Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-03-02
ECONOMICAL STOCK RAISING.
soms Prac;icAi suggestions to Cattle
F RAi.ers.


C.P. Goodrich In the Field and Farm
says:
The most economical feeding IL that
by which we obtain In return the great
est amount OF money for given in-
vestmcnt In feed. We get the returns
In the growth of the young animal, In
the Increase in weight. In the increase
In value of 100 pounds. or with the
dairy cow, In the increase of product
us represented In calves and In the
milk product. 1t is a law In the growth
of animals that Il young animal takes
less feed to make a given gain thnn an
older one. This has been thoroughly
proved at the experiment stations ana
on farms. and still We see many farm
ers feeding animals in such way and
mt such age that one would think they
did not really understand this subject.
The fat stock shows and the records
that those who exhibited We're obliged
to Keep as TO the weight of their ami
mails and the cost Of the feed, have
been OF immense value to all those who
have been Interested IN studying this
subjct. 1t has shown In n very marked
degree that every day that an animal
grows older the more feed 1t takes to
put on a pound of weight. l have
lately been looking over the records
of >thc fat stock shows and have Sc.
lected two steers that seemed to Just
about represent what want to Illus
trate. They were very fine Shorthorn
steers and when they were one year
old their average weight was 1000
pounds: the cost of the feed had been
S:5i.1I each, or 3.I2 of cent n pound.
Now, II they had been sold at q cents
n pound there would have been Il
profit of S25.S3 on each one. but they
We're fed longer. When they We're
years old they weighed 1,G00 pounds
each: 600 pounds had been put on
during the year AT II cost of S52.12, or
S.GS cents Il pound. Ii cost over twice
as much pound to put on weight the
second year as 1t did the first. although
they We're very rapid growing steers.
They were kept stlll another year and
they put on 60 pounds more each,
which made them weigh $3.50 pounds
each, and this last years growth was
put on at Il cost OF 12Is cents n pound.
SIS the cost of the food the third year
was SS1.JO for each steer. Now, II
they had been sold when they We're
years old for cents pound the
profit would have been SOIL rs against
S25.S3 II sold at 1 year of age, and
they would have had to be sold mt
$50 a hundred Mt years old in order
to get pay for the feed. Not great
many years ago we used to keep steers
until they We're or 1 years old before
we sold them. but the records of these
fat stock shows have positively proved
that we must make such animals grow
more rapidly and during the early life
of the animal. and the best posted men
say there Is more money in selling ut
! year old. baby beef as they call 1t,
than there is In keeping them any
longer, provided they can be sold for as
much or somewhere near us much n
pound as when older. which has been
the case of late years. This is equally
true with hogs and with lambs. We
farmers should understand these
things. We do not use enough nrithme-
tic. Will give as an example n prob
lem In feeding that came in my way
once, Just to show the necessity of
figuring. The question was: What
shall l do with calves that l do not
want to raise! Shall l make veal of
them, sell them right off, or what?
Well, to start with. the calf buyer
would give me dollar apiece for the
calves when they We're two or three
days old. or IL l made veal of them he
would give me ) cents pound. Now,
who can tell what l ought to do be-
tween these two propositions? l did
not know until l investigated and
figured 1t.
We must find out how much it will
cost to make veal of the calf. In the
first place, how much milk would it
take to make Il pound of veal? How
was l going to weigh the milk that the
calf sucked from the COW? That was
easily done by weighing the calf Just
before it took its milk and then weigh
ing it right after. l did that, the calf
was weighed four times day. We ex-
perimented with two of them and
found that for the first week, with a
good, thrifty calf, seven pounds of milk
made pound of gain The milk was
worth l cent a pound to make into but
ter, so that it cost me cents the first
week to make n pound of gain. for
which l could only get ) cents. The
next week. to my surprise. found that
it took eight pounds: that is the calf
took twenty-four pounds to make a
gain of three pounds Il day-it cost
cents to make Il pound of weight. The
next week 1t took nine pounds. and the
question that confronted me was how
long l could afford to keep that calf
Now, then, the very first minute / got
that calf so it would bring 5 cents n
pound was the time to sell it. That
was plain enough. because every pound
l put on was costing more than could
get for it. If kept it twenty-one days
it would gain sixty pounds, which, add
ed to the eighty pounds at birth, made
n hundred and forty pounds; counting
24 cents day. the cost would be S5.O4
for feed and the one dollar that it was
worth before would be S6.04 that it
would cost me. If l could sell it then
at cents Il pound | would get 81 and
make 81 profit. If l kept it till it was
four weeks old it would cost me $I.93,
and would get SS for it. weighing 1G0
pounds: thereby making Z cents. and
If l kept it one day more l would lose
money. The more rapidly an animal
makes gain. the less the cost of that
gain, other things being equal. because
it takes certain amount of feed for
the food of support and if the animal
gets only food enough to support life 1t