OF STEER FEEDING
The fattening of beef animals is largely conducted by farmers who make
a specialty of it. This is particularly true in the so-called corn
belt. Into this region are gathered the two and three-year-old and,
more rarely, yearling steers, many of which have been reared in Texas
or in the mountain states where the supply of maize is not sufficiently
ample to fatten them. These are placed in paddocks with open sheds,
where they are fed from 90 to 150 days, after which they are sent to
market for slaughter. The food consists usually of maize fodder, maize
stover, hay, maize (usually in the ear), a little bran, linseed or
cottonseed oil meal. The ration per day during rapid fattening is about
20 pounds of dry matter per 1,000 pounds of live weight, containing 16
pounds of digestible substance, of which 1.25 to 1.75 is digestible
protein. One hundred pounds of increase may be obtained under average
conditions from 150 pounds stover, 325 pounds of hay, 775 pounds of
maize and 75 pounds of cottonseed meal.
Great variations will occur, however, depending upon the condition of
the animals at the beginning of the feeding period and the degree of
fatness or finish to which the animals are brought before placing upon
the market. In any case, the food consumed will cost more than the
value of the increase. The only way that steers can be profitably
fattened is by increasing the value per pound of the animal. Thus an
800-pound steer may be purchased at five cents per pound, or $40.
After feeding, say 150 days, he may weigh 1,100 pounds, when to bring
a profitable return he should sell for 6 cents a pound, or $65. This
is a gain of $25, eight of which came from the increase in value of
the original 800 pounds. Usually steers cannot be fattened profitably
unless there is an increase of at least three-quarters of a cent per
pound in the value of the animals and then, as previously explained,
only in connection with the hogs which follow them.
COST OF PRODUCING MILK AND BUTTER FAT
Well-selected and properly fed cows may produce 240 pounds of butter
fat annually. The amount of fat obtained will depend upon the richness
of the milk. Thus, 8,000 pounds of 3% milk, 6,000 pounds of 4% milk,
or a trifle less than 5,000 pounds of 5% milk, will give this quantity
of butter fat. These are customary returns from different types of
cows.
If each cow in the herd is dry for six weeks each year the daily
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