The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1908-02-22
FINISHING CATTLE.
What Every Feeder Wants to Know
About Methods.

About Methods.
Two methods of finishing beef cattle
which stand out most prominently are
those known as stall feeling and graz
Ing In one instance the cattle are
placed on feed in the early autumn and
pushed vigorously until ready for mar
ket In the other case they are fed
little more than maintenance ration,
the idea being to carry them through
the winter as cheaply as possible and
finish them on grass the next summer.
This method finds favor in all sections
where grazing Is abundant, while stall
feeding must be resorted to in those
localities where grass is difficult to
obtain.
The relative merits of these two sys-
TENS of finishing cattle is matter
of grave economic Importance at the
present time The stall feeding of cat
tie can only be successful from finan-
cial standpoint when the animals are
handled on a minimum grain ration
and fed some form of roughness that
will be highly palatable and act as a
satisfactory substitute for grass.
Stall Feeding Versus Grazing.
At the Virginia experiment station
stall fed cattle were given silage. hay
and slower. with different forms of
corn combined with cottonseed meal,
the object being to determine the eff
feet of succulent ration on the fat
tening process and the best form In
which to feed corn with cottonseed
meal. GraZed cattle were fed on diff
ferent forms of roughness. some Of
succulent and some of a nonsucculent
nature, for the purpose Of comparing
the residual effects of these foods
where animals are finished ON grass.
It has been thought by many that cat
tie fed on a succulent ration and
grazed would not do well. a belief
which is not borne out by the expert
ence of the past year. The expert
ments In this instance were so planned
that comparison of the cost Of feed
ing cattle In the stall and on grass
could be made, and the deductions JUS
titled by the experiments cannot fail
to be of special value to all who are
interested in the production of beef.
Some of them are as follows:
Results of Experiment.
1t appears that cattle can be handled
advantageously as stockers and finish
ed on grass on margin of 25 cents
where silage or slower or other mex
pensive forms of roughness are used
during the winter Mixed hay proved
SO expensive that there was loss with
1t on margin of so cents.
The cost of pound of grain with the
stall fed cattle varied from 733 to 9.01
cents; with the stocker cattle from
Alp or 6.G4 cents. 1t cost, therefore,
nearly twice as much to make a pound
of gain on the stall as where the ami
mails We're finished on grass.
The cost of maintaining stocker
through the winter varied from $796
with the slower fed group to $1624
with the hay fed group. The average
for all groups was $1091.
The cost of finishing a feeder varied
from $22.33 to $25.S2, or more than
twice as much as it cost to carry over
q stocker. The difference In food cost
10 largely offset. however. by rent Of
land.
The deductions to be drawn from the
experiments with feeders are as fol-
lows: Feed a small grain ration. not
over two pounds per head per day to
commence with. and increase 1t grad
ually until the cattle are ultimately
consuming fifteen pounds per head per
| day. A liberal ration Of silage should
be fed throughout the test, decreasing
the amount consumed toward the close
Of the feeding period. Only a mini
mum amount, not over two to four
pounds, Of slower or other dry mex
pensive forms of roughness need be
fed.
1t would appear that silage may con-
stitute the chief source of roughness
for stockers: that grain ration of two
pounds per head per day is sufficient to
insure their making substantial and
profitable gains during the winter; that
the best results will be obtained when
the ration consists OF equal parts of
corn and cob meal and cottonseed meal
or some other food rich In protein.