632 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



make much poorer gains. Supplying cattle on pasture with salt, shade, 

 and plenty of good water should never be overlooked. 



When the corn crop matures before the cattle are finished for market 

 they may be turned into the standing corn, hogs following to get the 

 corn not eaten by the steers. Where this practice is followed the cattle 

 should be accustomed to new corn by being fed gradually increasing 

 amounts of new snapped or ear corn, or corn fodder before being turned 

 into the corn field. 



818. Baby beef. The most intensive method of beef production is the 

 fattening of calves as baby beef. Under this system beef calves are made 

 sufficiently fat for market at 16 to 20 months of age, when weighing 

 about 800 to 1,000 Ibs. Profitable baby beef production requires a high 

 degree of experience, judgment, and skill, and it is a mistake for the 

 inexperienced to dip heavily into this art. In calves the natural tendency 

 is towards growth rather than fattening. Therefore to secure the 

 desired finish it is necessary to feed a larger proportion of grain, com- 

 pared with roughage, than in fattening more mature cattle. Hence 

 this system of beef production is best suited to corn-belt farms, where 

 pasture is relatively expensive but corn is cheaper in price than in other 

 sections of the country. (712) In the production of baby beef, it is 

 essential, first of all, to have blocky, well-bred calves of good beef type 

 and conformation, for scrub or dairy-bred calves will not usually reach 

 the desired maturity and finish at this early age. Calves of the proper 

 sort can not commonly be secured on the large feeder markets, and there- 

 fore most cattlemen specializing in baby beef production raise their 

 calves from high-grade beef cows and a good pure-bred bull. The breed- 

 ing cows are fed and cared for much the same as in the more common 

 type of beef production, which has already been discussed, but they are 

 often fed a little more liberally so as to ensure a good milk flow. The 

 cows must be maintained economically, however, or profits will be eaten 

 up. (788-91) The calves are usually dropped in the latter part of 

 March and in April and May. 



In producing baby beef in the corn-belt, the object is to fatten the 

 calves as they grow and to retain their "calf fat." If the calves suffer 

 from lack of feed at any time, it is much more difficult to get them well- 

 finished at the desired weight. During summer the calves run with their 

 dams on pasture, and in addition are commonly fed some concentrates 

 away from the cows at least the latter part of the summer when pastures 

 are short. The concentrates may conveniently be fed inside a creep adja- 

 cent to the pasture, which has openings in the fence so that the calves can 

 enter, while the cows are excluded. For feeding the calves on pasture, 

 farm grains should be chiefly fed, as a liberal supply of protein is 

 furnished by their dams' milk and the pasture grasses. A mixture of 

 equal parts shelled corn and whole oats is often used. After they are 

 accustomed to grain, the calves should be fed according to appetite, and 

 they will be consuming 3 to 4 Ibs. a head daily by weaning time in the 



