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In selecting feeder cattle you will have to determine your choices by classifications and grades according to age, sex, weight, and conformation.
Feeder cattle are those cattle who do not carry enough condition to make the slaughter grade they are capable of making, so they will need to be fed until they are of the size for market.
Sex- Cattle are classified as stags, bulls, cows, heiferettes, heiferes, and steers. A cow is a mature female that has had one or more calves or is a barren female. A heifer is a female animal that is not developed as mature as she should be in form and has not had a calf. Usually a female under three years of age is called a heifer. A heiferette is a young cow that has not had more than one calf. The steer is a male animal that has been castrated early before he reached his sexual maturity. The bull is an uncastrated male of any age. The stag is a male animal that has been castrated after he was a mature bull.
Age- Cattle are always classified according to their age. They are called calves until one year of age, from one to two they are yearlings, and over eighteen months they are short-yearlings. Long-yearlings are cattle over eighteen months but less than two years, two year olds are between two and three years and cattle three or more years are seldom considered except in the feeder trade, except for stags, bulls and cows.
Weight- Steers and heifers are light, medium and heavy, and there is no weight classifications for stage, bulls or cows. The age of the animal will determine weight. Sometimes a heavy yearling feeder steer can weight as much as 800 pounds, while a steer calf would weight about 500 pounds and a two year old steer would be about l,l00 pounds. It depends on the frame of the individual cow as to the classifications also.
Grade- There are grades set to apply to cows, heifers, and steer, these are choice, good, standard, commercial, utility, inferior and prime. The bulls and stags aren't usually considered in these grades. Prime cattle are those small percentage of feeder steers and heifers that show exceptional smoothness and body conformation and usually sell for a high price for commercial feeders. The practical grade of feeder cattle is choice, these are superior in natural finish, quality and conformation. They have long bodies, moderate depth, well-turned tops, long rumps, and trim briskets and flakes. They will be from high grade of purebred ancestry of strictly beef cattle breeds. Good cattle will show less muscling, more upstanding and not as smooth, these will become good to choice slaughter cattle.
Standard cattle are upstanding, uneven in the underlines and the top, with prominent hip bones and narrow over the back and light in hind quarters. These usually are slaughter cattle. Commercial cattle are cattle that are too mature for good or standard grade, thin muscled, angular and rough. Utility cattle are just unthrifty, small, thin muscled, narrow, and shallow bodies with long legs and often crooked. Inferior cattle will be graded just inferior. Cows, bulls and stags don't make up much of the feeder cattle.
You will need to select for feeder cattle after weighing a few decisions and factoring in the following: price of feed, difference in prices between feeder and slaughter cattle, future markets, difference in prices of grades of feeder cattle and also the length of time you will need to feed the cattle.
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