FEED AND CARE OF FATTENING CATTLE 209 



roughage as alfalfa, clover, etc., is profitable to feed, the nitrog- 

 enous concentrates may be reduced. 



Husked Corn is sometimes fed. It is cheaper and more desira- 

 ble to feed snapped or shocked corn than husked corn. Husked 

 corn becomes exceedingly dry and hard and has the tendency to 

 produce sore mouths and gums when fed in large quantities. 

 It is often practical to crush corn to make it more easily masti- 

 cated. 



Corn Meal seems to be favored by Eastern feeders. Larger 

 gains are made with meal than with unground grain. Of 

 course corn meal is a heavier feed than the whole ear and care 

 must be exercised in its use. For Western and Southern feed- 

 ers it is no doubt cheaper to feed the whole unground ear be- 

 cause of the expense of grinding. 



Corn and Cob Meal. Experiments have demonstrated that corn 

 and cob meal is equal in feeding value to corn meal. This 

 feed is more bulky than corn meal and hence it is easily at- 

 tacked by the digestive fluids. 



Corn Stover is always a cheap roughage on the farm. It 

 should supply at least one-half the roughage when available. 

 Alfalfa or clover make excellent complements of stover to com- 

 plete the roughage of a ration. It is often desirable to cut up 

 the stover or shred it to insure a larger consumption. The cost 

 of course will determine the practicability of such practice. 



Corn Silage. When the farm is equipped with a silo it pays 

 to allow the cattle about 10 to 15 Ibs. a day during the pre- 

 liminary and middle periods of fattening. Silage seems to 

 help the cattle in the preliminary and middle periods of fatten- 

 ing by supplying water and bulk, by increasing the appetite and 

 by producing a cooling and laxative effect. It is perhaps un- 

 profitable to construct a silo just for feeding fattening cattle. 



The Indiana Experiment Station produced good gains by 

 feeding the following ration to fattening steers: 

 2.5 pounds cotton-seed meal 

 4.4 pounds clover hay 

 14.4 pounds shelled corn 

 27.7 pounds corn silage 



With silage the cost of gain was ^ cent a pound less than 



