THE EFFICIENCY OF RATIONS 315 



In another compilation by the author of results of experi- 

 ments upon fattening cattle, 8 lots of 3-year old steers re- 

 quired an average of 9.4 pounds of digestible organic matter 

 to produce a pound of gain, 56 lots of 2-year-old steers re- 

 quired 8.4 pounds of digestible organic matter, while 27 

 lots of calves and yearhngs required only 6.7 pounds of 

 digestible organic matter to produce a pound of gain. 



After three years of experimentation with calves, year- 

 lings, and two-year-olds Skinner and Cochel, at the Purdue 

 Experiment Station,^ concluded that the rate of gain and 

 the cost of gain increase with the increased age of cattle. 



It might be well to note, however, that the younger the 

 animal is, the more care it will require, and the longer the 

 time necessary to finish the animal. Also the younger 

 animal requires a larger proportion of expensive concen- 

 trates in its ration than does the older animal. 



The Capacity of the Animal. — The capacity of the ani- 

 mal in most cases has considerable influence upon the effi- 

 ciency. If the animal has a small capacity, it can consume 

 only a comparatively small amount of feed above the main- 

 tenance requirement which is available for production. 

 This makes the production expensive. On the other hand, 

 if the animal has a large capacity, considerable more feed 

 will be available for production. To illustrate this point, 

 we will assume that a steer requires 12 pounds of feed daily 

 for maintenance, and 6 pounds of feed above maintenance 

 to produce a pound of gain. If he eats only 18 pounds of 

 feed and makes a gain of one pound, it will have taken 18 

 pounds of feed to produce a pound of gain. However, if he 

 consumes 24 pounds of feed and makes a gain of 2 pounds 



1 Purdue Bui. 146. 



