Environment Options at Designer Beef
Why the cattle’s living environment matters
Long-term stress can affect the growth and health of a cow, which in turn affects the quality of the meat. Stress is caused by rough handling, transportation, a negative environment, physical discomfort, lack of consistent routine, and bad feed quality. Pre-harvest stress is also important to note. Fasting, transport, loading, and unloading, which occurs 12 to 48 hours before harvest, can cause the cattle’s meat to become drier and tougher.Â
At Designer Beef, you get to customize your cow’s lifestyle.Â
All of our cattle are locally bought, given half an acre per head to roam, allowed adequate space to eat, and handled with care. Compare the different lifestyle options for your cattle below.
Environment I $
- Higher Stress
- Cattle housed on a family-run ranch in NE Texas
- Cattle fed consistent with their health and wellnessÂ
- Fresh feed ingredients
- Cattle will be vaccinated, tagged, and kept in smaller groups to mimic herd animals’ natural instinct
Environment II $$
- All the advantages of Environment IÂ
- Less StressÂ
- Farm has shade, ponds, and plenty of room to roam
- Ability to treat cows on-site with doctor
Environment III $$$
- All the advantages of Environment I and II
- No Stress
- Cattle handled in a quiet professional stress free manner
- Cattle kept in large fenced areas with the ability go into barns to get out of the weather
- Cattle have sand bedding under the main barn to lay down in for comfortÂ
- We use a nutritionist to formulate feed rations to ensure cattle health and top quality meatÂ
- Access to chemical free water
