68 



MISC. PUBLICATION 194, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



CREEP FEEDING SUCKLING CALVES 



Creep feeding high-grade beef calves which are dropped early in 

 the spring enables them to be fattened so as to be suitable for slaughter 

 at weaning time or shortly thereafter. In the latter case they should 

 be continued on full feed after weaning. Although such calves are 

 usually allowed to run on pasture with their dams until ihej are 

 weaned, some cattlemen favor keeping the calves in a separate lot, 

 where they may have grazing, and allowing them to nurse the cows 

 twice a day. In experiments to compare these two methods there 

 has been little difference in the results. If there is only one watering 



Figure 16.— A good creep for feeding grain to suckling calves. They have access by two openings each 

 about 18 inches wide and 30 inches high made by cutting out the second and third boards from the 

 bottom. 



place or only one place where the cattle seek shade, the creep should be 

 located near one of these, preferably the shade, because the cows 

 spend more time there (fig. 16). 



FATTENING CATTLE ON GRASS ALONE 



Cattle in medium to good flesh, when they go on grass, will make 

 about three fourths as much gain as thin cattle. Ordinarily the 

 greatest gains are made during the first half of the grazing. During 

 the latter half of the grazing season, although the gains are much 

 smaller, there is generally a marked improvement in the finish and in 

 the quality of the flesh (fig. 17). Unless one has plenty of nutritious 

 grass it is well to feed gram in the late sunnner and fall in order to get 

 a satisfactory finish on steers. For 3 or 4 days before shipping, cattle 

 which have been on rather laxative green pasturage should be taken 

 off and given a liberal feed of good grass hay in order to avoid a heavy 

 shrinkage in transit. 



