134 FARM ANIMALS 



Shelter. Considerable controversy has raged 

 around the question as to the amount of shelter 

 which should be given to steers during the fatten- 

 ing period in winter. In some climates it has 

 been found that excessive cold weather is likely 

 to retard the growth, especially, of young cattle, 

 and some feeders have even recommended the 

 use of artificial heat in barns during January 

 and February. As a rule, however, where care- 

 ful experiments have been carried out it has been 

 conclusively demonstrated that steers make much 

 better gains when allowed the freedom of yards, 

 protected from storms and severe winds, than when 

 kept in barns, or tied in stalls. As the result of 

 past experience more than sixty per cent, of Mis- 

 souri feeders prefer an open shed for fattening 

 steers, twenty-three per cent, barn yards, and only 

 seventeen per-cent. barns. In Illinois about one- 

 half of the cattle raisers give their cattle the freedom 

 of open sheds. It is apparent from numerous 

 experiments, which have been carried out along 

 this line, that while theoretically cattle may have 

 to eat a little more to make up for the loss of heat 

 in open sheds, nevertheless from a practical stand- 

 point their health and vigor are much better, the 

 appetite is more active and, therefore, as a general 

 result gains in weight are made more economically 

 in sheds than when confined in stables. The 

 Pennsylvania Experiment Station has been carry- 

 ing on a series of experiments on this question 

 for a number of years. As a result of three years' 

 work it appears that the actual amount of feed 

 eaten by steers in outside lots is less than that 

 eaten by steers in barns. The gains made by 

 fattening steers were not increased by keeping 

 them in warm quarters and it is concluded that 



