The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1898-01-01
Barn Versus Outdoor Feeding.


In making q comparison between
indoor and outdoor feeding, it is nee
essary to state that there ore two
kinds of indoor feeding, says R. NJ.
Allen, Of Nebraska. In feeding gen.
tie cattle in stable where they can
be tied up in such moderate numbers
as to admit Of easy handling, there
can be no question Of the advantage Of
indoor feeding, end a farmer with a
small number Of cattle can get the per-
lection Of results in this. With sew.
eral hundred head Of cattle it may not
be so easy, but still CON be accom-
plished with dehcrning, as the cattle
can be managed 30 as to allow them
some freedom. But with several
thousand head of cattle it is impossi-
BILE to feed in o barn without confn-
ing the animals to an absolutely sta-
tionary position, and the difficulty of
putting cattle in the barn and taking
them out again is so great that one
naturally shrinks from it; besides
which there is too much disturbance
to the fattening of the cattle by shut
ting them up in this manner unless it
is Offset by the saving Of feed in a win.
ter Of great scarcity and high price Of
feed stuffs, or in the use of some
waste product.
ought to say that 7 would prefer
in our climate to develop kind Of
barn feeding that I believe from ex.
perience would prove to give the best
economy in the production of beef, but
it will probably be many years before
I ON able to realize this, if I ever do.
Ny plan would be to divide the in.
terror of barn into pens, for cattle to
be dehorned, and to construct it Of
fre-proof material. This would give
the cattle movement enough to prevent
the effects of too strict confinement,
and I think secure the greatest posi-.
bic economy Of food. I should wish
to bed the cattle and save the manure,
and so far I have not got over the
difficulty Of doing this for large num-
Der of cattle under one roof. Thor.
oughly good, smooth cattle give very
good results when tied up and fed in q
barn, but cattle that are inclined to be
rough do not, and the result is
rather low average gain for the cattle.
I do not know that I should consider
any plan at ali for feeding large mum
bers of cattle in barn unless it were
part of plan to feed waste product.
I have such plan in my own mind,
and if I ON ever able to put it into
operation, I expect to make beef al
less cost than I have ever done up tc
the present time.
Barn feeding should undoubtedly
be practiced where cattle con be easily
handled, so that they con be fed whe1
tied up in a stall and turned loose tt
get exercise, but where there art
large numbers of cattle to be fed, 81
that they must be kept for six O.
seven months stationary, it is not de
sirable when feeding an ordinary feet
of grain and hay, and only iustifabl'
when waste product is fed. It iso
course satisfaction to have the ani
mails under cover in severe weather
but this advantage is not enough t.
make It worth while to tie cattle III
to feed with grain and hay unless it i
season fof scarcity and feed stuff
are very dear. The saving in grail
feed, feeding as much as the cattl
will properly clean up every day
amounts to from twenty to thirty-fv
per cent, which, if grain is hig
enough in price, is enough to offset
less rapid gain in weight. Barn-fe
; cattle sell we'll, in any event, and tn
carcasses dress well.-Orange Jud
Farmer.
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