Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-11-05
Preparing Cattle for Market.

In preparing cattle for shipping every
precautiOn and the greatest care should
be exercised by the feeder or shipper so
that the animals will reach the market
in prime condition.
If the steers are being finished or
grass and grain, they should be taken
off the pasture and put in a dry lot a,
least twenty-four hours or, better still
forty-eight hours before shipping and
fed only half their usual allowance oi
grain, with all the hay they will eat. In
some cases it is advisable to feed nc
grain, thus getting the animals to cal
considerable bulky food, such as hay
The whole secret, if there is such a
thing, of shipping cattle successfully il
to get them full of dry food just pre-
vious to the time they are placed on the
cars and market-that is, the less moist
ture the food contains in proportion tc
dry material the better, because as a
rule steer that is largely filled with
water has a tendency to scour and thus
show up gaunt and bad on the market.
Some unscrupulous shippers have Gus
tom of saltiug their cattle, 80 that they
drink large amounts of water and fill up
on the same. This Is something that il
usually very detrimental to the sale OF
the cattle. 1t is useless for the shipper
to think that he can fool the buyer by
such a practice. BY feeding large
quantity of salt one is apt to bring on
fevered condition in the animals stom
ach or digestive organs.
When the cattle are taken of pasture
they should be put in as dry yard al
possible, so that they may bs kept toler.
ably clean. Do not leave the ordering
of the car until the last minute, but
rather order it so that it can be properly
bedded and good supply of hay put in
it's racks. Straw, of course, makes the
best kind of bedding one can use. How
ever, the most essential thing is that OF
supplying plenty of whatever is avail
able. To simply half bed car in many
cases is like cutting the price of the cat.
tie, because they become dirty, and
much of their finish and quality are
apparently lost.
There is nothing better than good,
sweet hay for cattle before loading or in
transit. Some shippers advise feeding
small quantity of grain; but, as a rule
grain, especially corn, has tendency to
fever the animals and cause them tc
drink too much water. Thus, all things
considered, the less grain that is fed just
previous to and during shipment the
better. When the cattle are ready fol
shipment, they should be driven ovel
the scales and the weights recorded
Then they should be driven very care
fully to the stockyards or station where
they are to be shipped.
AS a rule, about twenty good sized
steers will fill car; however, one
should not rely on any given number,
but, rather 60 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 animals
too much space they will push, fight ano
jam each other so that they will shrink
considerably more than If they are
crowded enough to keep them quiet. II
the shipping takes place in midsummer
when it is very warm, care must bs
taken to supply the animals with plenty
of water on the car.-W. j. Kennedy
Iowa State College, in Farmers Ad
yOcate