The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-09-25
UTILIZATION OF
feed BY CATTLE
IMPORTANT TESTS RECENTLY
MADE BY covERNMENT-PURE
BRED SHOWED ITs SUPERIOR
ITY OVER A SCRUB ANIMAL IN
TESTS MADE.

1t is a fact Of common knowledge
that marked differences exist between
individual animals as regards the re-
turns which they yield for the feed
consumed. A current statement il
that a good feeder has a greater d.
gestive power than a poor one, or that
the power of assimilation Of the one
animal is superior to that Of the 9TH
er. and IL has been assumed that
the advantage OF better type of ami
NAL lay in it's ability to produce more
flesh or fat from a unit OF feed than
could the poorer one. It has also been
commonly taught. and seems to be-
generally accepted by animal hus-
bandmen as an established fact, that
young growing animals do not only
make actually larger gains than more
mature ones, but likewise more eco
nomical gains.
! The influence OF type and age upon
the utilization Of feed by cattle has,
therefore, been investigated by of1c-
ials of the department Of agriculture
and the result published in bureau OF
animal industry bulletin No 12s.
Two steer calves were selected as
the subjects OF this investigation. one
purebred typical beef animal Of one
Of the well-known beef breeds; the
| other a scrub" Of mixed breeding.
Exhaustive feeding trials were car
ried out with these animals, including
twenty-four experiments with the res
ptracso calorimeter. NinalIy the
tsteers were subjected TO a slaughter
test, whereby the quality Of the meat
and the relative size of the various
cuts were accurately determined. The
work Is therefore important alike TO
the practical feeder and the agricuI-
tural scientist.
The feeding stuffs used were OF the
same kind for both animals In all the
periods, and the different grains used
were mixed throughout in the same
proportions for each steer. At inter-
walls during the time the digestibiIity
| Of the total ration and the nitrogen
| balance were determined for each anil
NAL.
During each OF the three winters
covered by the investigation, four ex-
periments were made on each animal
by means OF the respiration calori-
meter in order to determine the per-
centage availability OF the energy OF
the feed consumed. During the first
! winter, that Of 1904-05, the feeding
stuffs used differed form those en-
ployed during the ordinary feeding.
In the succeeding two winters the
grain feeds used were the same, only
the amount differing
| While the results fail TO show any
material difference between the physi-
illogical processes OF food utilization
in the two animals they do show
clearly an economic superiority Of the
purebred over the scrub steer, due.
/ first, to his relatively smaller main
tenance requirement, and, second. to
| his ability to consume larger sur
plus OF feed above the requirement.
Both Of the facts tend to make the
actual production Of human food in
the form Of meat and at per unit OF
!, total feed consumed by the animal
notably greater by the purebred ami
NAL.
In the case of the purebred animal
| especially, and to a less degree In
that of the scrub, rations containing
less available energy and notably less
digestible protein that the amounts
called for by the current feeding
standards for growing cattle, produc-
| ca ShltASAy Sdb1S1dClOEy gains IN live
weight.
A distinct influence OF age upon the
maintenance requirement was observ-
ed between the ages Of IA and SO
! months, the requirements decreasing
relatively as the animals matured The
gainin weight OF the scrub az COM
pared with that by the purebred steer
consisted more largely Of protein with
It's accompanying water to a smaller
extent Of fat. and therefore represent
ed materially smaller storage Of feed
energy. This was also indicated by
the results OF the block test.
The animals were killed on Jan. 4,
1903. The scrub was rated as 9con-
mon" and the purebred as prime.
The total dressed weight and the
weights Of the several wholesale cuts
showed the considerably higher per
centage Of dressed weight Ia the case
OF the purebred which ID characters
tic OF the beef animal, and likewise
the predominance OF the loin cut over
the less valuable cuts Of the fore
quarter In the beef animal ais compare
ed with the scrub. and the naarketa-
Bile meat Of the retail cuts showed
that the proportion Of more valuable
cuts was notably greater IN the pure