"sf" wrote in message ...
> On Sun, 4 Nov 2007 08:01:25 -0600, "Ms P" >
> wrote:
>
>>Yes there is such a thing as free range beef. Steers may not be raised in
>>a
>>cage but they are raised in pens. They're called feedlots. Feedlots are
>>most definitely not free range.
>
> Steers don't spend their entire lives there, they just spend the last
> part of their lives there. Think of it as a retirement home.
> Cattle spend their last 60-90 days in feed lots to fatten up just
> before slaughter.

They can spend as long as 200 days in a feedlot. Calves can be taken
directly from weaning to the feedlot and raised entirely in a feedlot.
They're called calf-feds. Cattle are generally slaughtered at 20 months of
age or less.


Ms P