Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-11-27
FATTENING STEERS.
Grain and RoughaSe Fed Mixed and
No Hogs to Follow.

Grain and Roushase Fed Mixed and
No Hogs to Follow.
With the old methods of feeding he
steer was fed half a bushel Of corn
daily and a limited amount of what
ever roughness was convenient; the
chief and often the only profit in fat
tening steers came from the gain made
by the hogs that picked up the drop
pings. In many places in the west
hogs cannot be kept with fattening
steers on account of losses from hog
cholera. Where these conditions pre-
vail it is necessary to adopt some
method Of feeding by which the steers
will digest a greater proportion of the
grain eaten than they did when fed the
old way. An experiment was under
taken at the Kansas agricultural sta
ton to test the value for this purpose
of grinding feed and cutting hay and
feeding roughage and grain together in
fattening steers. The first thing that
q practical feeder notices when he goes
to feed lot where steers are fed grain
and roughage mixed is the absence of
securing. One of the writer's of this
bulletin has just inspected 270 head Of
year old calves that were being forced
for baby beef. These calves were eat
ing three pounds of cottonseed meal
each per day in addition to heavy
ration Of cornmeal. The grain was
thoroughly mixed with cut alfalfa hay
when put in the feed boxes. Not a
single calf was found that showed any
sjens Of looseness and the droppings
-yere of the most desirable character.
An inspection of 1900 head Of fatten-
ing steers that were being rapidly
forced for 100 days feeding showed
the same condition Of bowels-no scour-
ing, and normal condition Of the drop
pings.
How the Combination Acts.
Mixing the grain with the roughage
compels the steer to spend more time
in chewing his ration than when the
grain is fed alone. The mixed grain
and roughage are held in the paunch,
where most of the water drunk by the
steer is stored, and the water thorough
~ softens the mixed feed. The length
ening Of the time needed to chew the
feed and the holding in the stomach
gives the saliva a longer time in which
to change starch to sugar. After the
mixed feed has become soft it is re-
turned to the mouth as the cud, and
the chewing of the cud grinds the grain
to greater fneness, putting it in such
shape that the digestive juices Of the
stomach and intestines can better act
on it. The result is that a larger por
ton of the grain is made of use in
building up the body of the steer;
less portion of the grain is undigested.
The steer gains more for each bushel
of grain eaten, better digestion keeps
his body in better health, and securing
is avoided. The result is shown in this
experiment, where, with the most thor
ough method of mixing grain and
roughage tried, 100 pounds of gain
were made with $50 pounds of grain,
as against 1915 pounds of gain re-
quired for 100 pounds of gain at this
station when ear corn was fed sepa-
rately from the roughage. 1t is obvi-
GUS that the best results will be OBJ
tanned where the feed is so well mixed
that every mouthful which the steer
takes is part grain and part roughage.
kansas Agricultural Experiment Sta
ton.