100 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



1. Young animals, which are fattened as they grow, make 

 cheaper gains than older animals. This is the chief advantage 

 of the young animal. 



2. The older animals enjoy a wider margin between cost 

 price and selling price per pound, they fatten in less time, and 

 the cost of feed per head is practically the same as for the younger 

 animals. These are the chief advantages of the older animal. 



In the investigations which have been made by our state 

 experiment stations, the advantages of the older animal out- 

 weighed the advantage of the younger animal, making the two- 

 year-olds more profitable than the yearlings or calves. Fur- 

 thermore, a table of costs and prices does not fully emphasize 

 the marked ability of the older animal to consume roughage 

 during the fattening period. Where considerable quantities 

 of silage, hay, or other roughage must be utilized, and this is 

 very frequently the case, older steers are desirable. Neverthe- 

 less, in some instances and in certain years the younger animals 

 may be preferable. For example, with higher cost of older 

 steers, and lower price of feeds, calves may be purchased and 

 fed at a greater profit. Another point which is frequently of 

 practical importance is the fact that the initial cost of calves 

 per head is much less than that of older cattle. Three or four 

 calves may be bought for the price of one two-year-old steer, 

 and the feed-lot may be filled at a much smaller outlay of capital. 

 For this reason, some farmers must feed calves if they are to 

 feed at all. 



2. Form. The form should be as nearly identical as pos- 

 sible with the description given for the fat steer. Allowances 

 must, of course, be made for the absence of fat in the thin animal, 

 for we cannot expect a thin steer to appear extremely blocky 

 and low set. Yet even in thin condition the steer should be 

 low set, deep, broad, compact, and balanced; such conformation 

 insures feeding capacity and early maturity. Broad, level tops 

 make possible a maximum development of high-priced cuts, and 

 are indicative of superior form in the feeder. High-grade feeders 

 have a straight top line and straight underline, the two being 

 nearly parallel. For best results, a large feeding capacity is 

 of very great importance. The muzzle should be broad, the 

 barrel wide and deep, and the flanks well let down. An excess- 

 ive paunch is undesirable, as it rarely disappears during fattening 

 and shipping and will lessen the price paid for the finished steer 

 on the market. Some degree of paunchiness may be termed 



