Saturday, December 26, 2009

That's a lotta bull!

We raised Dexter cattle - a small dual-purpose Irish breed. The operative word here is "small." Our bull, Gimli, barely reaches my chest...and I'm 5'2".

So take a look at this:



And no, apparently these pictures aren't photoshopped.



Here's the article:

Everyone is allowed to put on a little weight at this time of the year.

But if you overdid things yesterday, this enormous beast should make you feel a bit better.

With no plans whatsoever for a January detox, the biggest bullock in Britain tipped the scales this week at a staggering 3,682lb (1,670kg).

Grandly named The Field Marshall, the eight-year-old Charolais has beefed up to the tune of 300lb over the past 12 months.

And the towering 6ft 8in creature has still not reached his full adult size. However, at 1.64 tons, he has already overtaken the record-breaking weight of his former stable mate, The Colonel, who stood 6ft 5in tall and weighed 3,500lb before he died in 2005.

Arthur Duckett, 80, who bought the white steer four years ago, said: 'He's in very good health and there's no reason why he won't keep on growing.

'He's only eight and unless something unforeseen happens he will get bigger and bigger.

'But he's not fat - he's all muscle. I could feed him heavier but I don't want to make him look grotesque, I want him to be healthy and put on weight naturally.

'That's why I keep him outdoors in a field and not inside.'

The Field Marshall shares a field on Mr Duckett's farm in Alstone, Somerset, with a 5ft 6in Highland steer and a small Friesian.

Mr Duckett, who is 5ft 8in tall, puts The Field Marshall's incredible size down to his parentage, appetite and the fact that he has been neutered, which boosts his growth

The Field Marshall has overtaken the previous record holder, his former stablemate The Colonel, who stood 6ft 5ins tall and weighed 3,500lbs, before his death in 2005.

Incredibly, the record-breaking bullock is the equivalent of a late teenager and is still growing.

He is now heavier than a Mini Cooper car which weighs 2,458lbs, and a BMW 3 series which tips the scales at just 3,053lbs.

He eats more than 17lbs of feed every day and enjoys oats, barley, potatoes, fodder beet followed by a portion of hay.

The Field Marshall was weighed at the Fatstock agricultural show at Sedgemoor Auction Centre near North Petherton, Somerset.

Visitors paid £2 to guess his weight and the winner received a tonne of cattle feed or the cash equivalent.

The charity event raised £1,641 for Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital in Somerset.

Three years ago Arthur and his wife Helen broke records with their 6ft 5in bull The Colonel.

The Simmental Holstein breed had to be put down in August 2005 at the age of nine because of back problems.

There is no longer an official record for the world's biggest bullock as Guinness World Records does not want to encourage overfeeding.
The previous holder for Britain was a bull in Essex that died in 1830 weighing 4,480lbs.


The last record to be recognised was set by a steer called Old Ben, who died in Kokomo, Indiana, in 1910. He weighed 4,720lbs and stood 6ft 4ins tall.

3 comments:

  1. Hey, stopped by from Amy's Humble Musings to read the post of the dropped ladder, stranded light hanger. I love it.
    That bull would make me run.

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  2. Steaks for HOW many? All I can say is wow!

    See Ya

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  3. hope you're not feeding him steroids! He is beautiful and thats no bull :)!

    ReplyDelete