COUNSEL IN THE FEED LOT 526 



best about two days before shipping to substitute other less washy feeds 

 for the succulence. However, the change should not be too abrupt, or the 

 animals may be thrown off feed. 



Some shippers think that by withholding water from the cattle or feed- 

 ing them salt, they can get them to drink a large amount of water when 

 they reach the stock yards, and thus take on a heavy ' l fill. ' ' Such a prac- 

 tice is not only cruel, but it deceives no one but the shipper himself. 

 Buyers both of fat cattle and of feeders can easily recognize animals 

 which have taken on an abnormal fill and they will discriminate against 

 them by offering a lower price per hundred weight. 



Before the cattle are loaded, the car should always be well bedded. If 

 different kinds of live stock are put in the same car, they should be 

 tied securely. For feeding in transit nothing is better than good hay, 

 for it is easily digested and is not apt to throw the cattle off feed. 



Slow, rough runs to market naturally increase the shrink. For a 

 long journey the common method of unloading for feed, water, and rest 

 is better than the use of ' ' feed and water ' ' cars. When cattle reach the 

 market just before being sold, the fill is small, but when they arrive the 

 afternoon of the day before, or about daylight of the sale day, they 

 generally take a good fill. 



809. Cattle fattening requires "business judgment. In fattening 

 cattle, even more than in other lines of animal husbandry, good business 

 judgment must be exercised, or the venture is apt to result in loss. The 

 following are some of the important points to be observed by one enter- 

 ing the cattle feeding business. 5 



Before purchasing feeders one should estimate the quantity of feeds 

 on hand and their market prices. From this he can determine how 

 many and what class of cattle he had best buy to consume the feed. He 

 should then study the market reports and by a little figuring can find 

 out about how much his feeders will cost, including the expense of 

 getting them to his feed lot. Then he can figure out approximately how 

 much the gains will cost him, by using the data in the preceding 

 chapters, in which are shown the actual results on many typical rations. 

 He can then readily compute the necessary selling price he must secure 

 to break even, of course taking into consideration the marketing costs. 

 If the out-look for a profit does not seem reasonably good, it is usually 

 not best to buy just at that time. 



Feeders should always be chosen which seem to offer the best oppor- 

 tunity for profit. It is an old adage among stockmen that * ' cattle bought 

 right are more than half sold." A man may be a skillful feeder and lose 

 money year after year because of poor judgment in buying. The be- 

 ginner should hire some experienced cattleman to purchase animals 

 that will best suit his needs, or deal with a reliable commission firm that 

 is acquainted with his conditions. If choice feeders are commanding a 

 high premium in the market over commoner animals, and it does not 



"Largely from Cotton and Ward, IT. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 588. 



