General Problems in Beef Production. 



317 



gorging or overeating. Tho consuming more feed than Lot I, the 

 self-fed steers made more economical gains, even after adding the 

 cost of chaffing the hay. Both systems required about the same 

 amount of labor, but by the use of the self-feeder the necessity of a 

 skilled feeder was reduced. ]\Iumford^ reports that steers visit the 

 self-feeder with remarkable regularity, and once accustomed thereto 

 do not overeat. He holds that the system is often unjustly con- 

 demned because careless cattle feeders do not properly use it. (731) 



498. The paved feed lot. — In parts of the corn belt the feed lot 

 in winter often becomes a sea of mud and mire. Mumford of the 

 Illinois Station- fed one carload of steers during winter in a brick- 

 paved lot and another in an ordinary mud lot, both lots having ac- 

 cess to an open shed, the bedding in which was kept dry. The 

 paved-lot steers made no cheaper gains than the others. However, 

 because of their dirty appearance, tho not inferior finish, the mud- 

 lot steers sold for 10 cents less per 100 lbs. Pigs following the paved- 

 lot steers gained 1 lb. more from each bushel of corn fed to the 

 steers than did those following the mud-lot steers, 



II. Wintering Cattle. 



499. Wintering beef cows. — Mumford of the Illinois Station^ di- 

 vided a lot of grade Angus cows which had suckled their calves the 

 previous summer and were thin in flesh into bunches of 10 each 

 and fed them on approximately a maintenance ration during 140 

 days in winter. (96) Twenty-eight per ct. of the corn silage and 54 

 per ct. of the shock corn consisted of ears. 



Wintering breeding cows on silage and shocJc corn. 



Average ration 



Av. wt. at 

 beginning 



Av. daily 

 gain 



Av. gain 

 per liead 



Lot I 



Corn silage, 16. 7 lbs. 



Clover hay, 3.5 lbs. 



Oat straw, 9.6 lbs. 



Lot II 



Shock corn, 8 . 7 lbs. 



Clover hay, 3.5 lbs. 



Oat straw, 10.8 lbs. 



Lot III 



Corn stover (42 days), 21.7 lbs. 



Shredded stover (98 days), 10. 3 lbs, 



Clover hay, 1.6 lbs. 



Oat straw, 8. 2 lbs. 



860 



859 



860 



1.1 



0.8 



0.4 



150 



106 



58 



Beef Production, p. 155. 



Loc. cit., 146. 



Bui. 111. 



