Great Falls weekly tribune., 1895-01-11
TO REAR CALVES.
Are Western Steers Deteriorating In Sizo
and Quality?

ARE "esJeTh SIecEs i'tbtfoFaUlHN III SiZO
and Quality?
It is the opinion of well informed
cattlemen that the steers of the western
states have deteriorated in quality with
in recent years. This opinion seems to
be well founded. Various causes are as
signed. Prominent among them is the
changed method Of raising calves Ten
years ago the common method in the
grazing and leading agricultural states
was calf to a COW, and such a thing
as milk with all of its fat taken out was
unknown in the list of calf feeds. With
the advent of the creamery separator
calf raising suffered. Many declared
and still maintain that good calves CAN
not be raised upon separator milk. The
best experience, however, teaches that
the difficulty is mainly in tho .,netl,ods
employed rather than in a failure of
the milk to supply the calf's needs.
Fresh separator milk lacks but one
element necessary to a perfect growing
ration for young animals-viz, the fat
that the separator removes. The prob
lem then lies in getting the milk to the
CtblN Us tIl'tl anu az I'tilly
ural conditions as possible, with some
good substitute for the fat added. High
priced land and changed conditions have
forced this problem upon us. Believing
this to be u practical and important line
of investigation. the Iowa station has
given considerable attention to the sub,
ject. About a year ago six high grade
fnl- he,
about 10 days old, divided into three
lots of two each and put into an expert
meut.
Lot l had 8, O0S pounds of separator
milk--from ) to Is pounds per day
$50 pounds of hay and So pounds of oil
meal and gained s15 pounds at d cost
Of 2l cents IL pound for feed, rating
el1immilk at Is cents per hundred aud
grain at prevailing prices. Lot ? had
3,O0S pounds Of separator milk, 249 Of
hay and 5S pounds of oatmeal and
gained 30l pounds at q cost Of 10 cents
pound. Lot 3 had 3,00S pounds of
separator milk, 25J Of hay and So of corn
meal and tiaysecd, mixed at the rate of
nine to one by weight, and gained PSI
pounds at a cost Of /. 8 cents pound.
These calves We're fed on milk supple
mented by grain and hay, as detailed
above, for 100 days, after which the
milk was gradually taken off and the
allowance of grain and hay increased.
When a year old, they averaged 100
pounds, having gained GG0 pounds in
800 days. This record shows not only
good gains but very economical growth.
The feed record shows that the calves
have made gain in weight for much less
than is required to make it on steers q
year older.
During the first 80 days feeding the
calves gained S57 pounds on 1850
pounds of dry matter consumed, a
| pound of gain for each 1.91 pounds of
dry matter eaten. During the month OF
May these calves at the age Of $ months
consumed an average of ll.5 pounds OF
dry matter per day and made an aver.
age daily gain Of 20 pounds, or the
equivalent Of one pound of gain in live
weight to each 1. 6 pounds Of dry mat
ter consumed. Five 2-ycar Old steers
| fed at the Iowa station from Jan 4 tC
Dec. ], 1898, ate an average OF 25. :
pounds each of dry matter i'll feed pei
day and gained 2.ll pounds each daily,
thus requiring al average of 10. pounds
of dry matter in their feed for each
pound of increase in live weight. &C.
| T Curtiss, Ames, Ia, in Live Stock
ReDOrt,