FATTENING STEERS ON GRASS. 161 



cattle must be carefully considered. Cattle which have been 

 on full feed must be handled differently from those which 

 have been on medium or light rations. The length of time 

 the animals are to be fed that is, whether they are intended 

 for early summer, late summer, early fall, or winter market 

 must be considered. Cattle which have been on full feed for 

 several months and intended to be marketed not later than 

 the first of June, should not be changed from the dry lot to 

 pasture. Such a change cannot usually be made without a 

 loss to the owner. This is due to the fact that while they 

 have been almost finished in the dry lot, yet they will sell 

 as grass fed cattle. Further, they will not ship nearly so 

 well as those from the dry lot, as the grass during the early 

 months is very soft and washy, thus a heavy shrinkage must 

 be expected from cattle fed on the same. These points 

 should be carefully considered by the feeder. 



When cattle are once placed upon full feed there should 

 never be any let-up, but they should be fattened to a finish 

 as soon as possible. Thus cattle which have been on full 

 feed should continue to receive the same after being changed 

 to the grass lot. In feeding cattle on grass, the best results 

 will usually be obtained from those which have not received 

 very much grain during the winter months. In this respect 

 animals which have never received more than half a grain 

 ration usually make much more satisfactory returns than 

 those which have been on a full grain ration. This Is due to 

 the fact that animals will usually make about as heavy gains 

 on a medium grain ration and grass as they "will on a heavy 

 grain ration. They will always make much more economical 

 gains from the light or medium rations. The main and only 

 advantage of the heavy ration is that it will usually furnish 

 an earlier finish. Thus the feeder must use his judgment as 

 to whether he will feed light or heavy rations and be guided 

 by the length of the feeding period. 



Making the change from dry roughage to grass is a crit- 

 ical point. There is much difference of opinion as to the best 

 ways, each of which can be practiced with fair success. The 

 first is to keep the cattle in the feed lots until the grass has 

 made a good growth, then turn them on pasture for a few 

 hours each afternoon when the grass is free from external 

 moisture, the regular allowance of grain and roughage being 

 supplied them in the feed lots; that is, they are fed and 



