Counsel in the Feed Lot. 373 



583. Water. — Fattening cattle should not only have an abundant 

 supply of uncontaminated water at all times, but it should be easily 

 accessible. The water for hogs running in the same lot should be 

 separate and so set off that the steers cannot have access to it, nor 

 should hogs drink from the water troughs of the cattle. While it is 

 best to have water before cattle at all times, they readily adapt them- 

 selves to taking a fill once daily and thrive. The water provision 

 should not be less than 10 gallons per day per head for mature cat- 

 tle. (87, 452) 



584. Salt. — Animals fed large quantities of rich nutritious food, 

 such as fattening steers receive, show a strong desire for salt, and 

 this craving should be reasonably satisfied. Kiihn^ recommends 1 

 ounce of salt per day for a steer weighing 1,000 lbs. at the beginning 

 of the fattening period, 1.3 ounces at the middle, and 1.7 ounces near 

 the close. Whether granular or rock salt be supplied is merely a 

 matter of convenience. Some give salt once or twice a week, others 

 keep salt before their cattle at all times. As in other matters of 

 feeding, habit rules, and a plan once adopted should be followed with- 

 out deviation. 



INIumford and Hall of the Illinois Station- state that some feeders 

 report favorably on a mixture of equal parts of salt and wood ashes, 

 which the steers eat slowly and with seeming benefit. (91) 



585. Labor cost of fattening. — Mumford^ gives the following in 

 concise form: "For the purpose of securing a definite basis from 

 which to work, we may assume what has been repeatedly accomplished 

 in practice, that one man and team, or their equivalent, can care for 

 and feed 200 cattle together with the hogs following. This includes 

 not only feeding the grain, but also hauling hay or other roughage 

 to the feed lot from nearby stacks or mows, providing bedding, at- 

 tending to water, and looking after the wants of steers affected with 

 injuries, lump-jaw, lice, and itch. With this assumption as a basis 

 the following statement is possible: 



Man, 6 mo. at $40.00 (wages $25, board $15) $240.00 



Team and wagon, 6 mo. at $40 (maintenance $15, feed $25) .__ 240.00 



Total cost labor, 6 mo $480.00 



Cost per steer 2.40" 



The returns of hogs following steers fed whole corn will under fa- 

 vorable conditions usually oft'set the labor cost of caring for fatten- 

 ing steers and the hogs following them. 



' Ernahr. d. Eindviehes, 9th ed.. p. 325. •' Beef Production, pp. -33-4. 



Mir. 92. 



