Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-11-06
:. SHELTER AND COST OF FEED.

Shelter once erected cost but
little, yet it is equal to an annual
crop in the saving of feed in winter
This fact has become so apparent
of late years that scientists are
able to approximate the value OF
food in proportion to the warmth OF
the quarters and the method OF
management. Professor Morrow, OF
the Illinois Agricultural College,
maintains that little or no pront
can be expected from full feeding
cattle that are not properly shelter
ed, and he has tested the matter by
numerous experiments. During
three successive winters yearlings
and 2-year old steers we're kept
with the shelter of straw stacks,
with abundant straw and corn fOd-
der, some hay and corn, with plenty
of water; but he found them to
weigh no more the first Of April
than they did in November. A
number of fat steers were sold in
November, which were kept twenty
days at the request Of the buyer,
during which time the weather be-
came very cold. They ate 100
bushels of corn, besides hay and
straw but the total gain of the
whole (eleven) was only forty
pounds.
o.. A comparison of such small
gaias in the winter with the heavy
weights of cattle fed in summer
when the weather is warm and the
conditions are favorable, may be
easily made. During several sea-
sons yearling steers OF different
breeds made average gains of go
pounds, and later of 4S0 pounds in
six months. Two-year.Old steers
did even better, one of them at
tanning 525 pounds in six months.
All these weights we're from grass
alone. With a better system OF
feeding, calves have been produced
weighing froLi $50 to 400 pounds
a. six months old; from GOO to 700
pounds at one year old; form 1000
to HOO pounds at two years old,on
good pasture and some grain,
which shows that as the food was
digested it was appropriated 10
growth and fat without being
thrown of as heat.
The value of good shelter is In
maintaining the heart of the body.
As the heat is produced from the
food, it is apparent that the warmer
the animal is kept in winter the
less food is required to supply its
wants. AS the winter is an excel
lent time for fsttening the stock,
owing to outdoor work being sus-
pended, there is no better assistant
Tor that purpose than good dry
quarters. Before the animal can
lay on fat the ordinary demands tor
the heat Of the body must be pro-
vided, and during very severe and
cold seasons the animal cannot
even appropriate sufficient food to
create the necessary heat TO sustain
life when exposed without shelter.
Every pound of flesh lost must be
renewed, and every day that an
animal is fed without gaining in
flesh IS so much time lost that can
never be regained. Shelter, then,
is economical, in enabling the ami
mails not only to supply themselves
with sufficient heat, but to store on
fat, aud it represents just so much
grain or hay. The more complete
the building for the purposes in-
tended the better, and the more
comfortable the animals the faster
they will increase in weight.
One should not wait till the sea-
son becomes cold before erecting
the shelter, as a good start in the
fall viii materially assist the ami
mails to enter the winter full of
vigor and we'll prepared to endure
the cold, provided they are proper
IL cared for. AS the cattle will
gain from good shelter, so will the
pigs and sheep, which should also
be kept warm. Even the poultry
will lay in winter if kept warm and
comfortable.