The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-01-06
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Hill + FWe feed cattle to hest adj
DllI t%fF There are many farmers
Ill n 20 suuply of corn TO dispose OF.
gE DO not yisli to sell to distillers, but
~ Sould realize the market price, o- little
a. for il, would be glad 10 feed it on the farm,
~ Is TO retain the manure. The question that
many farmers are perhaps how asking, is: Can
winter feeling lie made profitable! | believe it
can ri Mt the time know of nothing in
which the novice is more likely TO make fail
urr. Failure may come from various causes,
I hope to make plain in this article. One reason
why cattle are often fed at iDss is because the
feeder buys too early. For instance, a neighbOr
Of mine, some few years since, who wanted 20
feed thirty steers, bought them in October, OF
the pasture. feel safe in estimating tia; with
in ten weeks after he bought Them they were
each one hundred pounds lighter thar whra
weighed 10 him; and as cattle had not advanced
In price. he had lost just what IL cost To- keep
them that time, and the price of one hundred
pounds, which, ! think, was three and a half
cents per pound. ''Bat," says some one, did
he starye themY- No: they had fair feed but
any one who has ever tried il knows how hard il
is TO take an animal from grass to dry food, es-
pecially in the bleak autumn weather. without
their losing flesh Cattle come from the pasture
with a good deal of what butchers call drosS
about them, and grass is very bulky food
in the transition 70 dry food. the system goes
through a change, and they fall away in ilcSlh
In my Judgment, there is no season Of the year
in which it is 80 unprofitabe - feed for beef as
the last three months of the year. This is part
" for the reason already given and rarity be-
canse so many choose this season 10 fattcn eat
tie. that we seldom SEE any advance in price
during these mOaths. | do not think auy profit
can be male feeding cattle from what they gain,
unless AZ the same time We can get an increase
in price. If one can buy steer weighing twelve
hundred pounds, for three aud half cents per
pound, and in one hundred days feeding add
two hundred pounds to his weight, aud improve
the quality 50 that he is worth four and half
cents per pound, he has twenty dollars for his
one hundred days feeding. which wOuld proha-
big about pay expenses. Ispeak Of one hundred
days feeding, because il is my experience. and
other feeders have told me- the same, that this Is
about as long rs steadiast feeding Is profitable.
This Is another reason why winter feeding should
not begin too early; for, if we must hold our
cattle until spring to get the advance in price,
we must not begin until within one hundred
days of that time.
l should like some statements from cattle feed
ers as to the number Of pounds gain they can
make in one hundred DAYS feeding Ny own
Judgment is that two hundred pounds is good
average, and that it will take good stock aud
care to do this.
This brings me to another point in profitable
cattle-feeding aud that is the Importance of
getting good stock. Any who watches the
reports of cattle markets will see that what are
called shipping cattle" usually quoted at
a cent more pound than other cattle. Now,
shipping cattle are smooth steers, generally
grade Short Horns, that VIII weigh fOin 800 to
l,600 pounds each.
Another reason why we fail to make winter
feeding Of cattle profitable is, that We feed too
heavy in the start. The first lot of steers that
ever Stalled, i am confident would have gained
fifty pounds more than they did il | had given
them d third less food / believe there is double
the danger in Over-feeding that there is in too
light feeding. A single Oyer-feed, that brings
ON scOurs or loss of appetite, Will cause the aii-
NAL to lose more than it viii gain in week. In
feeding the first lot of steers alluded to above
think there was hardly a week all winter in
which there was not one or more of them of its
feed. believe that with my present expert
ence, / can take a lot Of steers through one hun
drcd days without having lose a feed. If
You ask how | would do this, | answer, first, by
beginning with light feed, and gradually in.
creasing until on full feed and second by giving
a variety of food. ! wOuld feed some whole
corn, some ground, and would always mix my
ground corn with bran. | wouid also feed reg
ularly, both a TO time and quantity, and would
salt twice a week. shouid consider my cattle
on full feed when they could eat eight pounds Of
corn meal, mixed with four pounds of bran, and
one feed of whole corn. amounting 10 a bushel "A
week. / should begin with about half this
amount, and il my cattle at the end of six weeks
feeding showed evident signs of improvement,
and would eat this ration, ! should feel well as
sured of success in feeding. One more direction
and am done, and that is, your stock must I've
made comfortable. Ii they are obliged to lie
down IN manure, with their Hanks covered with
tags or To stand shiverng in fence corner
through the winter storms, or drink ice-water in
the coolest weather., depend upon it, the owner
will pay for it in an extra feed or diminished
gain.
l have recently been in correspondence with n
farmer of Illinois, who claims to have made a
gain of 4l9 pounds each, on a lot of forty-iiye
steers, in 129 days feeding, the lot averagin.
LOO pounds when put to feed, February IL, and
l, 429 pounds each, the last of June, when sold.
The statement is quite extraordinary, and il, rs
he claims he has found the secret of cheap beef
making TO consist in moderate feeding at this
time Of year, and continuing TO feed after they
20 TO grass, it is worth investigating. These
cattle ate I, 800 bushels of corn, and fed a
peck each day, after they went on grass. !
hope to hear from many of our readers upon this
subject during the winter.-UdldO f. Brprp. in
Farm Journal