494 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Mixed clover and timothy hay, containing one- third to one-half clover, 

 was midway between pure timothy and pure clover hay in value. 



Sheaf oats, a common feed in Western Canada, was worth about one- 

 fifth more per ton than prairie hay for fattening steers in a trial by 

 Dowell and Bowstead at the University of Alberta." 



Straw is too low in nutrients to form any large part of the ration for 

 fattening cattle, but may be economically fed in greater amounts to 

 breeding cows or stock cattle. However, as is pointed out later, when 

 steers are fed corn grain, corn silage, and enough cottonseed or linseed 

 meal to balance the ration, bright oat straw will satisfy their desire for 

 dry roughage and produce as rapid gains as if legume hay were fed. (778) 

 Barley straw is nearly equal to oat straw, while wheat straw is not so 

 valuable and rye straw is of little worth as a feed. 



773. Cottonseed hulls. For many years cottonseed hulls and cotton- 

 seed meal formed the standard ration for fattening cattle in the South. 

 On this combination steers make surprisingly good gains when the amount 

 of cottonseed meal is not excessive nor the period too long extended. 

 Otherwise trouble from cottonseed meal poisoning may be encountered. 

 The relative value of cottonseed hulls and corn silage for fattening cattle 

 is shown in the following table, in which are averaged the results of 9 

 trials at 5 different stations with steers fed for periods averaging 107 

 days. 



Cottonseed hulls vs. corn silage for fattening steers 



Feed for 100 Ibs. gain Feed cost 

 Initial Daily Cottonseed Hulls or of 100 



Average ration weight gain meal silage Ibs. gain 



Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Dollars 



Lot I, total of 141 steers* 

 Cottonseed hulls, 25.6 Ibs. 



Cottonseed meal, 6 . 8 Ibs 914 1.6 442 1,629 12 .35 



Lot II, total of 131 steers* 

 Corn silage, 42.1 Ibs. 

 Cottonseed meal, 6. 8 Ibs 918 1.8 418 2,478 10.22 



*Average of 4 trials by Curtis (N. C. Buls. 199, 218, 222); 1 by Lloyd (Miss. Station, information to the 

 authors); 1 by Smith (S. C. Bui. 169); 1 by Ward and Gray (U. S; Da. Bui. 762); and 2 by Willson (Tenn. 

 Bui. 104). 



In these trials the steers fed silage usually made slightly larger gains 

 than those receiving hulls, but the chief difference was that with a single 

 exception the silage-fed lot made by far the cheaper gains. The silage- 

 fed steers almost uniformly showed better finish and better handling 

 quality than those fed hulls. It has already been shown that the longer 

 the feeding period, the greater is the superiority of silage over hulls, for 

 silage feeding delays any injurious effects of the cottonseed meal. In 

 these trials 100 Ibs. of silage was worth as much as 68 Ibs. of cottonseed 

 hulls, considering merely the feed required for 100 Ibs. gain and disre- 

 garding the better finish of the silage-fed cattle. This shows clearly 

 that at prevailing prices it is usually cheaper in the South to raise silage 

 for roughage than to feed cottonseed hulls exclusively. 



"Information to the authors. 



