Gunnison news-champion., 1907-01-04
Cattle IN Winter
by .,ymtieIIsuafarm

Do = surprising how MANY 10 our
people rluEh shear stork thrauuh
thc winter The only object in
keeping aud raisirg cattle nowadays
- t9 imrraye par financial condition
aud sci l.aa the manner in which
a great many handle them. this
would least be suspected The
method usually pursued by this
class ei people Is Something like the
following Ia the fall the cattle are
ieit ou The summer range until -
late that common decency alone com
ps j. the owner g. remove them 10
their winter quarters where they
are fed 80 sparingly as 10 give the
impression that they were being sup
ported by charity. rhi. course is
continued the whole winter through
which causes steady losing Of flesh
from the time grass gives out until
grass time again, when we find the
cattle in the same condition they
were the spring before, small beef
hide full OF bones The progressive
ranchman begins to feed his stock
cattle in the fall with the first snow
in October in order to ell the nee
essary requirements for profit, con
tlnuing in this course the whole win
ter through, being ever watchful not
TO lose any of the gain made the pre-
vious summer, which is the only
way TO raise cattle successfully II
anyone has not been psrsuing this
nssthod he shoaid begin right away.
by ssing . little judRuent. al
though the stock may be badly rsn
down, much can be done between
this and the opening of the range
season TO correct the mistakes Of the
past lew weeks in the way of condi-
tioninQ, 80 that the cattle will be
gin to improve 40 soon ~ they are
ON grass, instead Of waiting until
the summer is half gone before max
ing a start. Every farmer whose
cattle need different care from that
which they are receiving, to put
them on a paying basis, may not be
able to handle them exactly accord
ing to the following suggestions,
owing to lack of conveniences but
the nearer they are approached the
better 1t will be for the pocket book.
Experience has taught me that it is
impossible to get best results when
cattle Of different ages are fed to-
0ether, therefore the first thing to
do is to sort them Last years calves
should be in corral by themselves
and fed the bri ghtest alfalfa. They
should also have trough lixed either
onto the fence or the side of build
ing about two feet from the ground
IN which may lie fed oats or chopped
feed. Some make the mistake when
attention is called TO the necessity
OF feeding a grain ration of givin
grain too literally to very Young or
growing stock Corn is certainly & fat
producer, but is lacking in muscle
producing qualities When feeding
grain TO an animal that has not vet
gained its growth, and the object is
to make frame, see that it contains
the properties that are muscle and
bone builders. Oats come the near
est possessing all OF the essentials
necessary TO perfect development
and when other grains are fed with
oats they should be in such proper
ton as 10 make a balanced ration.
In the case of last years calves, in
localities where oats are scarce and
1t Is desired To feed corn. a balanced
ration can be had by mixing bran
and shorts with corn meal. After
calves are separated from the herd
the remaining cattle should be di-
vided according to the owners judg-
ment. BY this | mean that the
weak should be separated from the
strong and given extra care.