[Roughlee Handled]

Rose veal is calfs not kept in a cage.

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/beef_and_dairy_farming/bbc_and_compassion_veal_story.aspx

http://www.holsteinbullcalves.co.uk/

OK so now we have tasted pork and it was good. The wife said that now she can eat what she has grown (I looked after it!!) She (I am going to have to) wants to to look at raising Rose Veal.  

So do you have any information, ideas?

[joyfull]

Hi Ruff - don't know if this link is of any use to you but maybe worth a try or also try contacting the RSPCA for guidelines.

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=1597.0

Joyfullxx

[SMD66]

nothing I have done myself, I think they have to be about 1 yr old at slaughter and you will need plenty of good grazing.  Why not keep it a bit longer and just have some good beef?

Sounds like a good plan tho!  We are thinking of raising an orphaned lamb next yr, not enough room for a cow

I would try to talk to any locals farmers, first hand advice is usually pretty reliable.

[madcat]

Are you a glutton for punishment .....

Or just a glutton?  

Seriously, good on you - unwanted dairy bull calves are the inevitable consequence of drinking milk/eating cheese etc.  They dont make good beef cattle; the conformation is different for dairy herds/breeds.  Raising them as veal makes some sense of their short lives, and rose veal is (generally) as kind to them and the enviroment as is possible.  It has an image problem tho'; the difference in care hasn't got thro' to the general public.

[arugula]

Good on you Stuart! From an eating point of view, I for one am keen to know where to get hold of some of the stuff. From the animal welfare point of view - there are 42 dairy farms around here where I live and so it pleases me very much to see people like yourselves (looking into) producing rose veal so that the male calves have a good (if short) life before being turned into a great product (rather than the common alternative).

Lorna. 

[Caralou]

I think this is a wonderful thiing to try Stuart. Only yesterday I was discussing this as the vet has a dairy herd and I was joking I'd should join in business for a rose veal business for the male calves as it is such a waste (it's also one of the reasons I stopped being vege as I personally feel that if you are willling to eat dairy there is death of animals associated with it and eating it, for me, is more sane than not - no vege's take offence, thats just my view and I fully understand why people choose vege (and for a while vegan for me until I missed cheese too much) life).

Wish you lived closer as I'd offer to help out with it. Would love to get more involved in raising my own food and not just the chickens.

[too many girls]

dairy bull calves have no meat on them (or very little) yet they eat the same amount as a beef breed, dairy bull calves have a subsidy on them and generally go on the calf slaughter scheme, i did look into this when both Elliemay and Lily gave birth to Jersey bull calves, both went on the scheme i bought 2 week old Aberdeen Angus for £80 at Darlington market (Mavis and Matilda) but was unable to slaughter them for our own consumption and re sold them 8 months later at a reasonable profit.

[Roughlee Handled]

............dairy bull calves have a subsidy on them and generally go on the calf slaughter scheme, ...........

Does this mean that the farmer get money for each calf they slaughter? 
Do you know how much?
Just wondering if I could befriend a local dairy farmer.
I rang the Local Animal Health Office http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth/ and I am being sent some documents on the requirements for veal calf's/calf's and cows.

I am calling this "Project Small Moo".

[too many girls]

i can't remember how much i got for them as i arranged for a local dealer to pick them up as there was no way i could take them, i don't know how much he charged me for taking them, he just gave me some cash the next time i saw him at the market, it is worth asking around as i would have given my calves away for nothing (i did try) and at least they would have had some kind of life if only a short one, it was one of the hardest things i've ever had to do and i cried for days for them.

[Parsnip]

It's been a real eye opener for me working on the farm in the college. It really is a brutal life for Dairy cattle.   

The babies being taken away from their mothers within hours so that she can go straight back into production. The females are kept the males go straight to slaughter .


So if  you take a couple of calves ruff, that would be really cool

[treacleminer]

I have no idea if these people would be prepared to help with advice, but they are probably only about an hour from you - and quite a nice day out - if they were!!!



http://www.heavesfarmveal.co.uk/Heaves%20Farm%20Veal_Home.html

[Roughlee Handled]

I do like a trip to the Lakes. Thanks all.

[Parsnip]

I'll be very interested to hear how you get on ruff..

[Roughlee Handled]

I thinking about next April - May. If we have the space.  I will let you know how thing progress.

[John]

The more I find out about farming and food production, the more I despair. The specialisation of breeds has rushed ahead over the last 30 years. Cows that produce more and more milk but are no use (economically) for meat means the bulls are wasted (in every sense, including the mafia one)
Pigs turning into piglet making machines but at what cost? Chickens that lay 50% more than the best pre-war hen or that develop so fast the only way to breed from them is to limit their diet lest they die of heart disease or break their developing legs.
We spend a smaller proportion of our income than ever before on food in the UK but who feels better off? Even post crunch the housing eats up a much bigger proportion and we're overwhelmed by more gadgets than we know how to use.
So good on you Ruff!