CHAPTER XXI. 



GENERAL PEOBLEMS IN BEEF PRODUCTION. 



I. Quarters for Cattle. 



495. Open shed v. confinement. — Waters of the Missouri Sta- 

 tion^ housed a bunch of dehorned fattening steers in comfortable, 

 well-bedded quarters during winter. They were turned out for water 

 at 9 o'clock each morning, remaining in the yard until 4 in the 

 afternoon except during stormy weather, when they were out only 

 long enough to drink. Another similar bunch was fed in an open 

 shed located in a small lot. The average returns for 4 winters were : 



In bam In open shed 



Daily gain per Steer 1.7 pounds 1.9 pounds 



Gain per bu. of corn 4.9 pounds 5.2 pounds 



Digestible matter eaten per lb. of gain 11.3 pounds 10.3 pounds 



It is seen that the steers running in the open shed did better in 

 all ways than those in the barn. 



Ingle,^ reviewing feeding trials in Britain, concludes that housed 

 animals, compared with those in the open, eat more food and make 

 greater daily gains in weight, each lb. of increase being obtained, 

 however, from about the same amount of digestible matter. 



After summarizing trials with steers fed in open yards or con- 

 fined under cover at the Utah, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minne- 

 sota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Experiment Stations, Armsby^ writes : 

 "The experiments, . . . with one exception (Kansas), show fully 

 as good results for the exposed as for the barn-fed animals. It seems 

 clear, at least, that the value of shelter for fattening cattle has been 

 exaggerated." (733-4) 



"Waters* closes the discussion of this subject thus: "There is ap- 

 parently sufficient heat generated in the body in the mastication, 

 digestion, assimilation, fermentation, etc., of this large quantity of 

 food to maintain the normal temperature of the body. In fact it is 

 not unreasonable to hold that under such circumstances a reason- 

 able amount of cold is a benefit to such animals rather than a detri- 



'Bul. 70. 



= Trans. Highl. and Agr. Soc. of Scotland, 1909. 



* U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus., Bui. 108. 



* Missouri Expt. Sta., Bui. 76. 



315 



