The Donava Angus beef herd consists of 40 Purebred Registered Black Angus cows. These mothers are selected according to their reproductive ability, frame size and temperament. We use artificial insemination not only to ensure the improvement of our herd but to also ensure carcass quality, as the bulls we select encompass the Angus qualities of easy calvers with great growth potential. We also use our own homegrown bulls for breeding. The excellent marbling quality of the Angus breed guarantees tender and juicy meat, full of flavour.
The cows and calves are pastured for as long as possible, usually from mid May to sometime in October. We use an intensive rotational grazing program that gives the animals a certain amount of pasture for a certain amount of time. The advantage of this is that they spread their own manure (less mechanization and fossil fuels for us) and the cows forage for their own food. In the winter they are fed a diet of hay, corn silage and brewer’s grains (this is the byproduct of beer! – made up of human grade barley as a high quality source of protein).
When the calves reach the age of 7 months (or about 700 pounds) they are weaned from their mothers and moved to the barn. There they are fed hay and corn and are never confined inside. The barn is just a shelter to get out of the weather. They can lounge in the sun or relax inside the barn in the shade.
Our animals are not implanted with growth hormones and are never fed any animal by-products. The cattle we sell for freezer beef are born and raised on our farm so we know what they have been fed, and how they have been treated.
When the animals reach the desired weight, we truck them to a provincially inspected, local, and family owned abattoir. So that we could try to reduce as much stress as possible on the animals, we purchased our own cattle trailer. This allows us to be the first clients in the abattoir (less noise for the animals) and our cattle don’t have to spend time on a trailer full of unfamiliar cattle.
The meat is then dry-aged for 20 days, which gives the beef the chance to break down and become extremely tender. Each order is prepared according to our client’s specification; the cuts are identified, flash frozen, and then ready for delivery.
An average animal weights 1200 lbs. This will result in a dressed or “hanging weight” of about 600 to 700 lbs. which is what we use as a basis for the per pound price calculation. Due to shrinkage during dry ageing and depending on your choice of bone-in or boneless cuts, the actual weight of meat received is approximately 28-38% less than dressed weight. Another way to think about dressed weight is like when you buy a turkey. You pay 3 dollars a pound for the turkey, but there are some parts you can’t eat and end up throwing away. Kinda the same idea with a beef animal.
If you are interested in purchasing our beef we would be happy to hear from you. Please contact us by email or call us at 450-264-3395.