The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1898-01-25

In making comparison between
indoor and outdoor feeding, it is nee
essary to state that there are two
Kinds of indoor feeding, says II. NJ.
Alien, OF Nebraska. In feeding gen
tie cattle in n stable where they can
he tied up in such moderate numbers
~ to admit of easy handling, there
can he no question of the advantage of
indoor feeding, and farmer with II
small number of cattle can get the per
lection of results in this. With sew
eral hundred head of cattle it may not
be 80 easy, but still can he accom-
plished with dehCrning, as the cattle
can he managed so as to allow them
some freedom. But with several
thousand head of cattle it is impossi-
BILE to feed in barn without confin-
ing the animals to an absolutely sta
tlonary position, and the difficulty of
putting cattle iii the barn and taking
them out again is so great that one
naturally shrinks from it; besides
which there is too much disturbances
to the fattening of the cattle by shut
ting them up in this manner unless it
is Offset by the saving of feed in n win
ter of great scarcity and high price of
feed stui1s, or in the use of some
waste product.
ought to say that | would prefer
in our climate to develop n kind of
barn feeding that / believe from ex-
perience would prove to give the best
economy in the production of beef, but
1T will probably he many years before
! am able to realize this, if over do.
My plan would he to divide the in
terror of barn into pens, for cattle to
be dehorned, aud to construct it of
the cattle movement enough to prevent
the effects of too strict confinement,
and think secure the greatest posi-
BILE economy of food. | should wish
to bed the cattle and save the manure.
and so far | have not got over the
difficulty of doing this for a large num-
Der of cattle under one roof. Thor
oughly good, smooth cattle give very
good results when tied up and fed in n
barn, but cattle that are inclined to be
rough do not and the result is IA
rather low average gain for the cattle.
| do not know that | should consider
any plan ut ali for feeding large num-
bers of cattle i'll barn unless it were
part of Il plan to feed waste product.
have such plan in my own mind
and If / am ever able to put il into
operation, [ expect to make beef ut
less cost than I have ever done up to
the present time.
Barn feeding should undoubtedly
be practiced where cattle can he easily
handled, SO that they can be fed when
tied up in IL stall and turned loose to
get exercise, but where there are
large numbers of cattle to be fed, so
that they must he kept for six or
seven months stationary, it is not de
sirable when feeding nm ordinary ed
of grain and hay, and only iustifiable
when waste product is fed II is of
course satisfaction to have the mi
mails under cover in severe weather,
but this advantage is not enough TO
make it worth while to tie cattle up
to feed with grain and hay unless it is
n season Eof scarcity and feed stuffs
are very dear. The saving in grain
feed, feeding rs much IA the cattle
will properly clean up every day,
amounts to from twenty to thirty-fve
per cent. which, il grain IS high
enough in price, is enough to offset a
less rapid gain in weight Barn-fed
cattle sell well, in any event, and the
carcasses dress well.-Orange Judd
Farmer.