years ago, I just got there, while getting out of the car they where pulling in a pig. As they did their "thing" the pig let out a scream I couldn't get out of my head for a year months!

Ditto on the sausage! We make a stop there for German sausage everytime we hit Red River run

Those that are interested might want to look up Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acid. This is the main difference that people are talking about between the grass fed and so called FINISHED beef as far as nutrition.

The meaning of the term finished refers to the optimum amount of growth and fat(marbling)
Grass fed cattle are finished on grass without grain/corn.
Typically cattle are finished on a high grain ration.
I am not sold on the health benefits of grass fed, but it does have distinct taste.
You might want to sample a little before you purchase a whole beef

That grain fed beef and all that good fat does really taste good. Wish I had a good ribeye right now! The grass fed beef will taste a little different than what people are accustom to. For the past 10 to 20 years that I know of, health professionals and some the top nutritionists in the world have been pushing the benefits of grass fed beef due to the increase in omega 6 fatty acid in grain fed beef. Omega 6 is a natural inflammatory. Omega 3 is a natural anti-inflammatory. The normal 2 to 1 ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 jumps to over 20 to 1 in just 30 days on feed and the longer they stay the higher out of balance it gets. The national average for the people tested in the United States had levels over 20 to 1. The experts say that this is one of the main reasons adults in the US are living on ibuprophen, aspirin, and other anti-inflammatorys. Some leading cardiovascular professionals and others go as far as saying that chronic inflammation of the arteries are the main cause for most heart attacks and not the buildup of plaque/arteriosclerosis that has been spread to the public for years. Anyway, something to think about and everyone has to make the decision on their own. We are all being fed so much bull these days in the news about what is going on in our country that sometimes it is hard to know what is truth and what is plain BS. Stay informed, do some research, and make an intelligent choice. That is all anyone can do. God Bless America!!!!!!!

I might add that this has nothing to do with just beef. Anything that is fed on a mostly grain diet fits into this topic as well. Such as farm raised catfish, salmon, etc. Because what are in the food that they are feeding the fish.....you got it...... GRAIN!!!!!!