The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-08-04
PROFESSOR KENNEDY
ON CATTLE SHIPPING
Hay Fed Steers Will Reach Des.
tination in Best Possible
Shape.
THE SOFT FEEDS SCOUR
Food with Little Moisture Desirable
Cars Should Be Well Bedded in
Transit-AlI Hurry or Violence
Must Be Dispensed With.

The feeder and shipper should taxi
every care in preparing cattle for the
market SO they will reach their destina-
ton in the best possible condition. In
shipping, steers often lose a great deal
Of weight they have made and the feed
ar is thereby the loser. Professor Ken
nedy, writing in an Iowa paper, says
that if the steers are finished on grass
they should be taken off the pasture
anC put in q dry lot at least twenty
four hours-or, better still, forty-eight
hours-before shipping, SO as to have a
better chance of getting the animals
to eat considerable hay. The whole Sc
cret is to get them full Of dry feed just
previous to the time they are placed
IN the cars and market.
The less moisture the God contains
in proportion to the dry material the
better, as the steer that is filed with
water has a tendency to scour and thus
show up at the market gaunt and in
bad condition. Some shippers have the
bad habit of sailing their cattle some
hours before they are shipped II feed
ing only half their usual allowance of
grain with all the hay they Will eat.
And In some cases they do not feed any
grain, but allow the cattle to fill up on
water. This is usually very detrimen-
al to the sale of the cattle. 1t is use
less for the shipper to think he can
fool the buyer by this practice. By
feeding large quantities of salt they are
liable to bring a fevered condition to
the animals stomach and by the over
amount of water that is drunk the
bowels are loosened INC there is a large
shrinkage.
Dry Yards Essential.
When the cattle are taken off pasture
they should be put in as dry a yard as
possible, so hat they may keep toler-
of the car until the last minute, but
rather order it so that it can be prop
erly bedded and a good supply of hay
put In It's racks. Straw. of course,
makes the best kind of bedding n
can use; however, the most essential
whatever Is available. To simply half
bed a car in many cases is like cut
ting the price of cattle, because they
become dirty and much Of their finish
and quality is apparently lost.
There is nothing better than good
sweet hay for cattle before loading or
in transit. Some shippers advise feed
ing a small quantity of grain, but as
a rule grain, especially corn. has a
tendency to fever the animals and
cause them to drink too much water.
Thus. all things considered, the less
gram lHdl Is leu JuSl previous 10 ana
during shipment the better. When the
cattle are ready for shipment they
should be driven over the scales and
the weights recorded. They then
should be driven very carefully to the
stock yards or station where they are
t. be shipped. i the weather is warm
while it is cool. Quietness and gen
tleness should be in evidence in put
ting cattle on and off the cars. All
hurry and violence should be dispensed
with. as such usually cause heavy
losses in weight. .,,s-.,,.
Care in Loading.
As a rule about twenty good sized
steers will fill a car: however, one
should not rely on n given number
but rather go by the amount of space
in the car. That is. always fill the cal
just as full as it will hold of cattle
Of a uniform size. BY allowing the ami
mays too much space they will push
fight and jam each other so that they
will shrink considerably more than II
they are crowded enough to keep then
quiet. If shipping takes place in mid.
summer, when it is very warm, care
must be taken to supply the animals
with plenty of water on the car.
If the steers are on full feed ia a Cry
lot the same precautions practically a:
above. mentioned will suffice. However
ElSSS LII VI u VII NC SQullCu ~
get the animals in good shipping con
dition. The full feed ration CT graii
should be reduced to one-half a couple
of days before shipping.
Whatever distance one has to shil
lie should make 1t a point to have tn,
cattle arrive at the sale yards at 5 a
M, or at least not later thar s a. m
BY such procedure the animals can b.
fed and watered and thereby max
favorable impression on the buyer. a!
they will evidently be Strengthened VI
and appear fairly plump or full. Il
watering cattle in the yards not do al
low them to suck M drink at a hal
or nearly empty trough, because the.
are certain to partially fill themselve
with air instead of water. thus caus
ing them to ppear full. yet weigh ligh,
1t is also important that the cattle b
treated d%ecently while in the care o
the train crew; hat is, one should no
allow his cattle to be abused by rougI
switching. ETC., on the road. In othe
words always strive to reduce the ex
element of the changes to a minimum
and, above all things, do not run tn
cattle with a horse or dog, or allo,
boisterous men to abuse them Will
loading or unloading.