524 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



just about one-third ounce of salt per head daily. The gains of the 

 steers each year were very satisfactory, showing this amount of salt to be 

 ample under these particular conditions, tho it is considerably smaller 

 than previously recommended by European authorities. 



In a trial carried on by the Kansas Station 8 it was found that during 

 the summer yearling and 2-year-old steers on pasture licked about 1 

 ounce of salt per head daily from salt blocks placed in the pasture. 

 Nearly an equal amount was lost thru weathering of the blocks, which 

 were not under a shelter. During the first part of the pasture season 

 the cattle licked nearly twice as much salt as was consumed per month 

 later on in summer. 



807. Variations in weight. Fattening steers show surprising varia- 

 tions in weight from day to day, and even from week to week. Even 

 when weighed at the same .time on consecutive days and under apparently 

 similar conditions, the weight of a steer on any particular day may vary 

 20 to 40 Ibs., and sometimes even more, from the weight on the previous 

 day. 



These variations show how difficult it is to know the true weight of a 

 steer at any given time. Experiment stations now quite generally weigh 

 all experimental animals for 3 successive days at the beginning and end 

 of feeding trials, taking the average as the true weight of the animal on 

 the second day. It has been suggested that the variations follow some- 

 what the amount of water drunk from day to day, but this explanation 

 does not always seem sufficient. It seems more generally due to the ir- 

 regular movement of the contents of the digestive tract, which movement 

 is influenced by changes in the character and quantity of the food con- 

 sumed, the exercise or confinement enforced, and the weather. 



808. Preparing for shipment; shrinkage. Unless cattle are shipped 

 under proper conditions, the shrinkage between their weights at home 

 and the selling weights on the market may be so large that it will eat 

 up no small part of the profits. On the average the shrinkage between 

 the loading weights and the sale weights at the stockyards of either 

 range cattle or fat cattle in transit 36 hours or less is 3 to 4 per ct. ; when 

 in transit 70 hours or over the shrinkage is 5 to 6 per ct. of their live 

 weight. 4 In addition there will be a slight shrinkage in weight from the 

 feed lot to the loading station. Silage-fed cattle show a larger gross 

 shrinkage but usually fill so well at market that the net shrinkage is even 

 lower than with cattle fed no silage. Pulp-fed cattle shrink more than 

 any other class. The difference in shrinkage between cows and steers 

 is not as great as is ordinarily supposed, tho cows shrink somewhat less 

 than steers of the same weight and degree of finish. Well fattened 

 animals shrink less than those in thin flesh. For example, canner cows 

 shrink more proportionately than finished stock. 



If cattle are continued on succulent feeds, such as grass, silage, or beet 



pulp up to the time of loading, the shrinkage is great. It is therefore 



"Hensel, Breeder's Gazette, 80, 1921, p. 181. 4 Ward, U. S. D. A., Bui. 25. 



