719 



PART I 



CORN SILAGE AND CLOVER HAY AS ROUGHAGE FOR 

 FATTENING STEERS 



Part I of this bulletin is a report and discussion of the results 

 secured from a trial to obtain additional information on the relative 

 value of corn silage and clover hay for fattening cattle. The trial 

 herein reported is a continuation of a series of experiments on this 

 subject which has been conducted for several years at this station and 

 reported in Bulletins Nos. 129, 136 and 153. Previous trials 

 have shown that corn silage is a very efficient roughage for cattle 

 and is at prevailing prices for feeds a very economical form in which 

 to utilize the corn crop. Data are somewhat conflicting concerning 

 the question of whether silage should replace a small or large part 

 or even entirely replace the clover hay. The purpose of this trial was 

 to furnish some additional data for determining the conditions under 

 which the different quantities of silage and hay should be fed. Be- 

 cause of the fact that earlier trials have shown the economy of using 

 cottonseed meal in the ration and especially in one containing corn 

 silage, all rations in this test contained cottonseed meal in the pro- 

 portion of 2.5 pounds daily per 1000 Ibs. live weight of cattle. The 

 only variable factor between the four rations was the amount of corn 

 silage or clover hay fed and time of feeding. 



The rations fed were as follows : 



Lot i. Shelled corn, cottonseed meal 2.5 pounds daily per 1000 

 pounds live weight, corn silage (evening), clover hay (morning). 



Lot 2. Shelled corn, cottonseed meal 2.5 pounds daily per 1000 

 pounds live weight, clover hay. 



Lot 3. Shelled corn, cottonseed meal 2 . 5 pounds daily per 1000 

 pounds live weight, corn silage. 



Lot 4. Shelled corn, cottonseed meal 2 . 5 pounds daily per 1000 

 pounds live weight, corn silage (morning and evening), clover hay 

 (morning). 



A comparison of Lots i and 2 shows the effect of adding a 

 limited amount of corn silage to a ration of shelled corn, cottonseed 

 meal and clover hay. Lots 4 and 2 show the effect of adding silage 

 according to the appetites of the cattle to a ration of shelled corn, 

 cottonseed meal and clover hay. Lots 3 and 2 give a comparison of 

 corn silage and clover hay when each are fed as the only roughage 

 for fattening cattle. 



Table I shows the average amount of feed consumed daily per 

 steer by thirty day periods. 



