The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1906-03-01
STOCK
The Feeding of Beef Steers.
w. d. Foster. PullmanO

First get the 11gnC KIM OI d Steer
before you think of feeding him. You
can make steers of any of the breeds
of cattle, but there is only one kind
of a beef steer, and that is the pro-
duct of a beef sire. l am not going
to say whether the sire be Short
horn, Polled Durham, Polled Angus
or Hereford; these if correct in type,
will produce calves of beef according
to the individual taste of the farmer.
1t is an absurdity, | think, for any
farmer to try and mature steers from
a strictly dairy bull that will never
amount to anything, while on the 9TH
er hand a Holstein COW crossed with
a bull of good beef type will occasion
ally give you pretty fair beef steer.
Now there is a great diversity OF
opinion regarding the best kind OF an
animal to use. Some prefer the coarse
boned type. | have heard people say
if they could give the frame with
lots of bone they would have an ami
NAL to suit them exactly. | do not
agree with this theory, however,
for when | buy beef l want meat, not
bone. Allow me to give you short
description of the animal l would Sc
lect and one that in my opinion would
make a good sire. He must be well
set on short legs, good length OF
body with well sprung ribs, short
thick net, we'll arched, a good, deep
brisket not flabby, well filled behind
the shoulders, with good heart girth,
a broad back with straight lines from
the shoulders to the butt of the tail,
broad and smoothly turned around
fail.
the ham we'll sprung with meat low
down, not only outwardly but inward
"; and in order to get a good feeder
get an animal with sufficient capacity
covered with a good messy coat OF
hair The product of such sire Will
invariably be calves OF good beef
form.
I have noticed in the large summer
fallOws that abound in the PalouSe
country great many COWS sucking
their calves. That is a splendid way
to start a beef steer, provided you do
not allow the calf to stay with it's
dam at the straw stack during the
winter. The calf may possibly live
but when spring comes it will be so
badly stunted that it will never ma
ture into a first class animal. The
first winter is the critical period in
calf's history and the farmer who sees
that his calves are kept comfortable
with plenty of good food during that
period can have reasonable assurance
that he can make something good out
of them in the future.
Now about the dam; she does not
require to be a pure bred animal like
the sire; a grade COW, even very
common one, crossed with such bull
as l have described, will Invariably
produce a calf of the beef type, for
we must remember the bull is the al
most all-important factor and the main
object before every one interested in
beef raising is to encourage farmers
to use at the head of their herds,
whether it be cattle, sheep, swine or
horses, only pure bred sires. There Is
room for a tremendous Improvement
in this direction and / trust the ma
jority of farmers will not always be
blind to what is certainly for their
own best interests.
In feeding a steer, it is not we'll to
urge the calf too much at first, as 1t
is very liable to sicken, and a calf at
that age is very easily killed by kind
ness, but it must have something more
than pasture. | refer to the period
when it would be about year old.
A small quantity of grain, crushed
oats, given twice day will assist
nature in forming bone to carry it's
future weight. | do not believe in
rushing animals too fast, but as your