488 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Lot I, fed legume hay and corn, gained on the average 0.3 Ib. more 

 per head daily and required 15.1 per ct. less concentrates and about the 

 same amount of roughage as Lot II, fed the equally well-balanced but 

 less palatable ration in which the roughage was prairie hay, timothy 

 hay, or corn stover with a small amount of oat straw. Only when silage, 

 appetizing as well as nutritious, is fed, is it possible to provide a ration 

 which will be equal to one where the roughage is legume hay. (775) 

 Not only will steers fed legume hay make more rapid gains and reach a 

 better finish than those fed such a ration as Lot II received, but also 

 the hogs following the steers will make better gains. 



Whether it will pay to chop or grind legume hay or other hay for 

 cattle has been already discussed in the previous chapter. (730) 



762. Legume hay plus carbonaceous roughage. Even on farms where 

 large areas of legumes are raised for hay much carbonaceous roughage, 

 such as corn and sorghum stover, straw, and hay from the grasses, is 

 normally produced in addition. In economical beef production these 

 roughages should be wisely and fully utilized, for while they do not equal 

 legume hay in nutrients or palatability, when judiciously combined with 

 it satisfactory 1 and cheap gains may be secured. This is shown in a 

 116-day trial by Snyder at the North Platte, Nebraska, Substation 76 in 

 which 425-lb. calves fed sorghum hay during the winter with 2 Ibs. a 

 head daily of a mixture of 2 parts corn and 1 part oats gained only 

 0.4 Ib. daily, while another lot fed alfalfa hay instead gained 1.2 Ibs. 

 However, a third lot fed alfalfa hay and half sorghum hay made just as 

 large gains as the lot fed all alfalfa hay. Similarly, the gains on prairie 

 hay combined with alfalfa hay were practically as large as when alfalfa 

 was the only roughage. 



The good results from combining legume hay with carbonaceous rough- 

 age are further shown in a trial by Waters at the Missouri Station. 77 

 Two-year-old steers fed timothy hay and corn made much smaller gains 

 than those fed clover hay and corn. However, on clover hay, corn stover, 

 and corn, as large gains were produced as when clover hay was the sole 

 roughage. 



Smith 78 reports that cattle full fed on corn with alfalfa as the only 

 roughage are more subject to scours, which causes them to go off feed, 

 than when some such carbonaceous roughage as prairie hay, sorghum 

 hay, or corn stover is fed with the alfalfa. 



763. Legume hay with cottonseed meal. Since legume hay is rich in 

 protein it should not be fed as the chief roughage with cottonseed meal, 

 which is itself so rich in this nutrient. In trials at the Texas Station 79 

 where peanut or alfalfa hay was fed to steers with 5 Ibs. of cottonseed 

 meal per head daily, very poor results were secured. When shelled corn 

 was substituted for a part of the cottonseed meal or when prairie hay 

 was fed in place of the legume hay, the gains became normal. 



76 Nebr. Bui. 105. 78 Nebr. Bui. 116. 



"Mo. Bui. 76. "Tex. Bui. 76. 



