Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-07-11
PRODUCTION OF BABY BEEF
BY Andrew Boss in Northwestern Asri-
cuturist.

Baby beef has been a popular topic
with agricultural and live stock writers
for number of years. The topic seems
to strike a popular chord wherever
t is brought up, and the advocates
Of baby beef production have put up
many plausible arguments for their
views.
To understand the situation fully,
we should perhaps consider the defini-
ton of baby beef. AS interpreted
by modern writer's, baby beef refers
to animals between the ages of
IL and "a months, These animals
should weigh not more than LOO to
1900 pounds. must be Of good form.
and above all, must be fat. To pro-
duce beef of this kind, 1t is necessary
to allow the calf to nurse its dam or
to be very carefully raised by hand.
Grain must be fed from the time the
calf will eat, which is usually at 2
or 3 months Of age until he is finished
for the market. There must be no
shrinking in growth at any period The
calf fat which Is produced during the
nursing period must be maintained
during weaving time and added
to as the calf gains age. 1t will be
noted that gains made under such
circumstances are necessarily more eX-
penSive than gains made on coarser
feed and at a slower rate.
based their opinions on the larger
gains made by young animals. 1t is
an undisputed fact that the nearer
the birth date animals are fed, the
larger the gains made for feed con-
sumed. In reviewing the records of
cattle fed at the experiment station.
l find that during the first year of
growth, beef calves will average about
two to two and one-half pounds daily.
During the yearling period the av-
erage gain will be one and one-half
to one and three fourths pounds and
as 2-year-olds from three fourths to
one and one-half pounds daily. These
weights prevail only when the cattle
are fed for baby beef or crowded from
birth to maturity. Mature cattle in
this condition after growth Of body
has been made may make daily gains
of 2h to 31a pounds daily for a short
period only. The figures gained
from other sources substantiate this
statement An additional advantage
through feeding young animals Is Ia
saving the maintenance ration during
considerable period. The fact has
been established that 1t requires a GER
tain amount of feed to maintain the
functions Of breathing, digestion and
supplying warmth to the body. II, by
reducing the period of maturity 800
days, we can save something like five
300 days. 1t is an item worth consid-
ering. The fact should be borne in
mind, however, that the gain in
weight made in very young ami
mails Is of soft flesh which Is watery
by nature instead of fat, and that
the flesh lacks substance and flavor;
also that baby beef finishes" or
takes on fat slowly. Starting with
calf at the weaving period, which
would be at about 6 months Of
age, 1t would require about IL
months Of good feeding to complete
the growth and supply sufficient fat
to finish the animal for the prime
beef market. During these II to Is
months the young animal must have
a constant supply Of the best Of feed
which can usually be supplied only
at a considerable expense. Older cat
tie, say those Of Is to IS months,
can be put on grain feed after a coa-
siderable growth has been made on
cheap feed, and finished in prime con-
dition for the market in four or five
months of full grain feed.
An essential factor in the econom-
ical production of baby beef is
the breeding Of the cattle. Before
farmers can hope to supply the de-
mands of the market for this class
of beef, they must improve their beef
stock. Calves must inherit the ten
dency to quick fattening, which is
present only in the best beef brands
OF cattle. Even within the breeds there
Is a great tendency to variation and
certain families of each breed seem
to possess more of the form and ability
to produce thick, quickly fattening Off
spring than others. This ability should
be used to the best advantage and
combined with feed and management
suitable to quick growth and finish
II success Is to be attained in baby
beef production. Under suitable con-
ditions 1t is a profitable undertaking
but 1t has no place with the "only av-
crage" feeder.